By Callum Shone, Videographer at Hive Business

I’ve noticed that so many dental practices don’t utilise the large TV screens they have in their patient’s waiting area. More often than not it is a slideshow of dull information, practice “rules” or worse, the TV is switched off.

The videos you display in the waiting room can start building the relationship between your team and the patient before they meet. Waiting room videos not only give patients something to look at but when the content is right they provide an opportunity to build trust, increase treatment efficiency and assist new treatment uptake.

BUILD TRUST

Use videos to demonstrate that your practice knows how to handle nervous patients. This may be in the format of a header that reads “Nervous about dentistry?” and then some concise information about how your practice cares for nervous patients and images of friendly staff. You could also include a montage of testimonials from all your other happy patients to increase reassurance they’re in the right practice.

Waiting room videos can also offer biography information such as pictures and information about team members at the practice. This adds a human touch to your videos and allows patients to see who they will be being treated by and allow them to become more familiar with the practice.

INCREASE TREATMENT EFFICIENCY

The principle behind waiting room videos is not to bombard patients with information but to share various treatment’s non-technical features and benefits. Various treatments can be presented with imagery that helps to illustrate the outcome or procedure and easy to understand text with benefits and costs.

When patients fully understand their healthcare situation, they are more likely to experience better healthcare outcomes. This is because patients will be more engaged with their treatment and more likely to be proactive in seeking the desired outcome.

INTRODUCE OTHER TREATMENTS

This is a good opportunity for patients to learn about your other treatments such as facial aesthetics, teeth whitening or Invisalign without giving them the hard sell. An informative animation could be used to explain the benefits of these treatments and that they are available to existing patients. If your practice is arranging an open day or a promotion, the screen in the waiting room is a great way to target existing patients and encourage them to speak to their dentist about it.

To find out more or if you are interested in having a professional waiting room video produced, please get in touch.