An electronic medical records system can help to keep those in the waiting room informed and occupied throughout a loved one's surgery, according to an article on the Outpatient Surgery site.
The system includes a patient-tracking feature. As an arrival is recorded, registration and surgical start times, the EMR automatically populates that information into the tracker.
Aa flat-screen TV installed in the waiting room can display the output. When patients arrive at the front desk, they're given a number with which their escorts can follow their progress.
There's another TV at the nurses' station, out of patients' view, that shows each patient's name, their physicians' names, their expected arrival times and their registration times.
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