Although it’s important to maintain patient comfort and experience in other parts of your office, your waiting room is one of the most vital pieces of the puzzle. Unfortunately, many doctors, dentists, and chiropractors put updating their waiting rooms on the back burner because they don’t find it important. Because your patients will see your waiting room first, it’s the basis of their first impressions of your practice. Check out these quick tips for improving your waiting room to ensure your patients are comfortable and calm while they wait for their appointments.
Provide Entertainment and Snacks
Waiting is never fun, especially if it takes longer than anticipated. However, providing entertainment and snacks can make it more bearable. If you provide TVs, consider setting out the remotes so your patients can change the channel to watch what they want. Furthermore, make sure your magazine selection is wide and current.
You can’t go wrong with a make-your-own coffee bar, but you should also provide water and various tea options to accommodate everyone. Snacks don’t have to be expensive to be good and filling—consider granola bars, individually packaged nuts, or other grab-and-go options.
Decorate With Greenery
Decorating is crucial when it comes to your waiting room, as it can determine peoples’ moods when they enter your business. Your goal should be to create feelings of calmness, relaxation, and peace; therefore, you should choose earthy tones for the space. Whether your walls are blue, green, gray, or another neutral shade, you should consider decorating with greenery, real or faux. You can space it around the room, adorning table tops and bare floor areas to bring a bit of nature inside.
Space Out the Furniture
There’s nothing worse than having to choose between sitting by someone who’s visibly contagiously ill and someone with rambunctious children. With that said, choosing modern chairsand spacing them out throughout the room and breaking them up with tables is an excellent way to give everyone the privacy and comfort they deserve. Many patients want to sit away from people they don’t know, and you can respect that by creating an open space for them to choose their spot.
Offer Workspaces With Charging Stations
It’s no secret that most people are busy and always on the move. They may have booked their appointment in the middle of their day, but work and other obligations are still on their plate. With that in mind, you can offer workspaces with charging stations in the waiting room to give them a perfect place to continue their day despite being away from their regular routine.
With these quick tips for improving your waiting room, you can create the ultimate space to match your incredible practice. Your services speak for themselves, but your clients and patients deserve a proper waiting area to pass the time before their appointment.