How To Make Patients Feel More Comfortable During a Checkup

Updated on May 19, 2021
How To Make Patients Feel More Comfortable During a Checkup

Routine checkups with a doctor are the norm for most individuals. Despite that, many people still find these visits nerve-racking. Fortunately, doctors and other medical professionals can take certain measures to make patients feel more at ease during these routine visits. Here’s how to make patients feel more comfortable during a checkup.

Create a Clean and Inviting Environment

When set up incorrectly, doctor’s offices have the potential to feel cold and sterile in all the wrong ways. Eliminate this atmosphere in your own office by tastefully decorating and furnishing your waiting room. Walking into a cozy waiting room will help patients to feel more comfortable before they’ve started their checkups. Although exam rooms can’t really be cozy in the same way as a waiting room, you can make a good impression on your patients by keeping your exam rooms clean and well-maintained.

Establish a Rapport With Patients

Patients often feel nervous when beginning their appointments, so help them to feel less uncomfortable by establishing a rapport from the start. If you’ve never met your patient before, take a few moments before the exam to introduce yourself and learn a bit about them. As you conduct the exam, be friendly and polite, and listen to any of their concerns.

Keep Waiting Times Down

At least once in their lives, almost everyone has had the experience of waiting for an excruciatingly long time in the waiting room or for the doctor to arrive in the exam room after the nurse leaves. Sometimes, due to a hectic schedule or unforeseen duty, you can’t avoid that delay. But, let’s be honest, it does nothing to improve your patients’ moods or comfort levels. Do your best to keep waiting times to a minimum; at the very least, inform your patients of any delays.

Focus on Patient Education

You might understand what is going on with one of your patients, but without an explanation, they might not. Imagine yourself going into surgery without any understanding of the impending operation—wouldn’t you be nervous too? Proper patient education is incredibly important, as it helps patients understand their diagnoses and treatments. By providing patients with good patient education, you can eliminate any fear of the unknown that comes along with a diagnosis or prescribed treatment.

Now that you know how to make patients feel more comfortable during a checkup, try implementing some of these strategies in your practice from day to day. Doing so will help you to improve as a medical professional and foster healthy connections with your patients.