Jun 19, 2010
Hammond provides turnkey digital signage solution for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Hammond Communications Group, a leading supplier of turnkey digital signage solutions, was recently hired by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) to design and implement a digital signage solution. Installed in the new Clinic’s building, the solution uses 46” LCD panels to display messages in the cafeteria and multiple waiting rooms. With thousands of patient visits per month, digital signage is an ideal way to provide visitors with important information on topics such as CCHMC services, patient well-being and building amenities.
“Information is a critical part of effective healthcare”, states Dean Reverman, Director of Business Development for Hammond, “Our healthcare clients see the value of digital signage as a viable communication medium. It has proven to be an effective way to transfer information once people are in the facility.”
CCHMC knew that digital signage was the right tool, now they needed help putting it all together. Initial efforts to find the right solution lead them to Scala, the world’s leading digital signage software provider. Through Scala, CCHMC found Hammond, a reseller of the Scala software suite who had completed a digital signage solution for the Holzer Clinic of southeast Ohio.
Hammond’s process-driven approach for implementing digital signage solutions has proven valuable towards completing jobs on time and within the budget. The company understands that a successful solution would require involvement from multiple departments within CCHMC. Starting day one, Hammond began working with content, infrastructure and IT stakeholders from CCHMC.
For the content strategy, CCHMC wanted to explore a multi-zone layout with a playlist that had a mix of general and location specific messages. Hammond’s refined content development process including wireframes, descriptions, foam core mockups, flow charts and more was used to guide CCHMC through the elements of an effective digital signage content strategy. This allowed CCHMC to make educated decisions relative to the content, branding and workflow. The final result is a layout that incorporates CCHMC messages and a local RSS news feed, along with the current time and temperature.
Meanwhile, Hammond’s technical team was hard at work with CCHMC’s IT and engineering departments in the consultation and design of the technical aspects of the solution. Hammond worked to specify media player configurations, Audio / Video distribution components, LCD panel recommendations as well as develop the master Scala script, custom programming and content templates. Once again, Hammond’s experience of implementing digital signage systems for over 5 years was instrumental in quickly developing a capable technical solution that met CCHMC requirements.
Moving forward, the content strategy will continue to be improved and training specialty departments on developing their own content. In the future, CCHMC hopes to expand the digital signage network to include the main campus and 15 remote patient care sites.
“Digital signage in healthcare will continue to grow. Furthermore, we are seeing a trend with healthcare facilities wanting to control their own content when compared to using advertising-based models.” adds Dean. “Hammond is well positioned to answer this market need by providing a true turnkey solution designed specifically for the healthcare environment.”