Ben Knights
Group 8Providence health & services / National Healthcare organization

Calming Screens

I designed a video experience for patients in the emergency room by taking over a underutilized asset, the TVs.

FA 2 1 4 ways to comfort a child in the ed 1 1 Confused doctor 1 2 Mobile App 2 1 1
What to expect during your visit in the ED 2. Check In 1FA 1 1 1 We know how tough it is to wait 1
Mobile App 1Triage 1 1How we protect our patients in the ED 1How we protect our patients in the ED 1
results

Here’s the impact we were able to achieve in our pilot

80%

Time reduction for managing TVs

19%

Increase to Press Ganey survey on comfort

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Why did we tackle this problem?

Hospital waiting rooms are stressful, and with 90% of news being negative, studies suggest reducing this exposure can lower patient anxiety. A calming environment with passive, engaging content is needed.

Colon Cancer Spanish 1Health for a better world 1 1 Sustainability 3 1Our Values Dignity Spanish 1
4 Tips for Home Organization Declutter and Simplify Your Life 1Mental well being 1Providence Podcast 1FA 5 Testimonial 1 1
Did you know Memory game 1 1Mobile App 1 1Mobile App 7 1Children s Trivia 2 1

Design Process

Hospital waiting rooms are stressful, and with 90% of news being negative, studies suggest reducing this exposure can lower patient anxiety. A calming environment with passive, engaging content is needed.

Define

What contributes to stress in the ER waiting room

Empathize

Understand our patients while in the ER waiting room

Ideate

Generate ideas that could help patients feel calm

Prototype

Build the first version of Calming Screens

Test

Refine and add to the content based on survey data

Discovery phase

To start I led a strategy session with my team where we discussed what type of content we would create to put on the TVs. The content we created had to have a combination of calming stock footage, Providence specific information, general information and tips, and games such as trivia.

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The MVP

With the content created, we now had to run it all through legal, brand and the communications teams. Once we had sign off I was set to put it all in video form. We netted out for our MVP with:

  • 160 custom slides, containing information like Financial Assistance, Providence mission & values, general wait time info, general life advise, mobile app, Providence blog stories and more. Multiple different trivia questions, riddles and song lyric games to help with patient distractions in between video clips and custom slides.
  • 75 x happy, relaxing, uplifting video clips
  • 20 x Spanish translated slides
  • 80 total minutes of custom Providence content.
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Press Ganey, an independent company specializing in patient experience measurement, provides surveys to over 26,000 healthcare organizations. Their scientifically validated survey is sent to patients two weeks after their visit to measure their perception of care. Feedback from one site where TV content was implemented confirmed its lasting impact, as patients specifically mentioned the content in their responses.

“The smart educational video in the waiting area is an excellent choice and excellent production. Much better than dumb commercials. Congratulations and don’t send me surveys to my cell phone.”

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Anonymous Patient 1Press Ganey Survey from St Marys Hospital 2024

“I thought the wait time with the tv program with varied information pertaining to medical care, engaging quiz questions, scenes of animals, places around the world were great for occupying our wait time. And the woman at the reception desk was wonderful getting me into the systemfriendly and kind. Likewise the triage nurse.”

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Anonymous Patient 2Press Ganey Survey from St Marys Hospital 2024

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