The HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey makes it easy for customers to review of the quality of care your hospital provides. As healthcare becomes more and more competitive, you want to make sure you offer the best experience possible. And many times that starts right when they enter your hospital’s waiting area.
Why is Your Hospital’s Waiting Area so Important?
According to Healthcare Sales 101 founder and author Chris Barnhart, “The waiting area environment can make or break the positive patient perceptions. There is a strong and inverse relationship between waiting area experience and HCAHPS scores.”
Barnhart stresses you need to design a waiting area that meets organizational goals while improving patient and customer satisfaction. And rather than just adding a nice piece of art, you need to create a “complete environment”, taking into account all the things people need to do while waiting.
To help you get started, we’ve put together a list of six design ideas that will help improve your hospital’s waiting area.
1. Portable Vaccine Stations
You know what people like? Convenience. And how convenient would it be if your hospital could offer a much needed service right where people already are. Well, with portable vaccine stations, you can.
2. Lockers with Charging Stations
You’re waiting for your spouse while they’re in surgery, and you’re holding all of their personal belongings, in addition to all the things you brought to keep busy while waiting. You want to get some food from the cafeteria. But you can’t carry everything and a tray of food. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a secure place to store your things? Well, you make this a reality in your hospital waiting area by adding lockers with charging stations.
3. Power and Data Raceways
Patient’s families spend hours in the waiting area while their loved ones are in surgery. Adults are missing work, kids are restless, and teenagers are bored. Giving them the option to connect to their devices eases some of these stresses. And you can make it possible with power and data raceways.
4. Mobile Benching Systems
In conjunction with power and data raceways, mobile benching systems offer people a place to set-up while they’re working. And because the benching systems are on wheels, you can move them anywhere within your hospital’s waiting area.
5. Additional Seating
Seating is an essential part of your waiting area design, but sometimes small budgets and lack of space mean you can’t add as much as you’d want. But with wall-mounted seating, you can add that additional sitting space, without using much extra space or spending a lot of money on fancy chairs.
6. Periodical Display Shelving
Every waiting room has a table piled high with magazines. It looks cluttered and messy. That’s not the image you want to present. Periodical display shelving stores your magazine collection, keeping the waiting area nice and tidy.
Conclusion
Designing a multi-functional hospital waiting area is all about options. Provide your customer with convenient solutions that will meet their needs, and they’re bound to have a good experience. Just remember to think outside of the typical and get creative.
And if you need any help or want to talk about any of the ideas mentioned here, give us a call at 1-800-803-1083 or send us a message.
