By: Mark Lovett
Medical clinics and practices are often integral elements of any community, and a huge amount of the services you render will be based on trust. Specifically, you will be improving health outcomes and scaring for your patients or clients, but they may not have a technical understanding of how you’re doing that.
In order to keep them feeling reassured and to project the trustworthiness of your brand, making your clinic more accessible is one of the best ways to ensure people of all needs can get the care they deserve without feeling like the space or service puts up barriers. It can also encourage more people to return, recommend your practice, and feel safe in your care.
If done right, this can touch everything from how you set up appointments to how your staff speak with patients. In this post, we’ll discuss how to achieve that outcome:
Design Spaces With Movement In Mind
As many doctors and dentists understand, welcoming design really does matter. This means having wide hallways, automatic doors, and uncluttered waiting areas can be a massive boon for anyone using a wheelchair, walker, or mobility aid. When designing a waiting room, placing chairs with armrests and sturdy frames can help those who need support while sitting or standing.
If your exam rooms are tight, try repositioning equipment or adding wall hooks for walking aids so patients do not need to balance them awkwardly. Lowering counters or having at least one check-in station at an accessible height also allows more patients to talk without assistance.
Offer Clear Signage & Helpful Navigation
People should be able to find their way around your clinic without asking for help. That means using large, high-contrast signs with plain language and icons that are easy to understand. Avoid overloading signs with too much detail or overly decorative fonts. If you have a large building, then colored lines that can be followed could be ideal.
It also helps to give patients clear directions before they even arrive, including parking info, accessible entrances, and building layout notes in appointment emails or text messages. A short welcome video on your website showing the clinic layout can be helpful too, as it allows people to know what to expect, no matter what, and feel welcomed.
Use Tools That Support Patient Comfort
Some procedures can be stressful, especially if they require a lot of sitting still or involve contact with tools and equipment your patient aren’t so used to. For that reason, choosing equipment that reduces this friction is a good idea. In an eye clinic, for example, using handheld tonometers for accurate eye pressure checks can be easier on patients who have trouble using fixed machines or need a quicker experience due to discomfort, while still offering the great service for managing eye diseases your clinic needs.
Using that same principle, you might consider investing in height-adjustable exam tables, padded supports, and equipment that can be used while a patient remains seated, depending on the age and common symptoms of patients you see.
With this advice, you’ll be certain to have improved the accessibility of your clinic.
About the Author: Mark is a tenured writer for NewsWatch, focusing on technology and emerging trends. Mark gives readers insight into how tomorrow’s innovations will transform our relationship with technology in everyday life.
