A clinic reception area is a section of your clinic space that is used to greet all patients and to provide a waiting area for them until they are taken into the consultation. The size of the reception area that you have should be in direct proportion to both the type and size of your practice. The sophistication and associated cost of building a stylish reception area, versus a basic one will depend in large part on what overall look & feel that you are trying to create in your practice.

All reception areas have several furnishings and components in common:
• Receptionist desk/station
• A comfortable and ergonomically appropriate chair for the receptionist
• Chairs for patients to use while waiting
• A table to hold literature or magazines

Apart from the above here are five criteria to make YOUR Clinic Reception Area the Best it Can Be!

Make sure the reception area:
1. Conveys a congruent, deliberate image.
2. Presents practice message/image/mission in a logical, organized way.
3. Helps the patient think with “creative idea displays.”
4. Educates the patient when appropriate – by display (eg. Patient Of The Month), by continuous-loop video, by print material (eg. NP binder).
5. Utilizes every possibility – such as wall space – to promote advertise & educate.

There are only three reasons for the patient being in the office:
1. To get well (crisis care).
2. To stay well & learn how to stay well (wellness/maintenance care).
3. To get inspired to refer.

Every minute that they spend in your office, & everything seen or heard while there should be related to one, two or all three of those reasons. That means: out with magazines, in with interesting educational literature; out with background music & in with continuous loop video; out with paintings of houses & trees & in with charts, posters & educational whiteboards.

I think just any practice can turn its environment into a much more effective marketing-orientated environment with these ideas.