Table 4.

Patient and Staff Concerns and Suggestions for Self-Rooming Implementation

Concerns About Self-Rooming	Implementation Suggestions
From patients and staff
Patients who need assistance Patients with cognitive impairment Patients with physical impairment Patients who are severely ill	Asking patients at check-in if they need assistance finding and arriving at the exam room
Suboptimal clinic layouts Situations with sub-optimal clinic layout	Providing clear signage and verifying its clarity through patient interviews or surveys
From patients
Patient learning curve Becoming familiar with the self-rooming process Become familiar with a clinic’s layout	Asking patients at check-in if they need more information on the self-rooming process or clinic layout Providing clear signage and verifying its clarity through patient interviews or surveys
Patient uncertainty Worrying about being forgotten in an exam room Uncertainty about being in the wrong room or whether the clinician is running late	Instructing patients to alert the front desk if waiting over 10 minutes
From staff
Missing health information Missing laboratory tests Missing weight measurement	Creating a variant of the self-rooming process where patients needing tests are offered an escort option Adding weight scales in or closer to exam rooms
Staff uncertainty Uncertainty about when and where a patient is ready (checked-in, given room directions, in exam room), and needing to keep checking Uncertainty about whether an exam room is available, occupied, or needs to be cleaned	Adding alert buttons in exam rooms and instructing patients to use them when ready Providing staff reference maps to track room status
Room availability Situations where patients arrive very early and occupy an exam room for a long time	None suggested