Would you like to renovate or redesign your medical practice?

7 helpful tips, tricks and inspiration for furnishing your waiting room

How design the waiting area optimally :

Tip 1: Show appreciation

• Patients today want to be treated like guests, cared for and looked after at every stage of their visit. Turn the waiting area into an oasis of well-being and convey your appreciation to your patients through your services. It is often the small, unexpected attentions that make the difference. For example, offer water, tea or coffee.

• An interesting selection of newspapers and magazines is part of the basic equipment. Tailor them to your patients’ preferences and update them regularly to keep them up to date and attractive. Have you forgotten your reading glasses? Surprise your patients with a pair of reading glasses that you have on hand.

• Apart from reading magazines, surfing or streaming the internet is the most popular leisure activity for many patients in the waiting room. Free Wi-Fi can be a welcome option. Make sure that you clearly communicate the access data in the waiting room.

Tip 2: Receive

Tip 3: Relax

• Avoid rows of identical chairs along the walls. This looks unimaginative and uninviting. Provide variety by using different seating arrangements. This allows each patient to relax or sit more formally as they wish.

• Use different color schemes for the seating and remember to include side tables on which you can conveniently place a water bottle, for example.

Tip 4: Enable privacy

• Many people find it uncomfortable to have to share a room with lots of strangers. Why not create a little more privacy? A beautiful flower box creates space between the seats and offers some privacy at the same time.

• If the waiting room is very large, it is advisable to divide it into different areas. This can be achieved with a row of planters, for example. It is best to choose low-maintenance hydroponic plants or plants with very low water and light requirements.

• Alternatively sideboards can also be used as room dividers. They also serve as storage or presentation furniture.

• The partitioning of the room with a glass wall also serves as sound insulation. For example, a parent-child room can be optimally integrated.

Tip 5: Play corner for children

• No waiting room should be without a children’s corner, as waiting in unfamiliar surroundings is particularly difficult for small children. Child-friendly furniture and employment opportunities should be part of the basic equipment.

Tip 6: Light, lighting & color

• A relaxing lighting atmosphere helps to make waiting times more pleasant. Natural and warm light from various light sources creates a homely, pleasant atmosphere. Windows should therefore always have the option of regulating the amount of sunlight coming in.

• If the waiting room has no windows or these do not provide sufficient light, wall, ceiling and floor luminaires should be used. Ceiling luminaires provide sufficient room lighting, while wall and free-standing luminaires accentuate the room. In any case, the waiting room should be bright enough for patients to read comfortably and without tiring.

• Subtle colors remain the classic choice for the design of a medical practice . But why always be so reserved? Why not design a wall in the waiting room with something exciting and shorten the waiting time that way?

Tip 7: Cleanliness & tidiness

• The waiting room is your business card. It must always appear clean, hygienic, tidy and comfortable. Train your staff accordingly and ask your patients for feedback.

• Choose easy-care, durable and hygienic surfaces for your furniture. As waiting rooms are highly frequented spaces, the furniture is exposed to heavy use.

• Use simple tricks to ensure maximum satisfaction. Satisfied patients come back and are also the best marketing tool for your practice. You can achieve this, for example, with perfectly coordinated System furniture .

• Inform your patients about your services. Present them on your practice website. Use displays at reception and in the waiting area.

• Greet your patients in the waiting room. It’s a nice gesture. This way, your patients won’t feel neglected or forgotten.