Kay Via’s take on Eyedog & the Patient Experience


by Megan Fisher, Thursday, August 4, 2022

Patient Experience

Behind Eyedog is a team of passionate individuals, who strive to bring compassion and empathy into the patient experience by deploying a flawless digital patient journey from home to appointment and reducing the stress and anxiety commonly felt around hospital visits with simple, reliable user experience. 

Meet Kay Via, Eyedog.US’s Vice President of Operations and Sales
Meet Kay Via, Eyedog.US’s Vice President
of Operations and Sales

Kay Via is Intraprise & Eyedog.US’s Vice President of Operations and Sales for our Wayfinding Division. Kay is passionate about the patient experience and proudly represents Eyedog.US, implementing Indoor Photo Landmark Navigation in Healthcare Systems across the U.S., providing hands-on, comprehensive support to health systems as they deploy this new and innovative technology. Read more about Kay's take on Eyedog and the patient experience below.

How does Eyedog impact the patient experience at a hospital?

Eyedog eliminates a stressful step required to get you or your loved one to an appointment - and that is physically finding your way there. With Eyedog, users don’t have to expend cognitive energy to interpret or remember verbal directions, making that step of their process easier, quicker, and less taxing. When we can present a resource that is designed to simplify the logistics of navigating a healthcare facility, we are sure to positively impact the patient’s overall experience 

The proof lies with patient testimonials: so often, when the question "Do you know where you are going?" is asked, we hear firsthand the feedback after someone has experienced Eyedog for the first time.  Just recently, someone told me, "I don't know how I would have found my way without this the last two days!" In those interactions, we see the positive impact that intuitive, user-friendly indoor digital wayfinding has on the patient experience. 

Plus, everyone identifies with photos! And, the way Eyedog uses photos to provide clear directions creates a pleasant, easy-to-follow user experience that helps patients every step of the way.

Why is patient experience so important to you, and the team at Eyedog?

We are all patients, or visitors of a healthcare facility at one time or another, so we understand the frustration that can exist in a healthcare facility when you are unfamiliar with your surroundings. We are a part of the communities we serve, and that drives our desire to offer technology that actually serves as a meaningful addition to the patient experience. The team at Eyedog is always looking through the lens of a patient or a visitor, and it is with that perspective, we identify the best ways to engage and improve the wayfinding experience because first impressions matter! 

So many software applications have hundreds of features, but if users don’t know about those features, or can’t efficiently access them, they’re useless. With Eyedog, it’s simple: the user interface is intuitive and familiar, it is quick and easy to access, and it solves a big problem that has existed forever in the healthcare industry. Simplicity is important to us because that is what is so helpful to the patient, in real-time.

How can hospitals that already have Eyedog make it work better for their communities? 

Eyedog presents an incredible patient engagement opportunity, and engaging with patients is caring for patients and that is guaranteed to improve their experience, thus benefiting the healthcare community. Simply having Eyedog as a resource is not enough; it works best by making small adjustments to the community engagement approach, and tailoring greetings to engage patients in Eyedog at every opportunity. Healthcare communities that recognize the importance of community engagement and continued education have the most success with Eyedog. Enthusiasm from leadership trickles down to staff, who are often as excited as we are during the project! When we work with excited and engaged health systems, we know that they will have excited and engaged consumers, too. Leadership’s engagement in ensuring valued employees understand the benefits of Eyedog goes a long way with the entire community’s engagement with the technology. 

We can also carefully examine usage to identify opportunities to optimize the Eyedog system. For example, when we see more QR code scans at an elevator than at a welcome desk, we see some missed opportunities to engage with the patient or visitor. The attention to those small details can really make a difference in how well the Eyedog solution improves wayfinding at a healthcare facility.

Can you describe the number one mistake hospitals tend to make around wayfinding, when it comes to a positive patient experience? 

Eyedog is not a ‘set it and forget it’ solution; it requires intentional education and awareness for new staff and reminding employees. Staff must understand that Eyedog is not only available to the community, but is a great patient engagement tool used to build patient rapport and trust to help someone navigate from point A to B. The number one mistake a hospital can make with their digital wayfinding tool is that they implement it, and then stop talking about it. Complacency can become a challenge for health systems. Being creative, and actively seeking new ways to boost awareness, usage, and adoption of any solution takes resources, time, and commitment.  

That is why Eyedog offers consultation services included in our Wayfinding as a Service (WaaS) offering, to support deployment of the best practices that are proven to work. And, with that, communication is key to ensure that all stakeholders are prepared to support the project, making it a part of the community and culture. Ultimately, implementing a digital wayfinding solution like Eyedog means change, and change is hard. Overcoming minimal change, and infusing Eyedog into the culture of the healthcare community is what makes Eyedog work best.

While we understand that Eyedog is not for everyone, never underestimate who may be interested in using Eyedog!  Age is not the differentiator as it may have been a decade ago.  We strongly believe that we should make sure everyone has awareness of and access to finding their way using Eyedog!