In a physical practice, the waiting room tells patients a great deal about the care they are about to receive before a single word is spoken. The cleanliness, the organization, the speed with which they are acknowledged at the front desk. Your virtual waiting room does the same job. Patients form an impression of your practice the moment they click their session link, and that impression shapes how open, engaged, and trusting they are when the video call begins.
Here is how to use the virtual waiting room intentionally.
What the Virtual Waiting Room Actually Does
When a patient clicks their SecureVideo session link, they are placed in the virtual waiting room rather than dropped directly into the call. This is by design. The waiting room:
- Confirms to the patient that they have arrived in the right place and the link is working
- Gives them a moment to test their camera and microphone before the session begins
- Holds them securely in a HIPAA-compliant environment until you are ready to admit them
- Notifies you on your dashboard when the patient has arrived so you can monitor and admit at the right moment
Why Prompt Admission Matters
Patients in a virtual waiting room are not distracted by a magazine or a television. They are waiting at their device, watching for movement. Leaving a patient in the waiting room for more than a few minutes past their scheduled start time communicates the same thing a long wait in a physical waiting room communicates: your time is less important than mine.
Check your waiting room dashboard at the patient’s scheduled appointment time and admit them promptly. If you are finishing documentation from a prior session and need two minutes, having a staff member or front desk person send a brief message acknowledging the patient’s arrival helps significantly.
Configuring Your Waiting Room Well
Several configuration choices affect how professional and reassuring the waiting room experience feels:
- Customize your waiting room with your practice name and logo using SecureVideo’s account customization tools, so patients see a branded, professional environment rather than a generic screen
- Ensure the session link in your appointment confirmation email is correct and arrives with clear instructions for what the patient should do when they click it
- Send reminders via SecureVideo’s scheduling system that include the session link and a brief note explaining that they will enter a virtual waiting room when they click
What Patients Should Be Told About the Waiting Room
Many patients, especially those newer to telehealth, do not know what to expect after clicking their link. A brief line in your appointment confirmation email removes that uncertainty:
“When you click your session link at your appointment time, you will enter a virtual waiting room. Your provider will admit you shortly. You can use this time to test your camera and microphone.”
That single sentence prevents a significant portion of the patient calls and messages that practices receive asking “Did I click the right link? Is this working?”
What to Communicate If You Are Running Late
If you are running behind, do not leave the patient sitting in the waiting room without acknowledgment. Use SecureVideo’s clinical chat to send a brief message letting them know you will be with them in a few minutes. The same courtesy you would show a patient in a physical waiting room applies in a virtual one.
The virtual waiting room is a small piece of the telehealth workflow, but it is the patient’s first experience of your practice in a virtual visit. Getting it right costs nothing and sets the entire session up for a stronger start. Explore the virtual waiting room feature or start a free trial to see it in action.