Enhancing the Patient Experience with Hospital Grade TVs

Enhancing the Patient Experience with Hospital Grade TVs

The demand for quality healthcare services has never been higher than it is today. As hospitals serve patients at some of the most challenging and critical times of their lives, studies have shown better health outcomes in patients with higher satisfaction.1

An effective and efficient strategy for enhancing the patient experience is with specialized use of the patient room television. With today’s advanced technologies for increasing patient engagement via the TV, equipping the facility with purpose built, hospital grade televisions can be a major advantage for both the patient and the hospital.

What makes a hospital grade TV? Unlike consumer televisions, hospital grade televisions are engineered and constructed with a different end user in mind. Focusing on the patient needs, hospital-grade TVs are designed specifically for utilization in the patient room – with safety as the priority, reliability over extended hours of use, and customizable patient-centric applications.

Televisions for the hospital patient room, unlike consumer televisions, should adhere to stringent regulatory requirements as outlined by Underwriters Laboratories (UL). A distinct difference between hospital grade and consumer TVs is the nurse-call interface. A wired pillow speaker controls hospital grade TVs, and allows the patient to communicate with the nurses’ station, and vice-versa, while momentarily canceling the television audio to ensure clear conversation.

Hospital grade televisions also provide electronic isolation to the pillow speaker control to ensure safety in a potentially oxygen-enriched environment. Other safety features include required grounded plugs with lower levels of leakage, and all-pole power switches that decrease the likelihood of shock.

Benefits for patients – Many patients feel a loss of control when they are hospitalized, and may be afraid, uncomfortable or anxious. Giving them some sense of control and keeping them engaged and informed about their diagnosis can help elevate their mental state, and that can affect their physical state in a positive way. Hospital grade TVs can be indispensable care instruments – lending comfort as a familiar and enjoyable activity during the recovery process, providing patient-centric functions, and improving communication via patient-specific educational content.

A warm welcome screen – A friendly greeting with the facility name and logo appears on the screen when the TV is turned on. The welcome screen functions as a graphical user interface (GUI), providing an inviting, personalized and interactive experience for patients. The patient makes selections and enters information via the pillow speaker, confirming on the TV.

A wide variety of entertainment – From the welcome screen, the patient can select the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) to watch TV shows, news, rent a movie, access the web, or view Over-the-Top (OTT) Smart applications. Other options may include games, which are very popular, and a “relaxation channel,” displaying tranquil scenery accompanied by soothing music.

Patient-specific education – In the hospital, effective communication between the patient, family members and clinical team is key to a better patient experience and good outcomes. In fact, a large study of malpractice cases found that the most troublesome communication gaps are those between the provider and the patient, with 69 percent of communication cases alleging “that the patient did not receive information that he or she needed to understand their health issues, make informed decisions about treatment options, or manage their long-term care.”2

Hospitals can use the patient room TV to send the patient educational video content specific to their diagnosis and treatment, and even verify that the patient has viewed it. If the treatment calls for diet restrictions, for example, the patient can select a menu option from the welcome screen and set up their diet plan while they are in the hospital. The hospital may also provide daily updates and the discharge date on the welcome screen, as well as a patient discharge survey. At every step of the way, the TV can help engage the patient in their own care while lending an accommodating digital bedside manner.

ROI for hospitals – In addition to higher patient satisfaction and better health outcomes, hospital grade TVs can bring expanded ROI to the facility. A large portion of the ROI could come from movie rentals via access to premium HD content, monetizing with the ability to provide premium services for patients.

What’s more, today’s patient experience is related to tomorrow’s reputation. If a patient can access a variety of beneficial options on the TV to make them feel good about their hospital stay they are more likely to recommend the facility that treated them, and respond with higher ratings on HCAHPS and Press Ganey patient satisfaction surveys. Higher survey scores can impact the amount of reimbursement and funding a hospital receives and may also place the hospital in a better position regarding alignment – occasionally hospital groups consolidate and those that are more on the cutting edge are more attractive.

Have a look at LG’s Hospital Grade TVs.

1 Glickman, S. W. et al. Patient satisfaction and its relationship with clinical quality and inpatient mortality in acute myocardial infarction. Circ. Cardiovasc.Qual. Outcomes 3, 188–195 (2010). Available at https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.109.900597 (last viewed 02/21/2020).

2 Jock Hoffman, CRICO and Supriya Raman, CRICO Communication Factors in Malpractice Cases (2012). Available at https://www.rmf.harvard.edu/Clinician-Resources/Newsletter-and-Publication/2012/Insight-Communication-Factors-in-Mal-Cases (last viewed 02/21/2020).

Tips for Designing a Video Wall: Display Selection

Tips for Designing a Video Wall: Display Selection

Without a doubt, a large video wall is a high-impact strategy for delivering targeted content and capturing the attention of customers, visitors or employees. But an appropriate display type must be chosen according to the installation space and requirements. Here are some examples of selecting the right displays for video walls.

Retail Shops

Video walls in retail shops usually play advertising content for the items sold in the shop, and they must be easily seen by passersby and customers within the shop. Video walls are often used to show product features, colors, and details, and emphasize them from a location that can be easily seen from the customer routes.

Video walls can be used to show the true size of the product and advertise a promotion or a product behind the counter. The lighting in retail shops is usually bright, so it is best to use an indoor display with high brightness. Video walls with high brightness could also be considered for window-facing settings according to the brightness of the sunlight.

Broadcast Stations

The cameras in broadcasting stations capture the videos played on the video walls, so the video walls may require color temperature calibration according to the lighting and camera settings. When a product with no options is selected, it may need to be replaced if the color temperature of the screen is not compatible. Lighting or reflections of people on the surface of the video walls may disrupt screen visibility, so choosing a product with a high haze may be required to prevent reflection. It is better to use a display with a thin bezel since the viewing distance is short and you don’t want any video distortion, but it is necessary to choose a model that fits the customer’s budget when designing the system.

Control Rooms

Narrow bezels are required for video walls in control rooms to prevent video distortion. But when used with the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which displays lines, connections, and system diagrams, it is preferred to use DVLED displays that do not show the bezel line. Additionally, a product that doesn’t show afterimages after displaying a fixed image for 24 hours, 7 days a week, must be chosen.

Large Landmarks

Shopping malls or public facilities sometimes use unique video walls to attract attention. Thin, flexible OLED products can be installed on curved surfaces to enhance the immersive effect of the video content, so they are the ideal products to maximize the use of landmarks.

Airports

Large video walls are used to announce the flight schedule and check-in information to passengers in airports. A display with high brightness that doesn’t show afterimages with fixed content must be chosen to increase visibility.

Following these guidelines will help make the most of a video wall deployment. When combined with an effective content strategy and high-quality, high-resolution content, these guidelines can ensure an impactful presentation to targeted audiences.

 

 

Tips for Designing a Video Wall: Understanding Customer Requirements and Environment

Video walls are impressively large screens created by tiling multiple displays together. Displays such as LCD panels or OLED panels, DVLED displays, projector screens, and rear-projection cubes are all used to compose video walls. The purpose of a video wall is to present content with high visual impact and critical details to attract and hold viewer attention.

Video walls are used for delivering information or advertising products in places such as control rooms, meeting rooms, broadcast stations, airports, retail stores, and others. What’s more, cases where giant video walls are being used as landmarks to attract people are increasing.

Displays used for video walls have a narrow bezel to minimize video distortion between the screens, provide functions of operating content and controlling monitors for multiple displays (Video/LAN/RS-232C Daisy Chain), and require coupling with a Content Management System (CMS) for content operation.

Video walls differ according to the installation environment (size, structure, surrounding brightness) and targeted content. The types and characteristics of the display products and CMS must be understood to suggest the optimized solution based on the information obtained. The total funds and operational complexity may differ greatly depending on the type of displays and models chosen, so the optimized solution can be suggested only after thoroughly understanding the customer’s needs.

LCD video walls can only be installed on flat structures since the displays cannot be custom-curved, but OLED or DVLED displays can be curved. If video walls are needed to be installed on curved surfaces, OLED or DVLED displays may be selected.

With DVLED, the distance to discern individual pixels changes, depending on the ‘pixel pitch’ (distance in millimeters from the center of a pixel to the center of the adjacent pixel), so an appropriate pixel pitch display must be chosen according to the viewing distance. If the viewing distance is short, LCD or OLED could be a better choice than DVLED.

It is better to use displays with high brightness if the video wall is being installed in a bright environment, and products with high haze for the surface of the screen are better for places where the visibility of the content may be disrupted by reflected light. Especially the video walls for broadcasting stations require a product that can change the color temperature according to the surrounding lighting, so knowing what products are available by understanding the light temperature beforehand is necessary.

The content type that is to be used in the video wall must be selected before employing a video wall. It must be known if it will be used for simple videos or images, if there are various external inputs or interactive content displayed, and what the content changing cycle is, to select the best CMS and operate a video wall accordingly. The overall system components and surrounding equipment may differ depending on the chosen CMS, so understanding this prior to the installation is necessary.

Next week we’ll go over some guidelines for selecting the right video wall displays based on the installation space and requirements.

Customized LG OLED Displays Transform Elementary School into Experiential Learning Environment

Sherlock School in Cicero, Illinois, is an elementary school focused on using state-of-the-art technology and design to enhance the learning environment. For the newly built facility, Cicero District 99 wanted to create an environment that would motivate and stimulate the students by introducing them to technology in ways they might not have encountered before.

The district sought to implement technology solutions throughout the facility to create flexible learning environments for the students – this would include unique, eye-catching video displays in the main entrance and fourth floor interactive space. The plan required assistance from a skilled team and the use of high-tech solutions that would keep students invested in learning. With construction underway at the school, the timeframe was tight to have the project completed before school started.

What’s more, the district wanted to implement creative display designs utilizing curved screens, which would require intricate installation.

Cicero District 99 selected Snap Install, Inc. as the integrator for the project. Snap Install selected LG Open Frame OLED commercial displays, because the flexible displays can be curved to create state-of-the-art installations that provide immersive experiences. For mounting solutions, longstanding LG partner Peerless-AV® was the natural choice.

And so the collaborative team of Snap Install, LG Business Solutions and Peerless-AV designed a customized approach for the school.

This was a unique project in that the LG Open Frame OLED displays would be custom-curved for the ceiling and wall designs right there on site. Peerless-AV was able to quickly design, test, manufacture, and install video wall mounting solutions that support the displays, and Snap Install finished the job within the aggressive deadline, also including two large LG LCD video walls.

It was stellar teamwork and the results are outstanding in the brand-new school, with plenty of exciting digital goodness to engage the kids every day. The main lobby provides an unforgettable experience with 34, 55-inch curved LG Open Frame OLED displays (55EF5E-L) – 24 on the ceiling and 10 in two columns on the wall, supported by Peerless-AV’s dedicated mounting solutions. The fourth floor features two video walls, each composed of eight 55-inch LG Narrow Bezel displays (55VH7E-A) and eight Peerless-AV SmartMount® Supreme Full Service Video Wall Mounts with Quick Release (DS-VW775-QR).

Congratulations and a big THANK YOU to Snap Install and Peerless-AV.

Just imagine the reaction from the students, teachers, parents and guests when they walk into this school. Check out these videos: