Exam room flags?

Http://www.quickmedical.com/exam_room_products/signs.html

or at hte pediatrician I went to, they were high tech enough to have switches and lights, that were both inside the exam room, lights above the door on the outside, and on a big board in the reception area. I never did figure out the system, steady on, blinking, off, all the different colors. anyone have any ideas, theories, or actually know the system they use at your doctor?

-Nicole

I saw one like that in a large practice and it was to signal patients in rooms, who's file was ready, who was done etc.

The clinic I go to has these exam room flags. Does anyone know what the different colors signify, or does that vary from clinic to clinic?

Pretty sure green would mean "exam room available", red would mean "do not enter or occupied", and yellow/blue would probably be for after a room was done to signal it needed to be cleaned/prepared for the next patient.

One office I went to told me to turn the light to a different color by pressing the appropriate button in the room. They told me to do so when I was undressed and ready for the doctor to come in.

What I find really surprising in this digital age is that they still use these simple flags. Seems like with digital xrays, ct scans and even electronic files and use of Ipads that those exam room flags would be a thing of the past!

The clinic I used to go to had 6 or 7 different colour lights for each room. thought that one colour meant patient in there, another colour meant doctor in as well, room needing cleaning, and such. but when the doctor came in, she flipped a switch, and the light went from solid yellow, to blinking yellow. think it was yellow. so there goes that theory. I was tempted to ask what the colours meant, but I always get a little scared when I am in for a real exam, not knowing if the doctor will actually find something wrong with me. if I remember right, there were red, yellow, green, blue, purple, and maybe a white light. would love ot know the system, so that someone in the waiting room can look at the big board over the reception area, and see if some other random patient is undressed and waiting, or the doctor is in, or 'need assistance, bring a nurse, we have to hold down a struggling naked patient'. or something else like that.

-Nicole

At the pediatrician, it can signal to the nurse who get a rectal temp vs oral

In multi-doctor practices they could also signify which doctor is assigned to the patient in that room

The system at my doctor's office was very simple. There were plastic containers on the outside of each of the doors. When a nurse took you in, she put your folder in the container and closed the door (which prevented me from snooping on my file).

Door open: obviously empty

Door closed, no folder: either the doctor is in or the patient is dressing after the exam

Door closed, folder: somebody's inside waiting to be examined.

My doctors office doesnt have folders. Everything is electronic. The doctor carries a laptop...

I have been in a few offices that used a similar flag system. I like it because it adds to the coldness and impersonal feel of the physical exam experience. I love the idea that when a certain flag color is displayed, the other doctors and employees in the office know that someone is inside and may be having his genital exam in progress.

Usually its just the patient's life on the outside of the door at my doctor's office

Its just for signalling that an exam room is empty and either needs to be cleaned or is ready for a patient to come in, a patient is in the room, a patient has been seen by a nurse for vitals signs and had an inital history by the nurse and is now ready to be seen by the doctor, etc.

I've been walked into during an exam before. Has anyone ever done that?

Be glad your doctor's office has a system. I have had someone walk into the exam while I was having a physical. The nurse walked into the exam room with a female patient. I'm standing with my boxers pulled down and the doctor just starting to give me a hernia exam. Of course, I could not move or cover up because his finger was already into the canal area.

I had a friend who used to work at a hospital, and there was a big board on the main hall downstairs by the doctors lounge. The numbers on the outside referred to the doctors number, and at the switchboard, on the other end of the building, was one with the names.

A steady lit light meant that the doctor was 'in the house'.

I would imagine that the colors may refer to the doc, and a blinking may mean that they need a nurse.

Just a guess,.....