Getting to a patient's room or finding the right clinic for an appointment can be stressful, but Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) leaders believe a mobile app, called WalkWays, as well as a texting tool that provides easily understood, visual directions will help everyone find their way.

"VUMC has more than 11.5 million square feet of space so when those of us who work here have trouble finding our way, it is even more challenging for our patients and visitors to get to the right location, " said Titus Daniels, MD, MPH, MMHC, executive director of the Vanderbilt Medical Group (VMG) "We are always looking for ways to improve the experiences of patients and their families, and we believe this technology will help people get to where they want to be with greater ease."

In 2014, then Nashville Mayor Karl Dean unveiled a "wayfinding app" at Music City Center, the city's 1.2 million-square-foot convention center. The app uses low-energy Bluetooth signals from a user's smartphone that interact with wall-mounted beacons. The app then sends photo-based, step-by-step directions to a requested location, such as the nearest restaurant, to the user's phone. VUMC leaders decided they wanted a similar system added to the Medical Center's miles of hallways.

They learned a Vanderbilt University faculty member, Jules White, PhD, assistant professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was the brain behind the system's technology. White had created a startup company, called ZH Solutions, through Vanderbilt's Center for Technology Transfer to provide indoor positioning systems in large buildings, and he was thrilled to bring the technology to the Medical Center campus.

The main hospital, The Vanderbilt Clinic, the north and south towers of Medical Center East, the Medical Arts Building, patient areas of Medical Center North (such as the Round Wing), and the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, as well as the entry landings for Central and East garages are included in the current app. A future expansion will include Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks.

The free app can be downloaded through the Apple and Google Play stores.