Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Sharing An Idea

Thought I would share an idea that has worked well for our office. Total investment is about $800, but well worth it.

I don't know how many lunch meetings we would have where we would say something like, "I wish the patients would tell their pharmacists the script was ePrescribed." So, then someone would say, "We should make a sign." One would be made and taped up among the other 25 paper signs, none of which anyone read. So, here is what would did.

We purchased a 42" Panasonic (tell you why in a minute) flat screen TV. I then used PowerPoint to make all the information I want my patients to know. You can save them in JPGs in 1920 by 1080. These are put on an SD card (Panasonic is the only flat screen TV that will take SD cards). There are other options, but this is the easiest by far.

You copy them onto the SD card and put it in the TV. It automatically does a slide show in any format you want.

You keep the ppt presentation so you can easily edit, add or delete slides.

I then went to Google, chose 1920 by 1080 photos of beautiful places such as the Grand Canyon or Niagra Falls and put them in every other slide to give the patients a break in between.

There are many ways to use the media. WD, hard drives, direct PowerPoint, etc, but the SD card is so easy. You will may be tempted to just connect PowerPoint directly, but keep in mind that this actually results in two monitors. Windows sometimes switches applications erroneously between two monitors for those who have ever used two monitors. Next thing you know Amazing Charts and your billing software is on a 42 inch LCD screen in your waiting room.

I was just sitting here 30 minutes ago when a patient called for a medicine for conjunctivitis. I looked in her chart, and there was a refill waiting. That could have saved two phone calls and an ePrescribe. So, I made another slide informing my patients they should check with their pharmacy first to see if there is a refill.

Not to mention you can connect cable or Ethernet and watch television when you are tired of doing patient stuff.

That's better than our scrolling sign for sure. Great idea! The best we have come up with are one line jokes.

Great idea!Curious how many slides did you make and how long do they flash before the scenic pics.

Lets hope you don't have to repeat so much now.

Allison

I made 14 slides with 14 pictures. They each run 30 seconds. There are four speeds. You will find that less than 30 seconds is too quick too absorb the data and more is, obviously, too long.

One key thing I forgot to mention, which was figured into the cost I mentioned, is having it professionally done.

I got lucky because one of my patients does this for a living and another patient is an electrician. He put the outlet directly behind it, and my other friend mounted it on the wall. It has to be mounted on studs or other solid wood as it weighs about 45 pounds.

We get more, "Wow, how are there no wires," than we do, "Great messages."

Oh, and while I was at Best Buy, I bought a 37 inch Panasonic flat screen coupled with a WD TV Live Hub Media Center. Right now we have 18 movies for 32 looped hours. Movies like Cars I and II, Toy Story I, II and III, The Incredibles, Kung Fu Panda I and II and more. The kids love it and sit there quietly. Parents watch them too. The only downside is the kids don't want to go back or go home.

Bert this is an outstanding idea and execution! Thanks for the tip! mts

Thanks.

And to think, we were almost deprived of this genius! Really glad you shared this! I especially like the part about a cable connection. We can show netflix and "Doc Martin" reruns!

Thanks, Bert.

Tom

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing. We're getting ready to move and we'll definitely incorporate this into the new office!

Barb