Prior to 2020, more than two-thirds of patients reported that the worst part of their visit to a doctor was being in the waiting room.
Post-pandemic, the solutions that previously were aimed at improving this experience — such as magazines, shared tablets or toys at the pediatrician — are no longer viable options. Not only are contactless, digital solutions needed for safety purposes, they’re also what patients have come to expect.
Luckily, many of the experiences that would benefit from digitization can be addressed using technology you already have in your clinic: your waiting room TVs. Here are some clever ways to use your screens to provide a digital-friendly patient experience.
Check-in and Follow Up Forms
No matter how much hand sanitizer you make available, patients no longer feel comfortable using communal clipboards and pens to fill out paper forms. Plus, the entire analog experience is tedious and inefficient.
When a patient enters your clinic, have your digital signage greet them instead, offering a QR code for them to scan so they can check in online. Allowing patients to fill out forms on their personal device reduces cross-contamination between patients and adds a layer of convenience to the process. Many digital forms can have some information pre-loaded. Plus, our phones store much of our personal data, and autofill will happily make digital forms much easier to fill out.
Mobile check-in removes anxiety around sharing materials or remembering personal information like social security numbers, adding to a more pleasant patient experience.
Education and Entertainment
Let’s be honest. Magazines and kids toys have never been the most effective way to reduce perceived wait time, or to inform patients without scaring them — but your screens can do both.
Leveraging digital signage software on your TVs allows you to play soothing entertainment, like nature videos or cartoons, whenever you need it, without the stressful or irrelevant ads that you encounter with cable TV. In addition, some digital signage gives you the ability to create educational, interactive trivia. Patients can play along directly from their phone, creating a contact-free but engaging educational experience.
After implementing UPshow on their waiting room TVs, one clinic saw an 80% increase in patient engagement with on-screen content, and 50% of patients referenced the information in conversations with their doctor.
Review Generation
Satisfied patients are great. Satisfied patients who share their positive experience with friends, family and the internet are even better.
Take advantage of patients who are already engaging with your screens by displaying requests for reviews. Including a QR code alongside the request allows patients to take action right away, while the request is still top of mind. A quick scan of the code directs them to whichever review site you prefer, allowing your clinic to direct word-of-mouth where it’s needed most.
Good reviews of your clinic not only increase patient census, they also reaffirm the loyalty of patients who have shared their positive experience, making them even more grateful.
Successful clinics don’t keep their innovation behind the front desk — they use their resources to improve every aspect of the patient experience. Digital signage is a simple, cost-effective way to modernize your clinic’s waiting room. Want to see more? Ask us for a custom demo.
