Tech in the ER: How Digital Displays Are Calming Patients & Protecting Staff

BAY CITY, MI – December 04, 2025 – The chaotic, high-stress environment of a hospital emergency department (ED) is a familiar scene, often characterized by uncertainty for patients and significant risk for staff. In a move to address both challenges head-on, McLaren Bay Region has launched a comprehensive overhaul of its ED communication systems, integrating advanced digital displays that are reshaping the experience for everyone who walks through its doors.

The 409-bed acute care hospital has equipped all 34 of its emergency treatment rooms with MEDI+SIGN Digital Whiteboards and Door Displays. This initiative represents a significant investment in a growing trend within healthcare: leveraging technology not just for clinical treatment, but to fundamentally improve communication, transparency, and safety in one of medicine's most demanding settings. By automating the flow of information from the hospital's Electronic Health Record (EHR) to patient-facing screens and staff-alert systems, McLaren Bay is tackling the anxiety of the unknown for patients and the persistent threat of workplace violence for its frontline caregivers.

A Digital Lifeline for Anxious Patients

For patients and their families, an emergency room visit is often a journey into a "knowledge vacuum," a period of intense stress filled with long waits and little information. This uncertainty can exacerbate anxiety and negatively impact the overall patient experience. McLaren Bay Region's new digital whiteboards are designed to fill that void with clarity and real-time updates.

These large digital screens, installed in each treatment room, automatically pull and display crucial information directly from the hospital's Cerner FirstNet EHR. Patients can now see, at a glance, the names and roles of their care team members, what tests are pending, and the average turnaround times for those results. This simple act of providing information can be transformative. Research into similar technologies has shown a dramatic positive impact on patient satisfaction. A landmark study conducted in partnership with Brigham and Women's Hospital found that 96% of ED patients preferred having a room with a digital whiteboard, and 70% found it "extremely" or "quite a bit" helpful in understanding their care.

"Our Guiding Principle at McLaren is to provide health care as we expect for our own family," said Lona Underwood, Director of Patient Care Services for the Emergency Department at McLaren Bay Region. "Patients visiting the Emergency Department are often understandably nervous and searching for answers, so keeping them well-informed throughout their visit really helps to streamline the care process."

The system also proactively manages expectations. When delays occur, such as when staff are responding to a critical alert elsewhere, the whiteboards can display a notification, transforming an uninformed wait into an understood one. This level of transparency is a key recommendation from bodies like The Joint Commission to improve patient satisfaction, and studies confirm that patients in tech-enabled rooms are more likely to feel informed about delays and better understand their post-discharge instructions. Furthermore, the technology can display information in a patient's preferred language, addressing health equity by ensuring all patients have equal access to vital care information.

A Digital Shield for Frontline Staff

While patient comfort is a primary goal, the new system's second function is arguably even more critical: protecting the healthcare workers on the front lines. Workplace violence is a severe and escalating problem in healthcare. According to the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA), over half of ED nurses report experiencing verbal or physical violence at work, a rate four times higher than in other private industries.

To combat this, McLaren Bay installed ADA-Compliant Digital Door Displays outside each treatment room. These screens serve as a crucial information hub for staff, providing an at-a-glance overview of the patient's status and any potential safety risks before a staff member enters the room. Visual icons can flag risks related to aggression, falls, or other specific care needs, allowing providers to prepare accordingly or request assistance.

"Workplace violence and the safety of nurses and ancillary staff remain a huge concern in hospitals, and particularly in Emergency Departments," noted David Linetsky, Founder and CEO of MEDI+SIGN. "Door Displays are an invaluable platform to provide all staff members with an at-a-glance overview of the patient, informing them of any potential issues before entering the treatment room."

This proactive alert system extends to specialized areas like the hospital's two Behavioral Health Rooms. In these secure spaces, the digital whiteboards are purpose-built to be fully recessed, ligature-free, and protected by a durable face, ensuring they cannot be weaponized or used for self-harm. By integrating safety features directly into the communication infrastructure, the hospital is creating a more secure environment that allows staff to focus on providing care with reduced fear of assault.

The Broader Trend: Integrating Smart Tech into Healthcare

McLaren Bay's implementation is part of a massive wave of digital transformation across the healthcare industry. The global market for clinical communication and collaboration solutions is booming, projected to grow from USD 2.6 billion in 2024 to over USD 4.8 billion by 2029. This growth is fueled by the urgent need to replace outdated, fragmented communication methods—like pagers and manual whiteboards—with seamless, integrated systems.

However, integrating new technology with a hospital's complex ecosystem of existing software, particularly its core EHR, is a significant undertaking. Hospitals often face challenges with interoperability, high implementation costs, and the potential for workflow disruptions during the transition. Successfully navigating these hurdles requires careful planning, robust staff training, and a phased rollout strategy to minimize friction. MEDI+SIGN's approach, which emphasizes tailoring the deployment to existing workflows and requiring no direct data entry from clinical staff, aims to mitigate these common pain points.

By automating the data flow from the EHR, the system not only ensures accuracy but also gives valuable time back to nurses and doctors—time that is better spent at the bedside providing direct patient care rather than updating a manual board. This efficiency gain, combined with improved communication and safety, presents a powerful value proposition for hospital administrators looking to optimize operations and improve both patient outcomes and staff retention. The move by McLaren Bay Region serves as a compelling case study in how strategic technology adoption can yield tangible benefits across an entire department.

The competitive landscape for these solutions is vibrant, with companies like eVideon, GetWellNetwork, and Symtech Solutions all offering technologies aimed at enhancing the hospital environment. This market activity signals a clear industry consensus: the future of patient care is digital, integrated, and intelligent. By investing in a system that simultaneously addresses patient anxiety and staff safety, McLaren Bay Region is not just installing new screens; it is implementing a forward-thinking blueprint for the modern emergency department, one where technology fosters a safer and more humane experience for all.