3 Ways to Enhance Your Patient Experience in Your Waiting Area

The new buzzword is Patient Experience. Everyone is trying to understand it, measure it, and improve it. Most of this effort is focused on the back room and post care treatment and communication. However, one of the most important areas continues to be ignored- your waiting area. That is the first impression that you make on your patient- every time they see you. By taking these simple steps, you will see the Patient Experience get enhanced and scores rise.

1. Modernize the Décor, Furniture, and Front “Window”. Just like in your house, it is amazing what a fresh coat of paint, some reupholstered chairs and carpeting can do to improve the look of your office. Add in a patient registration kiosk and an open floor plan for the front desk and you will have a new office!

2. Update Your Media Offerings. Replace your outdated magazines, pamphlets and cable TV with an integrated HDTV-based platform that enables your patients to be educated on ways to improve their healthy lifestyle, manage their chronic diseases, and informed on where they fall in the patient queue. Halo Health can help you with an integrated digital patient education plan that is customized to your practice and patient demographics as well as personalized magazines and pamphlets- all for under $100 a week.

3. Improve Your Staff Training. Take being patient centric seriously and invest in customer service training for any staff member that deals with patients. Being taught how to handle difficult patients tactfully and professionally will help not only that difficult patient, but every patient who hears how the issue was resolved.

Your waiting area is very important to increasing the quality of your patient experience. Do not ignore it; it may be the one part of your office that you can receive a tangible payback. For more information, contact Jim@haloheals.com or at 856-520-8655.