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13 Jul Influence your relationships with your patients with these easy steps

The design of a practice influences the relationship between physicians and patients. You can take simple design steps to enhance workflow efficiency and patient safety, as well as patient and team interactions; and satisfaction.

Five steps for optimizing your physical space:

1. Develop team stations that enhance interactions
2. Place furnishings to encourage patient engagement
3. Add positive distractions to alleviate patient anxiety
4. Reconfigure rooms to feel spacious and welcoming
5. Connect with patients while incorporating technology

1. Well-designed team stations and exam rooms can improve efficiency and strengthen culture.

For example, placing exam rooms close to the team’s work area minimizes the space that must be traveled between tasks and improves visibility to the exam rooms. Creating opportunities for team members to naturally interact results in better patient outcomes and satisfaction.

2. Place furnishings to encourage patient engagement

The arrangement, shapes and types of desks, examination tables, and chairs can all work together to encourage productive interactions and eye contact. The patient can sit in a chair to speak with the physician instead of spending the entire visit on the examination table. Computers can be mounted to the wall on a swivel arm or the team can use laptops, so they are free to shift their position and face the patient.

3. Add positive distractions to alleviate patient anxiety

Patients will take in your office surroundings, gathering clues about the quality of care they will receive. This will influence their confidence in the practice and their experience throughout their visit.

Being in the physician’s waiting area and examining room is stressful for many people. Waiting can contribute to patient anxiety and dissatisfaction. Moreover, an anxious patient comprehends and retains less information from the encounter. Positive distractions divert attention away from these stressors and create a positive mood.

4. Reconfigure rooms to feel spacious and welcoming

You do not need to tear down walls or build new rooms to make an examination space seem more spacious. Rearranging the location of the examination table, chairs and desk can make a small room feel much more open and comfortable. Replacing the furniture with sleeker and more efficient examination chairs and tables or rearranging the furniture can make a smaller consultation space seem more spacious and comfortable to patients. Make the most out of your practice’s space. A few simple design steps can improve workflow and care

5. Connect with patients while incorporating technology

Increased eye contact during visits and sharing the computer screen with a patient can positively influence patient engagement and adherence. Mobile or easily shared technology such as laptops, tablets and large monitors can help physicians involve patients in discussing information with them.

Sunshine ENT, Equipment and Service, offers new and pre-owned equipment as well as daily supplies to keep your busy practice in business. Our team also provides factory-trained service on most of your equipment, with field or in-house service available.

For more information about how we can assist you to build your practice please visit www.sunshineENT.com