When the Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis (Jeroen Bosch Hospital) underwent further renovation in 2018, the number of radiography rooms with Ambient Experience was expanded. The decision was driven by positive feedback from both staff and patients on the hospital’s existing installations. “Two of the radiography rooms already had Ambient Experience, and we wanted it in the third one as well,” says Daphne Engelen, Cluster Manager for Imaging Techniques at the Jeroen Bosch Hospital. “In that way, all our radiology patients could benefit from it. We didn’t want to be selective about who got it and who didn’t.” The Jeroen Bosch Hospital is located in the Dutch town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. As one of the largest teaching hospitals in the Netherlands, it retains its ambition to be the most patient-oriented hospital in the country. Improving the patient experience during x-ray exams is an integral part of this. “Back in 2011 we commissioned a survey which revealed that, even though most examinations only take a few minutes, the Ambient Experience clearly had a positive impact for both patients and staff,” says Harm Geraedts, Business Operations Manager at the Jeroen Bosch Hospital. “Since then we have had a constant stream of positive reactions. So we are convinced of its value.”
In general, patients react very positively in the Ambient Experience rooms. You often hear them say, ‘Oh, is the exam finished already?’”
Harm Geraedts
Business Operations Manager, Jeroen Bosch Hospital
Our approach
Each of these Ambient Experience solutions includes:
To help patients feel more comfortable when undergoing a radiography exam, the Jeroen Bosch Hospital commissioned a further Ambient Experience installation at its main site in the Dutch town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Now all three radiology rooms in the hospital are equipped with this patient-focused solution. A further radiology room was also equipped with Ambient Experience at a Jeroen Bosch Hospital satellite facility in the nearby town of Rosmalen.
Patient-friendly themes
Ambient Experience helps support specific procedures in clinical areas such as radiography. This innovative, people-focused solution creates patient-friendly environments by integrating architecture, design and appropriate technologies like projection and dynamic lighting. Patients (or staff) are able to select specific themes, each with its own projections, lighting palette and audio. These themes are an important feature of Ambient Experience, as they help patients feel engaged and provide them with a feeling of control.
Results
The Ambient Experience radiography rooms at the Jeroen Bosch Hospital enrich the experience of several hundred patients every day. Because patients can select room themes, they have the possibility of surrounding themselves in a relaxing, calming atmosphere of their own choosing. This gives them a welcome distraction in what is frequently a stressful situation. And a relaxed patient is more likely to comply with the procedure: something that is especially true with children.
“The majority of kids are so distracted by the projections that we can do the scan without them really noticing,” says Kay Smeenk, radiology technician at the Jeroen Bosch Hospital. “It definitely has an impact on them.” A study2 by Philips Research confirms that the Ambient Experience rooms improve patient satisfaction significantly. Click here to read the full story. Staff benefit as well, because Ambient Experience makes their working environment more pleasant. “We always turn it on; it’s much more pleasant to work in than the standard white hospital lighting,” says fellow radiology technician Jayney van Grunsven. “We are in that room more or less all day long. It’s nice to see deserts or palm trees.”
1 Patients who underwent an X-ray exam in a room with Ambient Experience showed a noticeably higher Net Promoter Score (a figure that indicates to what extent someone is willing to recommend the hospital to people they know), than patients examined in a ‘normal’ X-ray room. The difference between the control group and group 1 (patients not informed about AE) was +29%. The difference with group 2 (patients informed about AE) was +45.45%. 2 Society for Participatory Medicine, September 2013, The Influence of an Audiovisual Intervention on Patient Experience in a Digital X-Ray Room Results from case studies are not predictive of results in other cases. Results in other cases may vary.
Meet our team
Niels Buning Director Business Development & Marketing EMEA
In his role Niels and team provide strategic advice and implementable value-added solutions to healthcare organizations that improve patient and staff experience. Working across EMEA has given him broad cultural knowledge and insights on patient and staff challenges. The common thread in his career is to always put at the heart of any solution, both the patient and provider; to support inclusivity and improve sustainability.
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