Your waiting room is the first impression your patients have of your clinic. Whether they spend 20 seconds or 20 minutes in this area, your first impression can have a big impact on whether or not a patient returns.

Below are a few easy tips to help spruce up your waiting room and ensure that you make the best first impression you can.

• Trash – Most waiting areas have a small trashcan where patients can toss their tissues or empty coffee cups. Ensure that this trashcan is never overflowing or unsightly. Keep the can itself clean and empty the contents often.
• Comfort Menu – You may want to offer a comfort menu to ensure that your patients are as comfortable as possible both in the waiting room and in their appointment. Some items you may want to consider offering are mints, water, coffee, headphones, charging cables, lip balm, pillows, blankets, and snacks. You may think this is overkill, but your patients will recognize that you value their comfort and a small gesture like this will go a long way.
• Temperature – The temperature that you staff members find comfortable and the temperature your patients who are just entering from outside find comfortable may be different. Keep your patients in mind when setting your thermostat. Try spending time outside and then entering your front door as a patient would and assess the temperature that way. Or consider surveying your patients about how they responded to the current temperature in your office.
• Lighting – We all know that lighting can play a huge role in a first impression of a space. Natural, bright lighting is the best, but many times we have to supplement that with artificial fluorescent lighting. Overhead lighting that is too yellow or too blue can present a negative vibe in your waiting area. Aim for soft white lights when possible. Also, ensure that none of your light bulbs are burnt out or flickering. This simple adjustment can dramatically change the feel of the space.
• Dust – Your waiting area is an easy place to overlook when doing routine cleaning as none of your staff members spend much time in there. However, it is important to make sure that nothing in the waiting room is dusty. Brochures or products that are dusty suggest that the products are not interesting and rarely touched. Keeping things clean is much more appealing to your patients.
• Air Freshener – Indoor spaces have a tendency to accumulate odors especially during the winter when fresh air is hard to come by. Keep your waiting area smelling nice with a light, neutral air freshener. Any strong scents can turn off new patients. Aim for clean, fresh scents over floral or spicy.
• HNN – Adding the Hearing News Network to your waiting room is a great way to transform that area into a powerful patient engagement tool. You can educate your patients while they wait with entertaining, hearing-related content. Not only does this show that you value your patients’ time, but it give you a chance to advertise some of your products and services, introduces your patients to your staff members, and informs them of new discoveries in the industry.

Add HNN to your waiting room today to transform your space. Visit http://info.clearsounds.com/CDM_HNN