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Waiting room videos do more than help patients pass the time before their appointment at a healthcare practice. With the right content and video library, waiting room TVs can also offer a variety of benefits that improve experiences and lead to a boost in overall patient satisfaction. 

Increase Patient Knowledge

When waiting room videos presented to patients are directly related to the type of medicine or treatment of the healthcare provider they are seeing, the content can increase patient knowledge about the topic. Videos can educate patients by explaining:

  • Procedural processes
  • Medication directions
  • Treatment side effects
  • Condition implications
  • Treatment plans
  • Alternative treatment options
  • Test results
  • Diagnoses

Deliver Custom Content Experiences

Waiting room videos can boost patient satisfaction even more when the educational content is delivered to patients based on their personal need.

For instance, a healthcare provider may create different content playlists based on client need. The same dental office may set the television to show information about child dental care or adult dental care depending on who is in the waiting room.

Healthcare providers can also pull from a library of video resources when working one-on-one with patients. For example, a doctor who has recently diagnosed a patient with diabetes could pull up a series of explainer videos on implications and treatment and then, watch and discuss the information with the patient.

Provide Longer and Stronger Information Retention

Using custom content for educational purposes boosts satisfaction among patients because it allows them to better absorb and consume the information. When information is provided with visual support:

  • People pay closer attention.
  • Information is transmitted faster.
  • Information is more thoroughly understood.
  • Information is remembered for longer periods of time.

Recommended Reading: Compelling Reasons Why Visual Marketing Matters More Than You Think

Create Better Healthcare Outcomes

When patients fully understand the details of their healthcare situation, they are more likely to experience better healthcare outcomes. Educated, engaged patients are more likely to participate in their treatment actively and effectively. Therefore, waiting room video displays can improve patient engagement and provide better healthcare outcomes.

Decrease Anxiety

Patients who are more educated about their healthcare are also more comfortable managing their healthcare. When patients don’t understand what is happening to them or what will happen during a procedure, they can feel anxious, nervous, and uncomfortable.

But when waiting room videos are used to educate patients, their anxieties can decrease. Stress is alleviated when patients are informed about what will happen during their appointment and can anticipate the outcomes of their treatment. It helps patients feel more in control of their situation, and it can also help ease the anxieties of loved ones who accompany patients on their appointments.

Build Trust

Being forthright with information also allows healthcare providers to build trust between their practice and their patients. In many medical fields, patients have become wary or skeptical of treatment practices and methods.

By using exam and waiting room videos to both educate and reassure patients, practices can build trust with those wary patients. Videos displayed on digital signage can showcase before and after stories, patient testimonials, and treatment data and give patients reasons to trust practices and methods.

Build Relationships

In addition to using waiting room TVs to build trust between your practice and your patients. You can also use it to build trust between patients and your providers.

In many healthcare situations, the provider-patient relationship is very important. When patients are dealing with emotional diagnoses, invasive medical procedures, or lengthy treatment plans, it is beneficial to have a strong bond between provider and patient. This provides comfort to patients and builds a trusting relationship that can improve healthcare outcomes. 

The TV in your waiting room or exam room can set the stage for building relationships between providers and patients by offering biography and credential content about providers. Videos can feature interviews, highlight a provider’s personality, and share their medical training and education to help patients get to know and come to trust their primary providers.

Reduce Appointment Lengths

Another benefit of using waiting room videos is that it also helps improve the efficiency of a healthcare office.

The amount of time a doctor is needed per appointment can be decreased when videos are used to aid in patient education. Content can be provided at multiple steps throughout the appointment so the patient can gather information without requiring the presence of the provider. Information can be delivered:

  • Before an appointment in waiting area
  • Before an appointment in exam room
  • During an appointment with healthcare provider
  • After an appointment in a follow-up area

Patients can watch videos on their own to get foundational information before and after an appointment. They can also watch videos with a provider that will speed up the process as video is a better delivery system for complicated information. 

All of this speeds up appointment times, allows providers to see more patients, and decreases the amount of time that patients have to wait.

Reduce Waiting Time

In addition to decreasing the actual time that an appointment will last, waiting room videos can also decrease perceived patient wait time.

When digital signage is present in a waiting room, it can decrease perceived wait time by up to 33%. That means that a 30-minute wait will feel more like a 20-minute wait. Waiting room videos decrease both the real time that is needed for an appointment and the perceived wait time that patients experience — which provides double the patient satisfaction.

Start using waiting room videos to boost patient satisfaction.

Waiting room videos are an essential element for keeping patients satisfied while they wait for appointments at healthcare offices.

But they can do so much more than that.

When paired with the right content, waiting room TV content can provide practices with multiple opportunities to support their patients, create better healthcare outcomes, and boost the overall satisfaction of patients and their loved ones.

For more tips on how to use waiting room TVs to boost patient satisfaction and to get details on how to bring medical-focused video content to your practice, grab our free ebook.