aReception at Brno Children’s Hospital: A Modern Solution for Patient Navigation

University Hospital Brno – Children’s Hospital is one of the key healthcare facilities in the Czech Republic. It provides top-level care to pediatric patients from across Moravia and, due to its scale and expertise, ranks among the most important children’s hospitals in the country.

The hospital complex includes several pavilions and outpatient clinics, which often makes navigation difficult for patients and their companions. Although information boards and staff are available, their capacity is quickly exhausted during the day, and visitors repeatedly turn to nurses or reception desks with questions that can be efficiently automated.

Potřeba modernizace recepce

Ensuring Easy Navigation Within the Hospital Complex

Natural Communication with Visitors

24/7 Availability Without Waiting Time

In the Brno Children’s Hospital, a large number of newly arriving patients and their parents move through the facility each day, often having difficulty navigating the extensive hospital complex. As a result, visitors frequently get lost and ask hospital staff or passersby for directions, which increases the workload of hospital employees. An alternative is to obtain information at the central admissions desks, but this extends the waiting time and reduces check-in efficiency. The hospital was looking for a solution that would enable easy navigation for patients and their parents within the facility, be easy to understand, and allow for natural communication, similar to asking hospital staff for help. A key requirement was also 24/7 availability to ensure assistance is accessible to visitors at any time.

Benefits of Using aReception

visitors served monthly
100 +
questions answered monthly
100 +
hours of staff time saved
ø 0

Considered Solutions

Information Boards

A traditional solution with basic navigation. Disadvantages include a lack of interactivity, complicated updates, and challenges in implementing multiple languages.

Staff
Expansion

Providing information through staff would be the most comfortable option, but it is costly and complicated in terms of multilingual support. Additionally, 24/7 operation would incur high expenses.

Interactive Map Kiosk

A flexible solution with support for multiple languages, but it often lacks sufficient interactivity and may be difficult for less tech-savvy visitors.

aReception Terminal with AI Avatar

This option offers an interactive avatar with natural voice communication, touchscreen controls, and the ability to display interactive maps that can be scanned to a mobile phone using a QR code.

Summary of the Decision

The hospital management chose the 4️⃣ fourth option, primarily due to the need for greater interactivity and the ability to provide natural voice communication.

Project Timeline

Thanks to the smooth implementation process, the project was launched as planned, and the terminal began serving visitors in the hospital’s main hall already during the pilot phase.

How Does the AI Reception Work?

1

Interactive Terminal with AI Avatar

An interactive aReception terminal was installed in the hospital’s main hall, featuring a moving avatar with expressive facial animations, capable of communicating naturally both by voice and in writing. The terminal provides map data with detailed navigation to clinics, pharmacies, and other important locations. It also offers operational information, such as opening hours and parking conditions.

2

Voice Interaction and Navigation

Visitors can communicate using voice and ask, for example: “Where is the surgery department?” or “How do I get to the pharmacy?“. The avatar then responds both by voice and text, displaying a map with the route highlighted.

3

Maps and QR Codes for Mobile Navigation

The terminal offers the option to scan a map via QR code, which the visitor can save to their mobile phone. This provides quick and convenient navigation without needing to use the terminal again.

Sample Navigation Map

Scan the QR code with your phone to view a sample navigation map. You can also view the map directly on your computer.

4

Button Controls on the Touchscreen

For easier use, the terminal offers buttons for quick selection, such as for navigation or service lookup. This mode is also suitable for visitors with hearing impairments.

5

Control Over Provided Information

Due to the hospital’s requirements, responses are not generated directly by AI but are selected from predefined answers. This ensures 100% control over the output and eliminates the risk of incorrect information.

6

Multilingual Support

The terminal supports Czech and English, with Ukrainian under consideration. Language switching occurs automatically based on the visitor’s spoken language.

7

Installation Requirements

The terminal required a VESA mount, electrical power supply (230V), and a wired internet connection.

Cost Calculation and Return on Investment

The digital guide Florence answers on average over 600–700 specific visitor questions each month.

If these inquiries were handled by medical staff, it would mean approximately 10–17 extra hours per monthunnecessarily spent time that, thanks to Florence, can instead be devoted to direct patient care.

Florence is thus an effective support for visitor orientation while also saving the hospital time and budget.

📊 Estimated Savings

  • Time Savings: up to 50 hours per month.
  • Reduced Staff Workload: thanks to automated responses to recurring questions.
  • Financial Impact: considering typical labor costs in healthcare, the solution can have a significant effect on operational efficiency.

💡 Return on Investment

  • Flexible Deployment Models: the solution can be tailored to the individual needs and budget of any healthcare facility.
  • Fast Return on Investment: in many cases, the investment in the digital assistant pays off within just a few months of operation.
  • Scalability: suitable for a single department or multiple pavilions—with the option to expand as needed.

Results and Benefits for the Hospital

The implementation of the aReception solution brought significant benefits to Brno Children’s Hospital:

The digital guide Florence represents a modern, efficient, and scalable solution that improves service quality and delivers financial benefits. If you’re interested in trying the aReception solution in your organization, we offer the option of a 2-month terminal trial.

Press

We decided to implement the aReception solution primarily due to the need to reduce the workload on staff and improve navigation for patients and their companions within our facility. The digital guide Florence has proven to be a reliable assistant in answering frequently asked questions that would otherwise burden nurses or front desk staff.

We greatly appreciate the ease of use and clear user interface, which even older visitors can manage. Thanks to the solution, we now have better insight into the movement of people and can guide patients more effectively to the correct departments. We also value the quick implementation and the supportive approach of the aReception team, who were helpful throughout the entire deployment process.

MUDr. Ivo Rovný, MBA
Director, University Hospital Brno

Would You Like a Similar Solution at Your Facility?

We’ll be happy to show you how an automated reception can improve efficiency in your facility as well.