A wayfinding “app” for everyone
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Even though they're from Rochester and know their way around town like the back of their hands, Scott and Annette Eakins say they can't help but feel like "tourists in their own town" when they come to Mayo's Rochester campus. They're not alone. The anxiety they say they feel when they have to navigate around campus, or through Mayo's subways, is often felt by patients from out of town, out of state, or from another country. Fortunately, thanks to some ingenious, tech-savvy, patient-centered minds at Mayo Clinic, there's now an app … wait, no … a kiosk for that. (Sorry, force of habit.)
With content and design that, in fact, "mirrors" the Mayo Clinic Patient App, a trio of new "self-service" kiosks offer patients, and staff, wayfinding assistance for both inside Mayo Clinic and around town. They're conveniently located in the Charlton Building Lobby, and near the information desks on the street and subway levels of the Gonda Building. And they conveniently offer a laundry list of things to do between appointments. Things like:
- Activities and current events around campus and around town
- Dining and lodging options
- Mayo Clinic and city-wide tour information
- Culture, history and entertainment options
- A "Things to do Today" calendar
- Lecture, library and research information
- Weather forecasts
- Arrival and departure times for the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Rochester International Airports
- Bus/public transportation schedules
- Directions, directions, directions
And there's more, of course. The kiosks are for everyone. But they were created in part to cater to the not-so-plugged-in -- folks who don't live and breath by smartphone.
We're told about the only things the kiosks can't help you do are: Access the Internets or your patient health information; make transactions or payments to your patient account; and communicate with your doctor. Still, those in charge of developing and maintaining the new kiosks say they provide "a significant additional opportunity" for Mayo Clinic to improve the services we provide to our patients by making it easier for those patients and our staff to find their way around campus, and around town.
And early feedback from patients and visitors, like the Eakins, seems to agree. "The reaction has been very positive so far," says Michelle Cook, Patient Financial Services. "It's very self-explanatory. I had a patient just the other day asking about an art class she wanted to attend, and she found all the information she needed."
Find everything you need by following visiting a kiosk, and then share your helpful tips with a comment below