SMH Introduces Wayfinder App

Arts & Culture

Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s (SMH) new app, Wayfinder, will assist about 900,000 patients, as well as their families and loved ones, in finding their way in the 1.5 million-square-foot, 91-year-old hospital. Wayfinder, which was created by the Cleveland-based software company LogicJunction, implements a smartphone compass and the hospital’s magnetic footprint so that the GPS can be used indoors, and it also uses existing Wi-Fi beacons to increase accuracy. The app addresses the stress that many people face when attempting to navigate the hospital and is an addition to kiosk and hospitality employees who are there to guide. SMH will be the first US hospital with an app of this kind.

“Signage alone isn’t enough to help people navigate,” says Sarasota Memorial Chief Executive Officer David Verinder. He explains that when people visit the hospital, it is usually because there is a problem, which is anxiety inducing. The Wayfinder app will help alleviate any extra and unnecessary stress in a potentially already trying time.

The app features blue dot guidance that shows the user’s exact location on an animated path and plots the best route to their destination on an interactive map, using landmark references on each floor and automatic re-routing if they go off track or if an area or elevator is closed for maintenance. Location-based notifications offer information about the surroundings, such as cafeteria hours. “We hope the app will make a visit more pleasurable or at least less stressful,” Verinder says.

The app is meant to mirror GPS systems that are commonly used, such as Google Maps. “We want the app to be very usable,” says LogicJunction Director of Special Projects Tricia Mazzola. Verinder describes the app as another step towards superior patient care.

The app is available for free download in the app store now or at smh.com/smhwayfinder

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