When you think of medical practices, particularly dental and GP practices, what comes to your mind? For many, it’s cold rooms, bright fluorescent lighting, old magazines stacked on the waiting room table, and concrete walls. It’s not the most comfortable-looking space; in fact, medical practices feel far from warm and welcoming- two qualities that they need to have. If you want to get your health business off the ground, you’re going to first need to take a good look at your physical space. First impressions count, and how your practice looks will make all the difference. From winning more customers to ensuring the ones you currently have are happy, here is how you can get your patients to feel welcomed.
Start By Creating a Welcoming Environment
As described earlier, medical offices, particularly practices, have a way of feeling incredibly unwelcoming. They all look nearly identical, and the very generic and outdated look doesn’t help. While you may have limits on what could be changed, like the concrete walls, you can at least focus on utilizing other aspects to make the space look good. It’s not only going to help your patients feel welcomed, but a more aesthetically pleasing space will also benefit you and your staff. Nice spaces help boost productivity, and that’s a fact.
So you could swap out the furniture and add some decorations here and there to help make the space feel nice. This could include adding some rugs, updated books or magazines, curtains if there are windows, paintings, and wall art, and a refreshment station; you could even reach out to some specialists like Medifit design the layout of medical clinics as the layout alone will have a major impact. Just consider the layout, the little details, and even the large details because all of this is going to add up to create a welcoming environment.
Consider Creating a Patient Portal
This is something that a lot of practices are using, and if you want to make sure that your practice stays technologically relevant, then you shouldn’t skip this! Patient portals offer many benefits for patients and practice staff. For example, they provide a convenient way for patients to refill prescriptions, update forms, pay bills, schedule appointments, and upload documents. While many portals have similar functions, they can be customized to fit your practice’s needs and capabilities. Therefore, it’s important to identify your specific requirements and define the technologies needed for development.
You could even use this for the check-in process as well. Patients will be more likely to log into a patient portal if it is easy to navigate and offers relevant features. They should be able to check their medical records, schedule appointments, request refills, and pay bills. Patient portals have become increasingly popular over the years. They can save time by allowing patients to fill out their personal information electronically without having to repeatedly answer the same questions. While not every patient will benefit from this portal system, you can count on a lot of them to benefit from this new piece of technology for patients.
In general, it’s so important for patients to feel comfortable in your practice, and this can truly be one of the best ways of doing so. Your practice is a business, and like any other business, it needs customers to thrive. So be open to making some changes for your patients.
