At Fox Chase Cancer Center, digital signage is about much more than words on a screen.
Not only does the health system use Vericom's ChannelCare to broadcast a variety of messages throughout its hospital locations, but it also uses the
digital signage platform to stream live video.
In the past three years, the hospital has broadcast the CEO's quarterly town hall meetings live, in-house physicians' video profiles, hospital TV
commercials, sports-related events, and President Obama's inaugural address.
Because there are seven off-site locations for Fox Chase Cancer Center, broadcasting the town hall meetings has helped bring hospital staff
together—remotely.
"With the town hall meetings, they can hear the information at the same time and don't have to drive to our main campus," says Julia Goplerud, the
hospital's senior director of regional marketing. "This makes them feel more like they are part of the center."
The hospital's marketing staff has been pleased with its partnership with Vericom.
"Vericom has pushed the boundaries of digital signage," Goplerud says.
Displaying messages
The hospital's marketing group creates the signage for the hospital as a whole and, upon request, for other departments. It creates original messages
or uses high definition (HD) messages from ChannelCare's health care content library.
Jill Horne, assistant director of marketing communications, says Vericom frequently seeks the hospital's marketing staffers' opinions about product
development and takes the time to listen to their suggestions.
"By working with Vericom, we're never left to do anything on our own, but we have the creative freedom to create the content we want and also get help
for the questions we have," Horne says.
Twenty-five monitors display messaging geared to employees, patients, and patients' family and friends.
"We're able to tailor the content per location," Horne says. "We can customize the content for employees, but we can also tailor messages to parents
and family members."
Each year Fox Chase Cancer Center broadcasts 100 to 200 messages that vary by location within the hospital.
For example, if a patient is waiting for a treatment machine in the radiation and oncology department, a digital signage message will show them if a
machine is delayed. Department staffers update the wait-time information.
Meanwhile, in the neurology department, messages might display information about neurologists. In the dermatology department, there's information about
protecting yourself from the sun.
"Part of messaging is also about educating family members who are waiting for their loved one during an appointment," Goplerud says. "We want to
provide information that is helpful."
Does digital signage work?
The marketing team has conducted two surveys to find out how effective digital signage has been. They've found out that patients and families like
hearing news about wellness, healthy lifestyle tips, and information about their doctors. The ChannelCare health care content library contains
thousands of health and wellness messages appropriate for diverse audiences.
Survey results have also shown that people are interested in relaxing stimuli, such as a waterfall or nature sounds, for a mental and visual break.
Vericom will introduce a large selection of calming and scenic HD videos as part of the ChannelCare content library offering in the upcoming release to
satisfy this need. Response for digital signage among employees, patients, and staff has been positive.
To hear more about the hospital's partnership with Vericom, watch this video.
Do you want to learn more about digital signage? Click here to
learn more.
5 reasons why Fox Chase Cancer Center uses digital signage
1. Customization.
We have the ability to tailor our messaging by monitor location and audience.
2. Real-time communication.
At a moment's notice, we can upload time-sensitive messages to our ChannelCare digital signage monitors. We also run live video streams of events of
interest to our patients and employees.
3. Patient education.
We can communicate with our patients and their families about our programs and services, in addition to providing healthy lifestyle information. We
even run images of relaxing nature scenes to offer a soothing mental break for people in our waiting rooms.
4. Enhanced employee communication.
Digital signage allows us to link and provide up-to-date information to employees who are scattered around our campus and at off-site locations,
helping us maintain a sense of community even as the institution grows.
5.
Variety of content.
We have numerous options for creating and providing content on our monitors, ranging from in-house messages created by our copywriting and design team
to unlimited use of Vericom's content library. The text editor tool allows us to create new messages quickly, while choosing from a large selection of
background images. We also have the ability to upload video content, such as Fox Chase commercials and patient testimonial videos.