AV in healthcare | World Health Day 2025

AV in healthcare unpacked

We’ve all accessed a health service in our lifetime. Whether public or private, it allows our communities to flourish, safe in the knowledge that if we fell ill, someone would be there to help.

And yet, healthcare organisations worldwide struggle with having the capacity to provide high-quality care to patients. They are overwhelmed with constrained budgets, staff shortages and clinician burnout.

To reform healthcare services, key decision-makers need to address several areas. These include reducing patient wait times, improving ambulance response times and increasing the quality of patient care.

Businesses must be resourceful and seek new methods to increase the efficiency of their services.

AV technology supports global health concerns

This World Health Day, we’re investigating what role AV plays in healthcare and how it can solve present and future industry challenges.

World Health Day champions the rights of everyone to access quality health services, education and information.

This year’s theme is ‘Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures’, focussing on increasing efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, prioritising women’s health and wellbeing.

This work is critical, especially since currently, four out of five countries are off track to meet targets for improving maternal survival by 2030.

AV health solutions include dynamic displays, devices and software that create better healthcare experiences for all.

The latest solutions facilitate synchronised information sharing and training opportunities for healthcare professionals and patients.

These provisions could prove vital in an emergency. In time-critical situations where workers must make lightning-fast decisions, AV provides vital comms to replace manual processes of the past, making way for more rapid and effective working.

Let’s explore key AV technology applications in healthcare.

AV for remote conferencing and medical imagery

One of the main ways AV can boost the healthcare industry is with remote diagnoses and treatment and advanced medical imaging.

Jenny Hicks, Head of Market Intelligence at Midwich Group, said in a recent AV Magazine feature on AV in healthcare, “Medical grade displays are certified for use in diagnostics and operating theatres, and in medical training facilities, we see simulation labs making use of AR/VR and 3D imaging.

“…[W]ith vast improvements in latency, we now see wider adoption of telemedicine, not just for consulting but even for remotely controlled or instructed surgery.”

We’ll explore the possibilities for remote training and teaching in more detail later - but for now, let’s focus on the impact of medical displays and telemedicine. Professional-grade displays certified for medical imaging can aid accurate treatment planning, while telemedicine opens new avenues for increasing the capacity of hospitals and clinics.

Facilitating video conferencing with remote specialists can save patient and employee time, offering a streamlined way to shorten wait lists and pool knowledge.

Collaboration devices, such as video bars and interactive displays, enable access to critical healthcare for those who may struggle to travel to in-person centres.

Plus, quicker, smarter multidisciplinary team meetings streamline medical processes - meaning no more working in silos.

AI for administration and data management

Speaking of smart, nowadays, implementing AI in healthcare is common practice. More than 80% of health system executives globally expect the widespread use of generative AI to have either a “significant impact” (26%) or “moderate impact” (55%) on their organisations in 2025.

From generative AI automating administrative tasks to machine learning impacting real-time data processing and analysis, there are many ways AI can transform health services for the better.

For example, it can help manage and digitise electronic health records, leading to fewer processing mistakes from human error.

With this comes the need for AI regulations to ensure its use is being carefully monitored. This is essential for maintaining data security in these public-facing organisations.

The EU AI Act addresses AI use in healthcare, with similar regulations being imposed in the US. Discover everything you need to know about the EU Act in Connected.

AV for hospital wayfinding

Here’s where digital signage lends a hand - in patient wayfinding and enhancing patient care.

These displays deliver real-time updates on appointment schedules or signpost different wings of the building - sometimes also calling patients to rooms. Interactive smart displays offer educational content about medical procedures and treatment options.

The latter empowers patients enquiring about their own or their loved one’s health to learn more about their conditions.

This helps remove the stigma of going to the doctor and enables patients to make better, more informed decisions about their health.

AV for healthcare training

AV doesn’t just present opportunities for patients, even though that does play a key part. It’s also designed for healthcare employees and can form an essential part of their training.

Through livestreaming directly from the surgical suite or through pre-recorded videos, healthcare institutions can provide remote learning sessions to students and junior staff.

Demonstrations of new and evolving medical techniques, as well as lectures, can be performed with remote video conferencing solutions.

Cutting-edge clinical simulation suites provide true-to-life scenarios for healthcare students to practise complex procedures, giving professionals the ability to observe and feedback on trainee performance.

AV for accessible patient care

AV solutions must be accessible to be truly valuable to health services. Luckily, AV devices have numerous functions that can assist disabled employees by providing visual and accessibility aids.

To give a couple of examples, integrating intelligent displays with mobile functionality helps all patients access medical services and wayfinding features, with text-to-speech providing access for blind patients.

For those with a visual impairment, audio announcements make all the difference - and high-quality microphones and speakers installed correctly within noise-absorption infrastructure help facilitate this.

Screen flipping for wheelchair users is another helpful feature, enabling users to magnify and highlight content as necessary. As mentioned previously, video conferencing can help those with limited mobility to access vital appointments and remote care without fuss.

AV in healthcare: an essential investment

In summary, AV technology is a crucial tool for healthcare businesses aiming to provide better services to their patients and tackle industry challenges.

Installing an efficient, integrated AV system has a plethora of advantages, from connected learning to addressing admin backlogs.

If you’re interested in viewing the latest AV solutions for healthcare, head to our dedicated vendor pages and discover a suite of state-of-the-art product offerings. Browse now.