There’s much more to the patient experience than the medical exam, and the front office environment sets the tone upon arrival. Optimize this space to promote a healing—not waiting—environment and maximize patient satisfaction.

It’s only a waiting room if they’re waiting

Rather than focus only on reducing wait times, transform how patients perceive and use that time. Offer wi-fi in the waiting room and have a couple of iPads or tablets on-hand for the following:

  • When a patient arrives, it’s a good time to check whether he or she is enrolled in PANDA patient. Ask your Customer Success Manager for access to enrolling patients in Patient Portal. Please make sure to ask your patient to complete registration in the waiting room or on a tablet.
  • Patient education: Make a game out of waiting with engaging patient education materials—not just a wall of brochures. Where applicable, give patients the opportunity to learn about their chief complaint before they see the doctor.

Leverage new and exciting technology at the front desk

  • Camera: A recent study demonstrated that displaying a photo in the medical chart reduces errors. Keep a desk camera at check-in so that a photo can be quickly snapped and associated with the patient’s chart -- this works like MAGIC
  • Scanner: While you won’t necessarily need to digitize every old paper document in a patient’s chart, it’s a good idea to stay paperless going forward. In a paperless workflow, there will still be times that you’ll want to capture certain paper documents, such as outside records and copies of insurance information. Have a quality scanner on-hand to keep the incoming paper to a minimum.

Impress your patients before their arrival

You can market your practice to existing and prospective patients with your Place Page.

Online profiles help patients find you in search engine results and can also be used by your existing patients to book appointments.

To help patients find you more easily, upload a photo and complete your profile. Profiles are integrated with your DoctorBase calendar, so patients can request specific appointment times with you that your staff can approve or modify within your Appointment Reminders. Make sure your calendar so you don’t get conflicting requests. To get the most value out of your profile, consider offering same-day appointments.

Please keep in mind it is not always about technology. The front office is a place where you are making important initial human connections with your patients and their families.