Woman patient waiting at hospital Doctors Waiting Room

How To Improve The Patient Waiting Room Experience

Do you want to improve patient wating room experience?

You might have tried new furniture, relaxing music, or maybe even something for the kids; all of these are great, and effective in their own way, but the MOST effective way to improve patient experience is through the TV.

9 out of 10 waiting areas have a TV.
If you’re one of those nine, this article is for you. If you’re the 1 in 10 that doesn’t have a TV, definitely consider getting one; a good, rightly-sized television for your wall costs a lot less than you might think — but beware of anything saying FREE TV FOR MEDICAL OFFICES.

How Does TV Improve Patient Waiting Room Experience?

It doesn’t — not on its own. You need the right technology to truly improve patient experience; cable and satellite TV just isn’t enough. In fact, traditional TV services actually do more harm than good. The list of reasons why it’s a bad idea is too long for this article, however you can read about the top 3 reasons here. It all boils down to a custom TV network being the wiser, more strategic choice when it comes to waiting room television.

Did You Know? Hospitals, urgent cares, and dentists are steadily moving away from cable in favor of custom TV networks.

Custom TV software that’s specifically designed for waiting areas are built with your visitors, and your brand, at heart; whereas cable and satellite was only ever built for the home setting. It isn’t, and was never, a fit for medical offices. What makes custom television work so well are the features that come with it. Features such as entertaining content, games & trivia, and educational programming do wonders to improve the patient waiting room experience.

What can a Custom TV Network do for your Medical Office?

Custom TV networks go above and beyond delivering fun and interesting content to your visitors; it’s a safe and effective way to communicate with your patients. Customizable TV programming can be made to split the screen into content + side messaging — where visitors will anything you upload from ads promoting services, to important reminders.

Custom TV networks are a great way to gently remind visitors to wash their hands and practice social distancing!

This is an effective strategy because people are naturally drawn to the TV. If you put a different message on a big sign, a poster, and a TV — you can bet that most people would be able to tell you what was on the television. TVs are engaging, and guaranteed to get noticed. More importantly, when you mix your messaging with videos that are entertaining, viewers are going to be a lot more receptive to what you have to say in addition to creating a better patient waiting room experience.

Getting Started with your Custom TV Network

The more you know, the better — that goes for just about everything, and double for custom TV networks. The best advice when it comes to shopping is to AVOID anything that claims to be “FREE TV FOR WAITING ROOMS.” If you’d like to know why you should avoid these services, you can read all about the top five reasons here. You should also be careful about signing lengthy contracts. Not all contracts are bad, but you should always know exactly what you’re getting; it’s hard, if not impossible to back out of most contracts.

It’s Relevant TV is the best place to start if you’re new, or serious about improving the patient waiting room experience at your medical office. Chat with the TV experts at ItsRelevant.com if you have any specific questions, or call and schedule a meeting with them for a closer look at the technology itself. Finding the right TV for your waiting area doesn’t have to be complicated; take your time, do your research, and talk to whomever you can about features.

Below are some additional articles that might help your search for a custom TV network:

What Makes the Best Waiting Room TV Software the Best?

Top 3 Waiting Room TV Services for Medical Offices

Top 5 Features to Look for in Medical Waiting Room TV Software