How Vera Improves Healthcare Facilities for Patients and Site Managers

When was the last time you heard anyone excited about an upcoming doctor’s appointment, or hospital stay? Seeking out even routine medical care is stressful for just about everyone, making patient satisfaction an ongoing challenge for any healthcare facility. Administrators are under constant pressure to reduce costs, respond to regulatory requirements, and improve their staff training and education. At the same time, they’re feeling the burden of maintaining and repairing a growing number of complex medical devices, even as they have to cut costs.

Things are made more challenging by the fact that a solution for one problem can often exacerbate another. Hiring more technicians will speed up repair times, but costs will soar. Reducing staff saves on overhead, but decreases satisfaction for pretty much everyone. What healthcare facility managers really need is a solution that solves all of those challenges and pays for itself. 

Here’s the good news: Augmented reality can help.

How it works

Resonai’s Vera™ Platform scans a healthcare facility, analyzes it, and creates an intelligent 3D twin. Any end-user, be they staff or patients, can access mobile apps that leverage Resonai’s AI technology. Vera understands all aspects of the space, can provide markerless indoor wayfinding, and supports an intuitive AR interface. Leveraging AR and AI benefits everyone involved: healthcare administrators achieve more control over their building with real time 3D visualization, gathering much needed data, locating all equipment and devices, understanding traffic patterns, and remotely launching and managing apps to streamline facility management. Patients gain autonomy over their visit with a digital guide that helps them navigate hospitals, access information at points of interest and much more.

Patient-centric smart technology

Let’s be honest — patients want to spend as little time in a medical facility as possible, no matter what they’re there for. AR can streamline their entire visit, starting at the front door. After downloading the Vera app, they can check-in for appointments from their phone without lingering in a crowded waiting area. AR navigation gets them to their appointment on time by using dynamic indoor wayfinding to guide them along the optimal path to their destination. If they need to use a restroom, find the gift shop, or visit the cafeteria, they can find them without needing to ask staff for directions. When it’s time to go home, patients can schedule follow-up appointments, look up information on aftercare or simply find the fastest way to the parking lot. Vera puts as much power as possible in patients’ hands, putting them at ease and increasing their satisfaction.

Staff satisfaction

An equally crucial benefit of patient satisfaction is staff satisfaction. According to a study in The American Journal of Medicine: “In general, physicians are happier when they spend more time with their patients, and allowing adequate time for physician-patient interaction is associated with higher physician job satisfaction...Moreover, patients and their families value time with their physicians, and this time is likely related to patient satisfaction.” Another study found that physicians who spend less time with their patients are at greater risk for malpractice claims. Simply put, it’s better for everyone when healthcare providers have more time to dedicate to actual health care.

Keeping vital equipment in good working order is a big part of that. Vera Maintenance Manager automates maintenance and repair processes to keep crews lean and response time fast. Any user can report a problem with any equipment directly from their mobile device. AR tech recognizes both the object and its location in the building, logs the problem, and then sends background and navigation information directly to the technician. Less downtime means less frustration from staff and patients alike. As Vera’s AI learns, it can anticipate possible equipment failure and create a preventive maintenance schedule to head off costly problems before they happen. 

AR in healthcare: A case of ROI in Less Than 4 Months

A company managing senior living homes in Canada was grappling with a rising number of repair tickets. Its options were to hire new maintenance managers at a substantial expense or outsource maintenance to keep up with demand. Repairs were taking longer to complete, leading to unsatisfied tenants and client churn.

The company integrated Vera into its facilities to automate repair ticketing, consolidate maintenance data and provide AR navigation for technicians directly to issues that need repair. The result was a 30% drop in the average time for repairs and a 27% drop in the time necessary to manage maintenance issues. More efficient use of time led to greater technician productivity, eliminating the need to increase staff or outsource. In fact, the AR-based optimizations saved the facility $1.4 million annually. Vera’s Maintenance Manager made it easier for tenants to report issues and track repair progress, which sent their satisfaction soaring and decreased churn. 

Healthcare facility management is an ongoing challenge that only gets more difficult with each new protocol or industry change. Vera provides the operational efficiencies healthcare facility managers need to control their environments, deliver patient-centric experiences and let staff focus on what matters most: providing superior healthcare for their patients.