Smart Rooms, Smarter Care: Northwell Health’s Human-First Approach

Andy Figallo, VP of Partner Success, explores Northwell's human-centered approach to innovation, with a focus on using smart room technology to enhance both patient and employee experiences.

This Patient Experience Week, we are proud to celebrate healthcare organizations that create exceptional patient and staff experiences. Our mission is to modernize the healthcare journey through innovation and intuitive technology that empowers patients and all who care for them.  

Even without a themed awareness week driving attention, patient experience is still a top priority across the industry. Recent articles from Modern Healthcare and Healthcare Innovation highlight how smart room technology helps streamline care coordination. The payoff? Better patient experience, stronger loyalty, and more efficient clinical workflows.

One of our client partners, Northwell Health, spoke at the HIMSS25 conference on the role that smart room technology plays in enhancing both patient and employee experience. Joseph Narvaez, AVP, Business Intelligence in the Office of Patient & Customer Experience at Northwell Health and Juan Contreras, CPXP, Director of Patient Experience at North Shore University Hospital presented on Northwell Health’s approach to patient-centered care, and how they strategically implemented the Vibe Health platform to support that effort.

Northwell's methodology began with first understanding the needs of its patients and staff.

“We came at this initiative from a human-centered experience design perspective," explained Joseph Narvaez. "We were focused on improving the experience for both our patients and our team members.”

Read on to learn more about how the team at Northwell designed and implemented smart room technology for enhanced patient and employee experience.

‍Give Patients Control

Hospital stays can leave patients feeling helpless when decisions are made for them. Northwell's strategy was to return autonomy to patients by providing self-service options.

With these tools, patients can customize their meals to fit medical dietary restrictions, request assistance or services without relying on the overused call bell, and stay entertained with familiar streaming platforms by bringing a sense of normalcy to an otherwise clinical environment. It’s about shifting from “just being treated” to “being involved.”

‍Give Staff Tools to Help

Smart room technology doesn't just benefit patients. It significantly impacts workflows for staff. Joseph Narvaez explained, “It’s not just about the tech. It’s about how you integrate it into existing workflows to streamline the process that nurses and clinical team members experience every day.”

At Northwell, for example, service requests from patient rooms route directly to appropriate departments, such as environmental services, through Microsoft Teams, allowing staff to address needs efficiently. Care teams know what they're walking into when entering a room, and can focus on meaningful care rather than administrative tasks.

In another use case, Northwell is poised to apply additional functionality that works with Real-Time Location System (RTLS) badges. With this integration, the system can detect when specific care team members enter the room and automatically adjust the whiteboard display to show clinically relevant information. When they leave, the display returns to patient-friendly information, creating opportunities for more personalized and context-aware interactions.

‍Reduce Anxiety with Real-Time Communication

An unfamiliar environment, complex information, and the unpredictable nature of hospital stays naturally create anxiety and stress for patients and their families.

Northwell implemented Vibe Health's Insight digital whiteboards to give patients real-time information about their care team, upcoming procedures, and personal care considerations. This transparency and real-time integration help patients understand what to expect and who is caring for them.

“We wanted to understand each patient’s needs,” explained Juan Contreras, CPXP. “We’ve seen firsthand how proactive and up-to-date communication reduces stress and builds trust in the care team.”

Supplement Patient Education

One of the key demands from the nursing teams during Northwell’s smart room implementation was how to deliver diagnosis-driven education, whether for medication, dietary restrictions, or discharge instructions.

The team designed a process to incorporate personalized education videos that patients can review at their own pace. This reinforces learning and better prepares patients for discharge, while allowing nurses to use their bedside time more meaningfully.

Continuous Improvement Through Real-Time Feedback

The team at Northwell understood the need for immediate feedback on patient experience. “We can’t always round on every patient, but we want to ensure we’re able to meet their needs throughout their stay,” explained Juan Contreras.

The system captures patient feedback via surveys throughout their stay, allowing staff to proactively address concerns or celebrate positive experiences. This continuous feedback loop gives patients a voice and provides the care team with information they need to improve care.

As we recognize Patient Experience Week 2025, it’s clear that meaningful improvements in care don’t come from buzzwords or one-size-fits-all solutions. They come from listening, adapting, and designing with real people in mind. Northwell Health’s thoughtful use of smart hospital room technology shows how a human-centered, tech-enabled approach can return control to patients, streamline staff workflows, and create more personalized, less stressful hospital stays.

At Vibe Health by eVideon, we’re proud to support healthcare innovators who see patient experience not as a week-long celebration, but as a daily commitment.

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For more on Northwell Health’s approach to enhanced patient and employee experience, check out these resources:

For more information on our Vibe Health smart room platform, contact us at hello@evideon.com.