What do patients really want in a doctor's office?

A quarter of an hour, half an hour, or even a whole hour. Long waiting times at the doctor's office are common in German waiting rooms, even if you have made an appointment beforehand. Combined with the incessant coughing of the person sitting next to him or the uncertainty before the pending diagnosis, waiting forever can cause headaches for one or the other patient — if they don't already have them. Failure to meet an appointment can also result in missing another appointment, which affects the patient's mood and opinion of the practice.

However, emergencies or other events that take a long time and cause delays can never be completely ruled out. It is therefore all the more important to ensure the well-being of patients in the waiting room at all times in order to reduce stress levels or lower their heart rate, which has a positive effect on health. This in turn leads to satisfied patients who recommend your practice and attract more people to you.

In this blog article, we'll tell you what patients expect of your doctor's office and how do you live up to it. We will also show you how you can design your practice environment to make your visit to the doctor as pleasant as possible.

Make patients feel good through friendly, helpful practice staff

As in almost every industry, friendly staff and outstanding service are also essential in medical practices. If the reception staff is already rude, it casts a bad light on your entire practice. Employees should therefore always be friendly and respectful, even with impatient, difficult patients. This starts with the personal greeting with a name and leads, for example, to assistance with filling out forms. A special service that many people also appreciate is the offer to be informed in good time about waiting times or changes of appointments. In this way, they don't waste their valuable time in the waiting room and can still pursue other appointments and obligations. In addition, you can keep existing patients informed of current waiting times and give them the opportunity to leave the practice again if necessary for errands or the like.

A feel-good atmosphere in the waiting room with a positive influence on patients' well-being

For patients who frequently visit doctors, the well-thought-out furnishing and pleasant atmosphere of a waiting room are crucial, as they sometimes spend a lot of time there. But all other patients can also be positively influenced by a beautiful waiting room and an appealing practice. You should therefore consider the following points when setting up your medical practice.

The design of the waiting room starts with a sensible layout combined with patient-friendly furnishings. In order not to have to carry around your jacket and not to occupy any more seats, a cloakroom is required. This should offer enough space, be placed in the entrance area and be easily visible. In addition, there should be enough ergonomic seating options so as not to unnecessarily burden the health status of individual people.

Another not negligible part of designing a doctor's office is choosing the right color, which can have major psychological effects. For example, blue has a calming effect and lowers the heart rate, whereas red stimulates metabolism but also increases excitement. Because of its symbolic effect as a sign of cleanliness, white is still one of the most popular colors in the waiting room. Warm yellow is also very popular because it looks friendly and creates a pleasant atmosphere.

In addition to the color scheme, an adequate lighting concept in medical practices also plays a decisive role in patients' well-being. Depending on the intensity and color of the light, people can be influenced both positively and negatively. Warm white light is usually the most pleasant, as it makes faces appear friendly and does not look artificial. In addition, there should be a balanced interplay of natural and electrically generated light for a tolerable environment.

Room elements that should also not be missing in any medical practice are simply plants. Plants, such as orchids or even palm trees, contribute significantly to patients' well-being, as they not only look good, but also positive, psychological influences Bring with you. In this way, flowers or other greenery have a relaxing effect and reduce stress, which can prevent severe nervousness in front of the doctor.

Cleanliness as a top priority

Despite beautiful furnishing elements, colors, lighting and plants, any feel-good atmosphere is void if there is a lack of hygiene and cleanliness in your practice. Since waiting rooms contain an unusually high number of viruses and bacteria, certain measures and precautions should be taken to minimize the risk of infection. As a practice operator, you should therefore do everything in your power to ensure the cleanliness of your premises and thus the health of your patients.

Cleaning and disinfecting the premises several times a day should be a matter of course. In addition, furniture should be made of wood or plastic so that it is easy to clean and is not a source of pathogens. The same applies to toys that should not be made of fabric or plush, if a children's corner is part of the practice. You can also prevent the spread of bacteria by allowing doors to the treatment room to be opened automatically and without having to touch handles that have already been touched countless times. Cloakrooms should also offer enough space so that jackets and coats do not have to hang on top of each other. Since patients themselves are of course also interested in the highest hygiene standards, they should be able to clean their hands with disinfectant dispensers, which, in the best case, are triggered by infrared sensors without contact. In addition, signs in the bathroom can provide explanations to remind you to wash your hands correctly.

Keep patients happy despite long waiting times

If the waiting room is called “wait until the doctor arrives” again, various distractions can provide relief. If there are longer delays due to unforeseen circumstances such as emergencies, it is important to provide employment opportunities so as not to strain patients' patience even further.

Children in particular quickly get restless, which is why setting up a children's corner can be worth its weight in gold. Of course, the design and size of children's corners differ depending on the type of practice. In principle, however, they should have sufficiently well-maintained toys and should always be thoroughly cleaned to prevent infections and disease transmission.

But adults are of course also reluctant to wait and are grateful for any employment or entertainment opportunity. Although the reading circle and other magazines offer a certain amount of entertainment, they bore the majority of patients in the long run. You only have a limited selection of articles and you waste time reading magazines that don't really interest you.

WLAN marketing package from Socialwave for WLAN with mutual benefits

Medical practices are therefore well advised to keep pace with the times and provide their patients with free WiFi. In this way, they can decide for themselves how to pass the waiting time, which magazine they want to read online or whether they want to do something else. To make this possible, the WLAN marketing package from Socialwave, which offers mutual benefits both for the patient and for you as a practice.

Patients on the one hand have free access to the Internet and do not have to access mobile data. Plus, you don't have to ask for complicated usernames and passwords, but you can freely choose how you want to log in. Whether it's Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or email, patients can decide for themselves which login suits them best. Once logged in, the waiting time flies by and patient satisfaction increases while impatience decreases at the same time.

Medical practices, on the other hand, benefit not only from satisfied patients, but also from their positive online reviews, as a result of Social media and referral marketing is made possible by Socialwave. In this way, you strengthen patient loyalty and stand out from the competition, which will allow more people to find their way into your practice. This is sometimes due to newfound, positive reviews on google or Jameda attributed.

You can also find further helpful tips on the WLAN marketing package in medical practices here. You are also welcome to contact us for further information contact and sign up for our newsletter.

‍