The healthcare field is growing increasingly competitive as customers look to find the best treatment, most reliable healthcare providers, most affordable options, and best office experience.
One way to give patients what they want is by offering a top-notch experience each time they visit your location. This can help you stand out from competitors, build trust, and make a lasting impression on your patients. Find out how you can engage patients and offer an elevated in-office experience using these five tools.
Complimentary WiFi
One of the easiest ways to engage patients in your healthcare office is by offering complimentary WiFi. Your patients can enjoy the distractions of playing on their phones and checking social media, and you can also easily communicate with them through custom landing pages and directions they see when they log on.
For example, you can increase patient portal adoption by asking customers to sign up when they sign onto your WiFi. They are already waiting and need something to do, and you can guide them through any problems they might have during the registration process.
WiFi marketing also gives you tools to connect with patients outside of the office. You can create a landing page encouraging patients to follow you on social media or write a Yelp review about their experience. You can ever create a survey to solicit feedback directly and improve your office. Free WiFi is both a good communication and marketing tool for healthcare providers.
Digital Video Walls
Your waiting room sets the tone for what your patients can expect from the treatment experience. If your waiting room is bare and empty, then your patients pick up on the minimal effort that went into caring about their comfort. If you want to entertain, care for, and inform your patients, consider investing in digital signage.
Some medical practices set up video walls to engage patients. They hang up a set of TVs that form one image or provide different informational elements to waiting customers.
For example, one video wall could show the weather, estimated wait-time for patients, tips for healthy living, and a puzzle to entertain customers. The wall is both informative and entertaining, plus you can change the content as often as you want. This serves to engage patients as well as decrease their perceived wait time.
Overhead Music
Music is an essential component to your healthcare office, whether you run an oncology center, ophthalmology practice, or dentist office. The healthcare field as a whole tends to leave patients stressed and on edge. They are worried about what is wrong with them or have a fear of the doctor or procedure that is about to occur. Even if a procedure is fairly simple, your patients are likely worried about what their insurance will cost and if they can afford the treatment.
Overhead music can calm your customers and assure them that they are in a safe place. There are multiple benefits to adding the healing power of music in the healthcare experience. For example:
- Music is proven to reduce patient discomfort during a procedure.
- Music reduces stress and anxiety in most patients.
- Music reduces reported side effects and pain levels in patients after treatment.
- Music improves customer moods and reduces depression symptoms.
Install a speaker system in your office and offer soothing overhead music for your patients. You can choose specific songs or artists that set the mood in your office, or select stations that can set the mood for you. In this case, the patient engagement tools also improve the procedure and treatment processes.
Customized Private Label TV
Along with playing music to help your patients relax, consider investing in Private Label TV (PLTV) to relax people in your waiting room and provide entertaining information to your patients.
PLTV is better than traditional cable because you don’t have to show commercials. You can limit the ads to video clips related to your brand so you never advertise your brand’s competitors or showcase companies you disagree with. You can also limit the content to videos related to your brand or industry. For example, instead of showing the news, you could show video clips with elder exercise options, healthy eating ideas, and mental health tips.
TV provides similar relaxing powers to patients as music does. Your patients are distracted by the content and aren’t thinking about their upcoming treatment, the pain they are in, or the recent talk with their insurance company. Music and TV serve as patient engagement tools and patient distractions from the stress of medical treatment.
Engaging On-Hold Music and Messaging
It’s possible to engage patients before they even set foot in the door. When your customers call into your office, are they greeted with a warm and informative answering system, or does your on-hold messaging sound like something from the 1980s? Consider modifying your answering system to provide information to customers and keep them relaxed while they wait.
For example, instead of generic “elevator music,” consider selecting on-hold music that your patients will enjoy. You can also change your music depending on the season to keep people engaged while they are on hold.
This is just one small feature, but the effects of good music can put your patients in good moods and make them calmer and happier when they talk with your office staff. Everyone in your practice can appreciate that.
Engage Patients With These Top Tools
These five options are just a handful of tools you can use to engage patients and improve the customer experience in your healthcare office. There are dozens of ways to use these tools to help patients have a better appointment while visiting your office.
If you want to learn more about improving patient experiences, check out our free ebook: The Ultimate Guide to Attracting and Retaining Patients.