In 2021, Atrium Health opened a new state-of-the art medical facility in midtown Charlotte, NC. Atrium Health Kenilworth Medical Plaza I and II are the outcome of a quarter-billion-dollar investment into improved care, research and innovation, and holistic wellness services for the region. The more than 400,000 square foot facility brings together specialty services across disciplines, granting access to comprehensive, advanced medical treatment and enabling integrated whole-health programs.
Kenilworth Plaza is home to the Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute, a patient-centered cardiovascular care clinic that offers a wide range of complex specialty care. The Sanger Institute spreads over five floors, encompassing cardiovascular imaging, an expansive cardiac rehabilitation and wellness center, a demonstration kitchen for healthy cooking classes, and the unique Center for Sports Cardiology, a collaboration between Sanger and Atrium Health Musculoskeletal Institute.
Bringing Sanger’s many services under one roof to enable comprehensive cardiovascular treatment demonstrates a commitment to evidence-based patient care. Integrated cardiovascular care has been shown to reduce unnecessary referrals, emergency service utilization, hospitalization, and general practitioner consultation frequency, resulting in lower costs and better patient outcomes overall.
However, research meta-analysis reveals that care improvements and cost savings are not an automatic result of integrated care. Comprehensive services require bigger, more complex facilities, which can be challenging for patients and staff to navigate. Atrium Health Kenilworth Medical Plaza found that digital wayfinding was critical to the facility’s success.
Wayfinding for Healthcare Facilities: A Crucial Challenge
When Kenilworth Plaza first opened, patients visiting for appointments, consultations, and procedures often found it difficult to navigate the hospital’s vast layout. Ensuring patients have clear, accessible guidance is essential: The United States National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that missed and late appointments cost the healthcare system $150 billion USD annually. If healthcare facilities want to control costs, improve care, and prevent under-utilization of resources, they must remove every possible barrier to getting patients to their appointments on time.
Kenilworth Plaza has several entry points and elevators spread across two large buildings. Staffing every entry point with a help desk would be ruinously inefficient, and with the facility’s large footprint and many limited-mobility outpatient visitors, funneling patients towards a smaller set of “main” entrances was also unacceptable. Kenilworth Medical Plaza needed a different solution – one that would support patients, maximize accessibility, and free staff to focus on patient care.
An Interactive Solution
Atrium Health deployed a network of interactive digital wayfinding kiosks to address their navigation challenges. At ten strategic locations, including high-traffic entry points and elevators, the Atrium Health team installed touchscreens featuring an interactive map of the facility. The system provides detailed step-by-step navigation, including building-to-building and floor-to-floor, ensuring patients and staff can find their way quickly.
The Atrium Health Kenilworth Plaza wayfinding system is built on the 22Miles Content Management System and powered by Intel NUC Mini PCs. The solution design includes several standout features essential for the healthcare context:
- In addition to touchscreen functionality, users can interact with wayfinding kiosks using a mobile phone or other personal device. This minimizes physical touchpoints for improved hygiene and enhances accessibility.
- “Screen-flip” functionality automatically changes the touchscreen layout to bring keyboards and interactive maps within reach for users in wheelchairs.
- Accessible routing can display routes specifically for those with limited mobility.
Digital wayfinding systems can also provide multilingual patient support, creating a welcoming, stress-free intake process for all patients and visitors.
A Better Visit
Since deployment in 2024, the interactive wayfinding kiosks at Kenilworth Medical Plaza I and II have delivered on key objectives for the facility. First and foremost, patients and visitors can now find their destinations quickly and efficiently: They arrive on time with less stress. Over time, these improvements in experience are expected to reduce care costs and improve patient outcomes. On-time arrival means more efficient use of resources, and less stressful navigation means less avoidance and higher care consistency—all essential to the provision of holistic services.
The wayfinding solution has reduced staffing costs and improved productivity. Kenilworth Plaza needs less “help desk” staffing, freeing administrators to focus on addressing more complex patient needs. The kiosks also collect back-end analytics, which will help administrators improve facility management over time. Using real-time usage data, they will be able to plan future deployments, determine practical resource locations, and make sure the facility remains aligned with evolving patient and staff needs.
Interactive wayfinding has significantly enhanced the patient experience at Kenilworth Medical Plaza. The solution has streamlined operations, increased staff efficiency, and provided a seamless, stress-free experience for patients and visitors. As healthcare facilities globally follow a trend of consolidation, diverse care offerings, and integrated care, accessible wayfinding solutions like this one will be an essential building block of improved care.
