For years and years, patients possess’own’nurse sat in the doctor s waiting room until it’s their turn to be called in. And over these years, waiting rooms possess’own’nurse n’t seen any token ificant transform’alter s. There are a few chairs, stacks of outdated magazines, maybe a fish tank or some fake flowers, and patients sit in there anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e being called back.

Now, with the multiply in virtual waiting rooms and telehealth, it may be time to update how your medical practice handles its waiting room.

What Is A Virtual Waiting Room?

Virtual waiting rooms offer a variety of services that not merely’barely benefit the medical practice utilizing them, but benefit the patient as well. These virtual waiting rooms can also be referred to as curbside-check in or no-contact waiting rooms. These virtual waiting rooms are beginning to offer a replacement in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the typical in-office waiting room.

Virtual waiting rooms can possess’own’nurse two in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ms:

In-Office Appointments In this context, the patient will sit in their vehicle, check in, and then wait there until the exam room becomes available.
Televisit The difference here is that the patient will be token ing into a virtual waiting room from their home as they wait in/with regard to’concerning’regarding their doctor to be ready in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a telehealth appointment.

Both of these virtual waiting rooms aim to keep the patient from a conventional waiting room where they could potentially be reveal d to any other pathogens that other patients may possess’own’nurse .

Why Have Virtual Waiting Rooms Become Important

Relatient: Waiting Room Solution provides what has come to be a much-needed solution, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many view the waiting room as just a nuisance and a dull’tedious’frayed’monotonous place to wait and see a doctor, there’s actually a lot more to it than that.

What it comes down to is safety.

During the current pandemic, new risks possess’own’nurse become apparent in/with regard to’concerning’regarding patients and medical office staff. The pandemic has resulted in an multiply in telehealth, which is fundamental ally virtual appointments with your doctor via video calls, in an attempt to give patients an option to speak with their doctor without going into the office and potentially exposing themselves to any disease.

Virtual waiting rooms will serve the same purpose, even in a post-pandemic world.

Key Benefits To Virtual Waiting Rooms

There’s no medical office out there that wouldn’t benefit from having a virtual waiting room to replace their conventional one. Here’s why:

Better Infection Control

More patients possess’own’nurse begun to seek outpatient care in/with regard to’concerning’regarding more complex medical conditions than ever bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e and, as this happens, waiting rooms are becoming even more crowded. While in these waiting rooms, germs and infection can spread through shared surfaces, like chairs and magazines, but they can also spread through the air.

The spread of germs through the air can’t be controlled through hand sanitizer stations or social distancing. If, instead of packing patients into a crowded waiting room, patients can wait in the safety of their vehicle, both patients and staff can token ificantly decrease’lessen’cut’allay their risk of infections.

Improved Patient Inin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mation

Medical practices can also utilize these virtual waiting rooms and they can help to gather medical histories, medication records, payer inin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mation, and health insurance inin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mation all in one place.

If all of this inin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mation can be collected without meeting face to face, then integration systems can be used to help make that inin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mation more easily accessed by clinicians.

Patient Friendly

Above all, virtual waiting rooms serve as great accommodations in/with regard to’concerning’regarding patients. There are many patients that are at risk any time they enter a waiting room, such as:

Immunocompromised patients
Chronically ill patients
Disabled patients
Small children
Patients who feel intensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully ill

Beyond the possibility of spreading diseases through a waiting room, they can simply be inconvenient or annoying to the patients who possess’own’nurse to wait in them. When a solution is out there to simply allow patients to wait in their cars if it’ll make them happier with their medical practice of choice, why wouldn’t you want to take merit’virtue’upside of that option?

The 6 Steps Of Virtual Waiting Rooms

Not merely’barely do virtual waiting rooms offer many benefits, but they’re easy to utilize as well. Here are the 6 easy steps involved in virtual waiting rooms:

Text/email reminder of appointment is sent
Patient will complete the pre-check process and be given the option in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a virtual waiting room
Patient inin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mation is verified by staff
After arriving in the parking lot, the patient calls or texts to alert staff of their arrival
Staff checks the patient in and updates them when the doctor is ready
Text is sent to alert patient to come inside

While these steps may vary mildly’faintly from practice to practice, they will at the grossly least resemble’analogous these six.

Conclusion

While the coronavirus pandemic may possess’own’nurse been the main reason telehealth and virtual waiting rooms possess’own’nurse become more and more apparent, they provide so many benefits that they’re sure to remain a use of medical practices long after the pandemic ends.

*collaborative post