There are currently 938,966 active physicians in the United States. Being a physician has its ups and downs, and there are many challenges to overcome. One of them is learning how to make your telemedicine process smoother and more convenient.
A virtual waiting room may be the perfect solution. But what is the point of a virtual waiting room? Is it necessary or is it a waste of time and money?
Keep reading and learn more about the unique benefits a virtual waiting room has to offer.
What Is a Virtual Waiting Room?
Let's first explore the difference between virtual and physical waiting rooms. A traditional waiting room requires a patient to come to your office and wait in a room. This may sound simple, but it can be very uncomfortable for your patients.
If your patients are seriously ill or have a chronic health condition, sitting in a waiting room can be a very painful and exhausting experience. Driving to the waiting room can be a pain too. The patient might not be able to drive on their own.
They may require help getting in and out of the car. They may be too weak to sit up for long periods. Sitting around may also cause your patients to become impatient or frustrated.
This is especially true if they need to wait longer than they anticipated. Physical waiting rooms are also not the healthiest of places. People with colds and cases of the flu all come together in waiting rooms.
This makes them a cesspool of bacteria and viruses. Your patients might end up worse off leaving the waiting room than they were when they arrived. This can be a serious problem for those with compromised immune systems too.
The Details
You also can't ignore that most people hate waiting in waiting rooms. A traditional waiting room is a sure way to put your patients in a bad mood. But how does a virtual patient waiting room compare?
They often connect with telehealth options.
Telehealth appointments are more popular than ever these days. This is because they are more convenient than going to the doctor in person. They are also more convenient for busy physicians.
A telehealth appointment consists of a video call. It allows doctors to contact their patients while following a schedule. It is easy to line up one patient after another so that no time is wasted.
A virtual waiting room is a feature that allows patients to check in and wait from the comfort of their homes. This can be done from a computer or mobile phone.
Virtual waiting rooms can be used for physical or telehealth appointments. A patient can wait in the safety of their car when going to a physical doctor's appointment. This is in contrast to sitting in a waiting room full of germs.
The patient can then go into the office once it is their turn. It is simple with telehealth appointments too. The patient can check in early and wait their turn to see the doctor.
They can do this from their home or from another location like their car.
What Are the Benefits of a Virtual Waiting Room?
The biggest benefit of a virtual waiting room is that it makes it easier to manage your patients. Problems with the check-in process can happen with traditional waiting rooms. Some of your patients might not show up or they might forget to check-in.
The medical staff might make a mistake when checking in the patients too. Other patients might be late and throw the entire schedule off balance. This could result in some very unhappy patients that drove out to the medical office for nothing.
Using a virtual waiting room will solve all of these problems. It promotes punctuality because it is so efficient and easy to use. Virtual waiting room programs often send out instructions to your patients so that they know what to do before their appointment.
Once they check in with their mobile device, it will be smooth sailing from there. This will give your patients the freedom to check in when they have time. They will also know how much time they have to check in and get to their appointment.
They can wait outside or rest in their car before going to their appointment. Check-in mistakes will also be few and far between. This is because the patient waiting room program will have everything sorted out ahead of time.
As long as your patients check in when they're supposed to, there shouldn't be any problems. Your patients can then see you on time. This is a great way to keep your schedule on track.
It also allows you to spend an adequate amount of time with each patient. This also keeps your patients safe. Your patients won't be forced to sit in a waiting room full of bacteria and viruses.
What You Need to Know
This is important for older adults and other people with weakened immune systems. You don't want your patients to leave your clinic sicker than when they entered. Virtual waiting rooms are useful for hospitals too.
Many people have to sit for hours in a hospital waiting room without being treated. This will only add to the patient's existing discomfort. It will also give the patient a bad impression of the hospital's service.
But a virtual waiting room can allow the patient to wait in a more comfortable location while they wait for their appointment. Virtual waiting rooms are ideal for a variety of healthcare professionals.
Everyone from chiropractors to neurologists and therapists is starting to use this technology. Virtual waiting rooms are easy to use too. This is true for both patients and doctors.
This is because these programs are designed to be as simple as possible. This makes them friendly for older adults and those who don't know much about using technology. Virtual waiting rooms can keep your patients calm and comfortable while they wait for their appointments.
This is in contrast to leaving them uncomfortable and stressed in a traditional waiting room.
What Else Should You Know?
Some virtual waiting rooms may have patients fill out forms before their appointment. This makes it easy for you as the doctor to see what's wrong with a particular patient. You won't have to deal with typical paperwork and pens either.
Everything will flow through the virtual waiting room platform. The platform makes it fast and easy for your patients to fill out any necessary forms. You also won't have to strain your eyes as you try to read bad handwriting either.
Everything will be typed out clearly and efficiently. This further speeds up the process and makes it more enjoyable. Upvio is an example of telehealth software that can help you with that.
Upvio is ideal for setting up virtual waiting rooms for your patients. Setting it up is very simple and you won't have to do any of the heavy lifting. The software will do most of the hard work for you.
This allows you to focus on more important matters. Upvio does more than virtual waiting rooms too. It also has options for virtual scheduling, video chat, medical forms, and more.
Upvio's Options
Upvio is one of the few software options that allow you to tackle several aspects of the telehealth field. This is ideal if you are thinking about bringing your practice more into the digital realm. This is what many doctor's offices are starting to do.
This is because telehealth is so much more convenient compared to more traditional methods. Telehealth makes it easier for you to take your time with each patient. It also makes technical work like filling out forms and paperwork easier.
It makes things easier for your patients too. Patients are already stressed enough when going to see the doctor. They'll only get more stressed if they have to wait in a germy waiting room and fill out confusing forms.
Opting for telehealth is a sure way to improve your patient experience and yours as a doctor.
All about Virtual Waiting Room Options
Virtual waiting room options are the way of the future. They are beneficial because patients don't have to wait in contaminated waiting rooms. Patients can instead check in ahead of time and wait outside until it's time for their appointment.
This makes things easier for patients and doctors. To learn more about how it works, check out our telehealth options.
