How Anchor Health Properties Served Lost Visitors and Overburdened Tenants
Serving Lost Visitors and Overburdened Tenants
Directing patients and visitors around a medical campus have been a consistent challenge for medical facility owners and managers. Considering the pandemic, this has become even more difficult. With decreased staff and shortened on-campus hours, managers need to get creative when addressing their wayfinding and tenant listing issues. It’s more important than ever to provide simple, easy, and efficient information when a patient enters their building. Here’s how 1101 Stewart Ave in Garden City, New York addresses the challenge.
An Interview with Jason Bernheimer CPM, Property Manager with Anchor Health Properties
Jason Bernheimer, Property Manager at Anchor Health Properties, manages 1101 Stewart Ave for Anchor and was heavily involved in the process of their digital directory implementation. Jason oversaw the installation of their digital directory in July of 2020 to assist with the building’s ongoing navigation issues.
His company, Anchor Health Properties, began its life as a retail development company but evolved to focus exclusively on the development of medical facilities. This evolution had much to do with them becoming a very different kind of healthcare development company and leader in the industry. The firm now has more than 75 employees, 7,000,000 square feet of space under management, 1,000,000 square feet in development, multiple offices around the country, and offers an institutional quality, full-service healthcare real estate platform with a small-business mindset.
The Challenge: The Need for a Simplified Directory and Wayfinding Solution
Anchor Health Properties, a full-service healthcare real estate firm devoted exclusively to the development, management, and investment of medical facilities, purchased the building and inherited a static, non-digital lobby sign that listed the building tenants. The biggest challenge they faced was one major tenant with several departments and separate locations throughout the building including billing, physical therapy, and multiple doctors’ offices. Most importantly, the doctors’ offices were not specifically listed on the existing signage.
As a result, patients got lost easily and would randomly drop into various tenants’ suites near the lobby to get directions and information. Building tenants were becoming frustrated from answering questions and providing directions to lost patients. As a result of the confusion, patients were routinely late to appointments – costing time and inconvenience for everyone.
The Solution: Anchor Health’s Signature Digital Welcome Mat
Anchor knew it needed to address the inadequate directory issue when they took over the building. It’s part of the Anchor’s brand signature to have digital directories, and help their patients and visitors feel welcomed. To achieve this, they wanted tenant listings and interactive wayfinding maps on a new TouchSource interactive directory.
From Outbound Calls to Digital Directions
Doctors change often, therefore so do the listings. In the old process, 1101 Stewart Ave employees called their patients proactively to tell them which suite their doctor would be in. This not only caused hassle for patients but wasted valuable work hours for busy staff members. With their new TouchSource digital directory, updates are as easy as logging into the online portal and updating the listings.
From Paper Signs to a Digital Welcome Experience
Prior to the acquisition, 1101 Stewart Ave had paper signs and arrows throughout in an attempt to direct visitors. Not only was this unprofessional looking, but it was a nuisance for Jason and his team as they constantly received calls to clear confusion and fix any worn signs and arrows. New interactive wayfinding was built into their new digital directory and provided accurate, easy-to-follow maps that trace the path for patients to follow.
From Headaches to Outstanding Patient Experience
The digital directory and wayfinding solutions saved Jason and Anchor Health Properties countless hours and headaches by streamlining the visitor experience from the moment of entry. Upon entry to the building, the building valet service kindly directs patients to the lobby display where they locate their doctor and receive a virtual step-by-step map to their suite.
Why Did 1101 Stewart Choose TouchSource?
According to Jason, “as a property manager, you can choose any vendor. I had seen a TouchSource digital display in the Pennsylvania area at one of our other facilities. It looked great and was very eye-catching. As part of the renovation plan, the new directory was a huge step up for the building. TouchSource was also very helpful and flexible from start to finish. It was amazing how quickly the new directory was up and running, the team at TouchSource was very helpful.”
Jason elaborated that “the cloud-based aspect is awesome. The fact that you can be remote and update the directory is terrific. It is a major time saver. Having used other directories that are hard to use and have outdated, old software, this is an excellent system. It’s just easier to organize the listings, write them how we want, update our system quickly, and take care of any errors.”
Favorite Comments from Visitors Who Interacted with the Display
When asked this question, Jason shared that “it sounds funny, but nothing. The right kind of nothing. We no longer receive complaints about people stopping in, they are just using the digital directory instead of bothering nearby tenants. From there, there is nothing left for the team to do, they just let the directory do its magic.”
We hope this story can help you solve some of the problems you are currently facing with your building. As you navigate the ongoing pandemic, let us know if we can help.