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"WAITING ROOM." IT IS HARD TO DENY THAT THOSE WORDS SUMMON NEGATIVE A SSOCIATIONS FOR A SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE ¤ IF NOT A MA JORIT Y ¤ OF PATIENTS IN THE UNITED STATES. Taking the Misery out of the WAITING ROOM BUT WITH SOME pla nning a nd creativit y, your waiting room can reduce patient dread and foster better outcomes, say experts who weighed in with The DO, a publication of the A merica n Osteopathic A ssociation. Shif t your terminolog y. A l Turner, DO, a nd fellow clinicia ns in Por tla nd, Oregon, e s c h e w e d " w a i t i n g r o o m " i n f a v o r o f "reception a rea" or "reception space" — a nd they equipped the a rea with only six cha irs, spurring them to stay on schedule. " It is insu lting for patients to ma ke a n appoi nt ment t o w a it ," D r. T u r ner, who recently retired, told The DO. Levera ge natura l light or the nex t- best thing. Jea n Ha nsen, Susta inable Interiors Ma nager in the Sa n Fra ncisco of f ice of HDR A rchitecture, notes this has a ca lming effect on patients. " Let daylig ht f lood t he space" when appropriate, Hansen says, and use shades during times of intense light . Lighting opt ion s usi n g L ED bu lbs, rat her t ha n linea r f luorescent f i x tures, do not hum o r f l i c k e r, m a k i n g t h e m a s o o t h i n g a lternative if natura l light isn't available, s a y s R o s a l y n C a m a , a h e a l t h c a r e interior desig ner ba sed in New Haven, Connecticut. Ditch the tube. TV is often superf luous. " Most people wa lk a round w ith their ow n enter ta inment today," Ca ma says. " Televisions a re a n intr usion into what I a m doing with my own device." ■ BY STEVE BARRETT CORE RESE ARCHERS WITH STEELCA SE HE ALTH, PART OF MICHIGANšBA SED OFFICE FURNITURE AND INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE FIRM STEELCA SE INC., SPENT FIVE DAYS OBSERVING PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES IN A WAITING ROOM. FURNISH YOUR WAY to a Better Patient Experience BY STEVE BARRETT AMONG THEIR GOALS: learning more about seating pat ter ns by which fa m i lies g roup t hemselves, gaining insight into families' expectations in order to consider cha nges in f urnishings a nd delv ing into the ef fect of env ironmenta l factors on the patient experience. Certain mistakes in design kept surfacing, including: + The inability of families to separate themselves su‚ ciently from strangers + The lack of appropriate group spaces in which families could gather + The lack of chair confi gurations geared toward just one or two individuals + Too few chairs with direct lines of sight to sta… or monitors that provide information + The lack of space for electronic devices a nd other belongings Empha sizing that f ina l point, 20 percent of occupied chairs were used for holding persona l items, not seating people, researchers say. Thoughtful approaches to seating and storage space can reduce the investment in furniture and enhance patient value, they add. " This isn't about packing the most people in the waiting room," Michelle Ossmann, RN, MSN, PhD, Director of Health Environments for Steelcase Health, states in a paper summarizing the findings. "It's about responding to their behaviors in a more intuitive way — a way that helps relieve some of the stress of being at a medical facility." ■ 1 5 M D N E W S .C O M /// M D N E W S C E N T R A L P E N N S Y LVA N I A 2 017 P R A C T I C E M A N A G E M E N T ❰❰❰❰❰ 1 5