Designing a groundbreaking patient care experience
Improving the care experience with a science-based solution
Philips Ambient Experience integrates dynamic lighting, sound, and video to create an engaging environment designed to ease patient stress during the procedure and positively impact workflow and productivity. These solutions provide patients with active relaxation and positive distraction to ensure better patient compliance.
The Ambient Experience model is loosely based upon Barlow’s Model of Anxiety. This explains how an anxiety causing event can start a negative spiral in dysfunctional cognitive performance.
Philips scientists, designers, and architects developed these solutions to help suppress the physiological response to stress through creation of a soothing care environment. The intent is to instill confidence in the patient and staff that the experience will be a good one.
Causes of patient stress:
Leads to negative feelings:
Solutions:
Results:
Our customers confirm that Ambient Experience helps them improve the patient experience, reducing the patient’s anxiety and thereby increasing first-time-right imaging.”
Werner Satter
General Manager of Healthcare Environment and Experience Design at Philips
Ambient Experience is founded on these design principles:
Comfort – create an environment that contributes to the ease and well-being of patients, families, and clinical personnel
Personalization – give the patient a sense of control over their experience by allowing them to interact with their care environment
Workflow – remove disjointed, cluttered, and isolated work areas that adversely impact staff efficiency and satisfaction
Contact – maximize interaction between medical personnel and patients by decreasing physical barriers
What are the elements of an Ambient Experience solution?
Ambient Experience is a proven, fully scalable solution tailored to the individual institution’s unique requirements. However, there are a consistent set of core elements.
Active relaxation themes
Themes are an important feature of Ambient Experience, helping patients feel engaged and providing them with positive distraction and a feeling of control. Ambient Experience can access more than 9 hours of thematic content for different age groups, cultures, and personal tastes. The themes are developed to calm the patient and are based on Healing Art guidelines and experience research.
Dynamic lighting, sound, and video
A proprietary control system integrates dynamic lighting, sound, and video to provide both positive distraction for the patient and an opportunity to personalize an otherwise intimidating environment. The Ambient Experience theme or color selection and pre-set functionality are accessed with a touchscreen interface. Moreover, patients or staff can connect their own devices to the Ambient Experience system to comfort with personal audio and video.
Room design, site planning, and project management
Site-specific recommendations are provided to optimize the clinical area regarding workflow and storage, including opportunities to reduce clutter for a more soothing environment. These recommendations are incorporated into the standard equipment site plans.
| 1. Side wall projection |
| 2. Rounded corners |
| 3. Audio system |
| 4. Ceiling lighting element ‘Halo’ |
| 5. Integrated coil cabinets |
| 6. Dynamics LED spot lights |
| 7. Floor island |
| 8. In-bore Connect |
| 1. Side wall projection |
| 2. Rounded corners |
| 3. Audio system |
| 4. Ceiling lighting element ‘Halo’ |
| 5. Integrated coil cabinets |
| 6. Dynamics LED spot lights |
| 7. Floor island |
| 8. In-bore Connect |
Specific enhancements are available per modality, such as In-bore Connect for positive visual distraction during an MRI exam and automated breathhold support for CT exams. A Pediatric Coaching solution brings child-focused stress relief to the youngest patients.
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Our scientifically designed themes are varied and grouped for different patient interests
Applicable across clinical areas
Ambient Experience designs support radiology, cardiology, oncology, emergency departments, pediatric services, and a host of other areas, resulting in an improved patient and staff experience, and smooth operational and clinical processes. Validated templated room designs can help support specific procedures for different clinical areas, which are part of all our Ambient Experience solutions.
Enhancing the patient experience across
clinical applications
Clinical versatility allows broad effectiveness
From radiology settings to interventional cardiology and oncology suites – from preparation, procedure, and post-procedure environments to emergency departments, waiting rooms, and other patient/family areas – Ambient Experience brings open, stress-free surroundings to support patient comfort and clinician satisfaction
Success by the numbers
As proof of this success, Ambient Experience is in use at more than 2,500 institutions around the world. A 2020 survey of the installed base revealed the following1:
Patient experience
Enhancing the patient experience can help improve efficiency as well as patient and staff satisfaction.
Ambient Experience for pediatrics
Turning the imaging exam journey into a positive healthcare experience.
Related practice areas
1Ambient Experience installed base study 2020
