Medical Office TV – Where Waiting Presents an Opportunity

It’s Relevant has been working with urgent cares, dentists, and medical offices across the country in order to improve patient experience by doing more with the TVs in their waiting rooms. When it comes to medical offices there aren’t a lot of television options for waiting rooms, and any practice that strives to put patients first will often invest in a waiting area TV service of some kind.

Choosing the Right Service.

Medical lobby TVs should never settle for basic cable. Between the dwell time of patients, and the amount of people that come in and out of the office on any given day, there’s a lot of opportunities to expose them to your brand, services, and reasons for them to come back – none of which is taken advantage of when cable is in the picture. Digital sinage software like It’s Relevant TV gives you the freedom to customize the TV in your waiting room, and is the ideal service when trying to make your waiting room more inviting.

Why the TV?

TVs are a great way to engage with people because you don’t have to tell someone to look at the screen for them to notice what’s on. With TVs being as prevalent as they are, people are used to watching them. Televisions are familiar and catch the eye better than posters, banners, or signs ever could.

Patients wait in waiting rooms. Hence the namesake. They wait to be seen and the wait can be a long one. During that time, if there is a TV present in the room then it’s fair game to assume that someone is going to look at it at some point. This is your prime opportunity. As they watch and you have their attention, you can be messaging to them.

What’s on the TV?

In the case of waiting rooms, the TVs we have seen are most often tuned to the news or some light programming with the patients’ comfort in mind. In practice this is a good gesture. However, in an age of rising technology, there exists an alternative. You can still offer patients comfort, but bring more for your practice at the same time.

It’s Relevant TV offers more than cable.

Cable is great for use at home. The programming that airs on television is intended for the comfort of living rooms where people sit down with the vested interest of watching TV. With the exception of the news, the average runtime of content on TV ranges from 30-60 minutes with an engaging plot or storyline. People in waiting rooms aren’t there to watch these shows. It doesn’t fit with the structure of a waiting room, whereas It’s Relevant’s TV’s short-form content is designed with the brief waiting period of patients in mind. IRTV provides short-form shows that are engaging and informative. They are the sort of thing you can walk away from with something interesting to talk about.

Amazon Fire Stick: Don’t Risk Sticking Your Business

Technology is Changing TV

Amazon Fire Stick, Chromecast, and Smart TVs are steadily emerging over the horizon, more so now than ever. With access to services like Netflix, Hulu, or HBO Go and devices that allow you to stream those services on your TV, cable is on its way out.

TV has come a long way since the 1920’s, and as we get closer to 2020, looking back on the history of television during the last one hundred years and seeing how far we’ve come is pretty amazing. Today, televisions are just about everywhere you go. Everywhere. And they have been for a while. That’s because TVs are a staple of technology – we use them to reach out to one another, stay informed, and keep ourselves entertained.

If you’re a business owner who caters to crowds, or often has people waiting or sitting for lengthy periods of time, then chances are you’ve got a TV within sight for the exact reasons just listed above. Which is great, the comfort of your customers is key – but in this rapidly advancing world of technology, it’s easy to get carried away when trying to build an inviting waiting room experience.

Between all the technology available to business owners coupled with the drive to maintain customer satisfaction, the ease of putting something up like Netflix powered by an Amazon Fire Stick is second nature. So why wouldn’t you do it? The answer is simple. Because it’s illegal.

NETFLIX TERMS:

The Netflix service and any content viewed through our service are for your personal and non-commercial use only. During your Netflix membership, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, license to access the Netflix service and view Netflix content through the service. Except for the foregoing limited license, no right, title or interest shall be transferred to you. You agree not to use the service for public performances.

Using those services with a “set it and forget it” mentality without regard for the licensing terms and conditions can be dangerous for your business. The people who enforce the rules on media licenses take this very seriously. For more information regarding why you should think twice about setting up services like that in your business, check out this article on using Netflix in your business.

Personal Use is Different than Business Use

In the end, the licensing rights tied with those services only applies to personal use. Setting them up in your business is a no-go. But if you think about it, TVs and plug-ins like Fire Stick and Chromecast were designed with the home setting in mind, not business settings anyway.

So you can’t use a Fire Stick in Your business to deliver any real TV content. Up until recently, this left you with only one real choice: cable TV. And while it’s legal to run cable in a business setting, cable TV isn’t designed for the benefit of your customers and your business. It’s Relevant TV is.

Custom TV from It’s Relevant

It’s Relevant TV bridges the gaps between TV, customer satisfaction, and business messaging using unique digital sinage software – creating a more inviting place for visitors. The service provides businesses with content and control that makes for an all around better TV experience. IRTV creates a custom TV network for each business with access to a vast library of original content divided into a number of categories you can pick and choose from. On top of the TV content with more meaningful controls, your business also gets room to advertise additional services, reach out to customers, and share your latest social media posts. It’s Relevant TV turns your television into a tool for your business.

Using Netflix & DVDs in Your Business: Don’t Put Yourself at Risk

There it is – did you read it? You probably saw it, but did you really read what it says? Me neither. At least not after years and years of seeing it, or a similar message at the beginning of every movie I’ve ever watched.

Well, in case you still haven’t read it, it says:

“Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution or exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures, video tapes, or video disc.”

So what does this mean exactly? In short, it means that if you own something like a DVD of a movie, or a CD, you can’t legally burn copies of that disc and sell them to people, or even hand them out for free. Nor are you allowed to show that movie or play that album for the general public without the expressed consent to do so. If you’re looking for a something you can play instead, take a look at It’s Relevant TV.

You might be wondering where the line is drawn, and it’s a fair question. Just like when you get a driver’s license that allows you to drive a car, when you buy anything like a DVD you’re buying the license to watch or listen to that media privately.

Now before you go taking a hammer to your home theater, it’s important to note that while those licenses are private, it doesn’t exclude friends and family from enjoying them as well – the means to actually traffic and enforce that would simply be ridiculous. So long as your viewing is limited to personal and non-commercial use, you’re not in violation of the Terms & Conditions.

Is it Legal for Me to Show Netflix in My Business?

In short: No.
But this is an easy question to clarify by looking at Netflix’s terms of service:

“The Netflix service and any content viewed through our service are for your personal and non-commercial use only. During your Netflix membership, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, license to access the Netflix service and view Netflix content through the service. Except for the foregoing limited license, no right, title or interest shall be transferred to you. You agree not to use the service for public performances.”

This is a prime example of how companies lay out licensing agreements. Does this mean you can’t show Finding Nemo in your waiting room? Unfortunately, you can’t. The difference between throwing the movie into your DVD player at home, and the TV at your office – is that one is at home (personal), and the other is a business (public). It’s the same reason you can’t buy a Taylor Swift CD and play her songs outside your store to attract customers. You can try, but it’s illegal, and it’s not good when you get caught. Companies take this sort of thing very seriously.

But Were DVDs or Netflix a Good Idea in the First Place?

When your visitors are at your location do they really want to watch a movie? Not really. They’re there for a reason and don’t want to be around long. People want to watch the TV as a distraction while they wait, but can’t be invested in a long-form program or movie.

The average time spent in a waiting room varies from business to business. Dentist offices come in at 5 to 10 minutes, whereas you could be waiting up to 20 minutes at a doctor’s office. Even if you could play the movies you wanted, a typical feature-length flick usually runs over or just under two hours. So unless you’re waiting over an hour for your car to be serviced, you’d only catch 1/12th or 1/6th of the movie – starting from who-knows-where.

The sort of programming that runs in a lobby should compliment the length of time people are going to be waiting there, with the notion that they’re not going to be fully invested in whatever’s on the screen.

So What Can You Play Instead?

It’s Relevant TV features a network of original content spanning across a vast selection of categories. And unlike a DVD or Netflix, all of the content is licensed for public display. From kid’s entertainment to the national news, the programs are on average two and a half minutes long – long enough to hold someone’s attention in a waiting room and feel as though they left entertained or informed.

Dentist Offices: Playing the Waiting Game

“The waiting, is the hardest part…”

-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

You don’t need to appreciate classic rock to agree that waiting rooms take their toll on more than just time. We’ve all been there, the rows of padded chairs with wooden armrests, the piles of magazines, the TV, and the plant in the corner that may or may not be plastic. It’s these elements, and more, that make up the traditionally dull waiting room experience we know so well.

But does it have to be dull?

Sure enough, plenty of businesses and offices work hard figuring out how to make a waiting room more inviting, and put forth a lot of effort into improving their lobbies for their clients. But no matter where you go, whenever you end up having to wait for more than a few minutes you’ll likely see a TV.

And there’s a reason for that. TVs are an effective distraction. TVs draw people’s attention, and they’re a familiar element that we’re used to looking at on a daily basis – providing a quiet atmosphere with the comfort and white noise of what’s on. While televisions are great in that respect, there are many reasons that cable and satellite TV are not the best options for your office.

When you’re waiting to be seen by someone, you aren’t necessarily invested in a long program when you’re expecting to miss some, or most of it, as soon as you’re called away. And in the case of having the TV turned to any one station or giving visitors control over the remote, with a waiting room full of people it’s impossible to cater to them all and it’s likely that someone is going to get alienated.

So what’s a business owner to do about that?

It’s Relevant TV for Dentists and It’s Relevant TV for Medical Offices work to address those issues and more. Each custom TV network airs original content pulled from a vast library of categories tailored specifically for the practice it’s in. The segments run for two and a half minutes on average – meaning they’re brief enough to cater to an audience with limited focus, and the categories are varied enough that everyone is bound to see something that interests them on some level.

IRTV compliments an atmosphere in which people are looking for a distraction and aren’t there to be entertained. Going beyond aired content, the service can also be used to reach out to those people in waiting. Posts, photos, and even videos from your social media can be uploaded and played for visitors to see.

Whether you’re introducing your staff, highlighting local events, or even showcasing other services your business provides; it’s worth taking a look at: It’s Relevant TV.

Dental Education Through TV: Brushing Up on Hygiene

“Brush your teeth twice a day, for two minutes. Once in the morning, and again before bedtime. And don’t forget to floss…”

– Every Dentist & Mother

The words every kid grows up hearing a thousand times. The very same words people often seem to forget despite the constant reminders. How is it that kids, and even some adults, throw oral hygiene out the window and neglect this most basic routine?

It all comes down to delivery. Good oral hygiene starts at home, and extends to the dentist’s office. From parents passing on good habits to their kids to dentists educating them on proper dental care. But how do you do it? How do you get the message across and stress the importance of taking care of your teeth? Aside from the words we all know, dentists use a number of aids to educate patients.

Post-visit, your dentist might sit with you one-on-one and go over the proper ways to brush your teeth. They might ask what kind of toothbrush, or brand of toothpaste you’re using, if you’re flossing, etc; maybe they even pull out that big pair of plastic teeth. Some dentists even hand out brochures on dental care or have them available in the lobby for all to see. And in this age of technology, you might even find blogs written by the dentists you visit.

But how effective is that in the long run?
Are patients seeing your content?

Reaching the patients is the key

Without being able to reach patients effectively you can’t pass on whatever it is you’re trying to say. It’s Relevant TV provides a unique and alternative solution to this problem…

Offices, waiting rooms, and even operatories, are often equipped with a television. Dentists’ TVs are usually tuned into something like the news, weather, or a talk show for white noise or casual comfort. In short, a custom Dental TV can run those same kinds of programs for less than it costs to run basic cable – and do more for your practice at the same time. With It’s Relevant, you can not only air those key channels, you can run original content you yourself produced and show it to the world.

Have a video introducing your doctors, or staff? A lovely office tour of the practice featured on your website? You could have that aired on your waiting room’s television – as well as any promotions or events you want to share with your patients. Connect with them, and present a more welcoming experience through a dental television network.

So going back to oral hygiene and getting the message across, how is TV a better platform for this? The answer is pretty straightforward, people watch TV. They watch it, and they pay attention to it – sometimes moreso than face to face.

TV has a lasting impact

Speaking from my own personal experiences, I recall a time years ago when I was young and my mother was bringing me to a new dentist. And in her motherly attempt to relieve me of anxiety, she casually mentioned that the dentist I was going to see “Has a TV in his office, so you can watch it during the visit.”

The comfort and distraction that the TV provided turned an otherwise dreadful experience into something less so, which is precisely why it was there in the first place, and are often found in waiting rooms and operatories today.

As a kid, or even an adult, that period of time in which you are at the dentist, you are always looking for something to take your mind off of what’s going on. The patient is invested, and focused – and can be entertained and informed with the programs you choose to put on the TV.

If you’d like to create a better environment for your patients, and connect with them more, it can be as simple as changing the channel on your TV. Schedule a free consultation with one of our TV experts to help reach your goals. You can call 203-588-0994 or email: sales{at}itsrelevant.com to set up a conversation.

Waiting Room Makeover: Controlled By an iPhone App?

It can take a long time to create a waiting room environment that you are 100% happy with for your visitors. You want people to feel comfortable, to be entertained, and also to be informed about all you have to offer. Buying thousands of dollars of furniture, changing the lighting, updating music and even creating the scents are some of the ways businesses and professionals are altering their environments. But what if there were an easier way to transform your space? And what if major changes could be made inexpensively from a smartphone app? It sounds like a fantasy, but it is now a reality.

The Easy & Inexpensive Solution

Televisions are the focal point of most waiting areas, but until now there was no way strategically integrate one in your environment. Introducing: It’s Relevant TV for iOS. Businesses and their employees can now personalize and control the content displayed on their televisions directly from their iPhones. The new application paired with a $99/month subscription allow professionals to take control. Ideal for hospitality businesses including medical offices, hotels, restaurants, and sports arenas, It’s Relevant TV helps businesses easily take control of the programming displayed on their televisions, while influencing visitor satisfaction, purchasing decisions and social media followership.

“It’s Relevant TV does exactly what our name says. We empower business owners to control the TVs and make the programming relevant to their customers,” said Jonathan Krackehl, CEO of It’s Relevant TV. Waiting is a part of any service business, but it doesn’t have be a point of frustration for yours. “Up until now most businesses have done one of two things: Either they chose a cable television station loosely relevant to their business, or they displayed a video or image loop that became redundant after a couple repetitions.”

Making the “Wait” Less of a “Weight” on Your Visitors

The company, Software Advice, asked more than 5-thousand people to rate how they felt about wait times. 64% said the wait would be more bearable with a TV in the waiting room. Participants in the study chose television over free food and beverages and even access to WiFi. “ TV that shows interesting content alongside a business’ messaging makes both the customers and the business happier,” according to Krackehl.

What Can You Control?

It’s Relevant TV provides simple controls for all aspects of their screen displays. It is simple for you to chose the video content that is relevant to your customers. The company’s experienced editors compile diverse, timely and interesting content and organize it into 40+ categories, ranging from general health, travel, business, kids shows, fashion, sports, comedy, cooking and non- controversial news. Business owners, administrators and facility managers using the service for display, simply choose the categories that match their vistors’ interests most.

Becker’s Hospital Review reports the average wait time nationwide is now more than 15 minutes. Most TV shows last much longer and start at the top and bottom of the hour. IRTV segments are current, timely, engaging and never run more 4 minutes in length. All of the videos are subtitled so even if you prefer a quieter setting people can still enjoy the programming.

iPhone App to Create Custom TV with Wireless Ad Uploading — It’s Relevant TV Ad Builder, Inside the It’s Relevant TV iOS App

In addition to controling the video content, users also control a suite of digital messaging. The app includes an ad builder that allows the user to take a photo, add text and even a QR code before setting it live alongside the TV programming on their screen(s). Users can also control the syndication of their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. With full screen features, It’s Relevant TV displays the user’s most recent posts automatically. It’s Relevant also offers a 5-day weather forecast based on the user’s zip code

Free App Download

It’s Relevant TV for iOS is free for It’s Relevant TV customers. The application includes a demonstration video, accessible upon download. Click Here to access the application on the iTunes Store.

Medical Waiting Room TV: What Are You Telling Your Patients?

With the decreasing costs of television screens, medical offices across the nation are installing more and more of them. Practices put TVs in both waiting areas and treatment rooms to help patients pass the time as they wait. But what exactly are these TVs doing for the practices that are hosting them? And as a practice owner, manager, or administrator, have you taken careful consideration in choosing what to display on them?

It’s an unfortunate reality that most medical offices have put very little thought into the programming on their screens. One of the most common reasons for having a TV is to help patients relax and pass the time, but certain types of content can do quite the opposite; creating an anxious environment and making it feel as though things are moving even slower.

Cable TV and Medical Networks

A large number of waiting room televisions are simply tuned to local cable stations and broadcast channels. These show hourly round-ups of mundane, recirculated news, unpleasant accidents, or otherwise pointless stories, soap operas, daytime courtroom battles, and semi-offensive talk shows. Howver; other medical-related options that seem forward-thinking on the surface can have an even worse affect. There are a host of medical-related TV products that bombard patients with irrelevant health content. These are paid for by ad services designed to subliminally sell their products to your patients.

What’s worse, your visitors might be tricked into thinking that they have a condition which doesn’t exist!

Either of these scenarios can present real problems for your practice. What started as an idea to make your waiting room a more inviting and comfortable space can actually backfire if you haven’t paid attention to what’s playing.

Taking Control with a Custom TV System

As a practice manager it’s important to be aware, and in control of what’s on your televisions. This sounds like a tall order, but with new solutions just released on the market, it is becoming easy. You can quickly control not only the programming, but also add some messaging to help the practice itself.

One such service is It’s Relevant TV. The subscription service allows you to choose from a catalog of 50 topic areas, including stories gathered by well known producers like National Geographic, Food Channel, Minute Science, HowCast, and Medical Minute, allowing you to decide what your patients see while they wait to see you. You can mix things like national news, sports and celebrity interviews, with cooking shows, pets and travel videos. A team of editors filters all of the content, assuring that each episode is family-friendly and office appropriate.

Michele Mirabel, community engagement director at Doctors Express Urgent Care said, “We have compared different opportunities of what we were going to provide in our waiting room. We chose It’s Relevant [TV] because it gave us diversity in the content that was being played. If it was just continuous medical coverage from pharmaceutical groups and on how to treat different ailments, not only is it uninteresting [to the patients] but it can also be anxiety and fear provoking. We really take pride in creating the right environment. From our staff, to the cleanliness of our place, to the information people are getting when they walk in the door.”

Promoting Your Practice on TV

That’s only part of it. On top of the content that is provided; you, as the practive, can promote your services, products and community involvement as well. Images, videos, and live social media tools get yout messaging across in a subtle way as your patients watch. Almost anything you can create on a smart device, you can upload quickly to your TV screens.

Joyce Ramirez, a Marketing Director at AFC Urgent Care said, “One of the challenges of marketing for an Urgent Care center is that it is not a primary care office and it’s also not a hospital. What I liked about It’s Relevant is that we’re able to showcase the services we provide. We’re not talking about blood pressure screenings and diabetes screenings because those are really for long term care, we’re really short term care. So we’re able to talk about travel vaccinations, immigration physicals, DOT physicals. We’re really able to convey the message of what we treat and the services we provide.”

It’s Relevant TV has been working with many medical and dental clients across the country. Managers love the professionalism the family-friendly content brings to their waiting room. They love how they can update their patients on their latest products and services, with a lower cost than most cable subscriptions.

Television screens can make a big difference in your practice, from higher review scores to increased patient referrals. But it takes the right programming prescription to be sure it’s a positive one.

It’s Relevant TV serves medical and dental offices across the country as well as a host of other hospitality businesses. For more information please visit: http://www.itsrelevant.com/medical