water cooler in waiting/dispensing area

[Morrie Sher]

Hi,
I am considering putting a water cooler in my waitingroom/dispensing area (my staff have suggested this). I do have some concerns regarding children playing and making a mess. Anyone have one in their office and have experience to share on this topic.

ps although this is my first post, I do occasionally browse on ODwire and find it quite interesting

Morrie

[Steven Nelson]

Not no, but hell no. My waiting room got turned into a lake about once a day. I still have the water cooler, but I moved it to our private area. It's a great idea, but it fails miserably.

[Joe DiGiorgio, O.D.]

Hey Morrie,


Good Post!

I feel it is a nice idea. I would want a way to locate it at a height where little children can not reach it, especially if it has a hot water side. Some parents just don't oversee the behavior of their children.

I have also been to some places where they have a small fridge behind the counter, and the receptionist offers the client a small bottle of water. Sort of like you may get on an airline. You probably won't go though that much water, unless your staff will also be drinking it.

Maybe put a water cooler in back for the staff, and the mini-fridge out front for the patients.

[Steven Nelson]

Hey Morrie,


Good Post!

I feel it is a nice idea. I would want a way to locate it at a height where little children can not reach it, especially if it has a hot water side. Some parents just don't oversee the behavior of their children.

I have also been to some places where they have a small fridge behind the counter, and the receptionist offers the client a small bottle of water. Sort of like you may get on an airline. You probably won't go though that much water, unless your staff will also be drinking it.

Maybe put a water cooler in back for the staff, and the mini-fridge out front for the patients.

A slight variation on this that I've considered is putting one of those glass front fridges on a counter with water bottles in it. You can actually order custom labels with your name/logo on them (I don't know if you order the entire water bottle with the label already on it or not). You can also put donuts out there which patients also think is very cool. I don't know if these things actually build your practice, but I'm a firm believer that any aspect that makes the visit more pleasant or gets attention can't do anything but help.

But take my word on that water cooler!

[Joe DiGiorgio, O.D.]

Steve,

Yes, the class front type fridge that is probably a wine chiller. The botttles should probably be 8 0z size.

You could probably print up and apply labels that say Compliments of Dr. Sher. Kindly help us discard after use.

Not sure about the donuts. Make sure they are not the powdered variety

[Jonathan Warner]

I second Steven's first post. We do not allow food or drink in the office. A doctor's office is not a restaurant or a snack bar.

[Melonie Carlson]

We keep a carafe of coffee, cups with lids, bottled water, and a jar filled with miniature candy bars in the reception/dispensing area. We feel that making our patients feel well-cared for offsets the minimal mess that results from inattentive parents.

[Morrie Sher]

Great responses. I definitely won`t put the water cooler in the dispensary or waiting area as Steve`s reply confirmed my fears (contrary to what my staff believes). I love the idea of putting labels on the bottles and leaving them on the front desk. Right now we always have candies of one sort or another in a bowl at the front desk and it seems to be a hit with patients.

[David W Miller]

We have a water cooler in the office, but it is in a hallway, not in the reception room.....you actually have to open the door from the waiting room to enter the hallway to the exam areas to get to it. I think that's probably the key.....it really hasn't been a problem for us at all.

[Gregory Wilson]

Our water cooler is right in front of you when you open the door. I've been in the office >5 years and we haven't had a mess once. I guess my patients are better behaved!

[Kathryn Collins]

Our water cooler is next to the reception desk, so patients ask if they can have water and we fill the cup for them. Had it in a more public area--it had to be moved because of the lake situation. Also kids use 300 cups at a time. It is very nice for patients that get those coughing fits while you are trying to examine them. The hot water nozzle has a safety lock on it. Tried the coffee thing, but became a big mess with creamer, sugar, cups, stirrers, etc. Then you have to make it and throw it away if not fresh anymore. Then pts are carrying coffee to pretest area and exam room.

[Shawn Poitras]

Have any of you used the idea of personalized waterbottle labels?
Where did you have them done?
Thanks

[Russ Beach]

We provide bottled water (the smaller ones so they don't go to waste) and we have an automatic coffee/espresso machine that prepares it fresh for each person. Patients always seem to appreciate the extra touch.

[Elizabeth Hart-Carlock]

My experience with watercoolers is that the little paper cups get spilled by the kids on a frequent basis, and some adults forget the simple courtesy of throwing the cups in the trash. I don't want to be a housekeeper, and as a patient I don't want to sit on a chair that was just home to someone's tipped-over paper cup, especially during flu season. The water cooler in our office got moved out of immediate public view because it became such a mess.

As for the food issue--as a parent of a child with multiple food allergies, I appreciate it when offices and other places _don't_ have food around in the public spaces. I hate it when someone sits in my waiting area and eats something with peanuts, completely disregarding the 'no food or drink' sign on the door. I've asked them politely to remove the food due to some people having severe peanut allergies, and I have no qualms whatsoever about it.

Why am I that assertive about it? Aside from my daughter having problems with her allergies making her utterly miserable, I've treated a couple people for severe anaphylaxis reactions (one time for a bee sting, one time for a food allergy). It sucks, for the patient and the people around them. There's not much more scary than watching someone's vital signs take a nosedive, knowing you've done everything you can and that EMS is on the way, and being utterly powerless to do anything else. I don't ever want to have a patient in my office experience a food-related anaphylaxis reaction, which can happen for some peanut-allergic folks if they simply come in contact with a small amount of the oil residue.

/rant mode....

[Richard Jackson]

Had water cooler (hot and cold) in waiting room with coffee and tea, ended up removing it. Too messy, may go with glass front mini fridge and small water bottles with our info on label. Just need to see the cost.