How to set up a waiting room screen
Last updated September 24, 2026
A waiting room screen is a TV in your waiting area that shows your opening hours, practice news, and health tips from a small media player, so a change is an edit at your desk instead of a new poster. The quickest way to set one up is to start from a template for your practice information, add a second slide with a health tip, and let the two rotate in a playlist. Signage software keeps it running all day and can black the screen out after closing time.
With Screenbird, for example, you fill in the Clinic Info template in the Designer, add a Health Tip, put both in a playlist, and send it to the waiting room TV. After that, every change you save reaches the screen by itself. Filling in your details takes the most time; the rest takes a few minutes.
The end result, live on your TV.
What you need
- A TV or monitor with an HDMI input, in a spot every seat can see
- A media player: Amazon's Signage Stick and the Fire TV Stick 4K are the simplest plug-and-play options; smart TVs and Windows, Mac, or Linux devices work just as well
- A Screenbird account (free trial, then $18 per screen per month)
- A computer to build the slides on, and your opening hours, address, and a photo or logo
Can't I just put a TV channel on?
Many waiting rooms start that way. Each of these works until you want the screen to say something about your practice:
A regular TV channel costs nothing extra, but it shows the news and commercials of the day, never your opening hours, and nobody picks what comes on.
Slides on a USB stick shows your own information, but every change means making the slides again and walking a new stick to every TV.
Casting from a laptop is quick to set up, but the screen goes blank as soon as that laptop sleeps, updates, or leaves with a colleague.
Signage software handles what those options can't: you change a slide in your browser and every waiting room screen follows. On a dedicated player like Amazon's Signage Stick, the slides come back on their own after a power outage, and the screen goes dark by itself when the practice closes.
Step-by-step with Screenbird
For the full click-by-click walkthrough, see the Screenbird Knowledge Base.
Create your free account
Sign up for Screenbird in your browser. Nothing to install on your computer, and the trial starts right away.
Pair your screen
Install the Screenbird player on your TV or stick. It shows a 6-character pairing code. Enter that code in your dashboard to connect the screen.
Start from the Clinic Info template
On a computer, go to Files, click New, and choose New design. Name the design, choose Landscape or Portrait to match how your TV hangs, leave Resolution on HD, click Healthcare, and pick Clinic Info. Click Create design, and the Designer opens with a sample practice.
Fill in your practice details
Double-click the practice name, the opening hours, and the address, and type over them. Each line is its own text, so you can move or restyle it in the panel on the right. To use a photo of your own waiting room, select the picture and choose Replace image. The sample QR code opens screenbird.app: select it, delete it, and add your own with the QR tool in the left toolbar. The Designer saves as you go.
Add a health tip
Make a second design the same way and pick Health Tip. Replace the sleep advice with a tip of your own, like a flu shot reminder or advice for the season. Healthcare has more templates to choose from, such as Doctor Spotlight to introduce your team.
Put both designs in a playlist
Go to Playlists, click New, choose New playlist, name it, and click Save. In the playlist, click Add, select both designs, and confirm. Each item shows for 10 seconds unless you change it: click its duration and type a new number. Drag items to change the order. The playlist saves itself.
Send it to the waiting room screen
Click the send icon at the top of the playlist, choose your waiting room screen, and click Send. The slides start rotating within seconds. From then on, every change you save, to a design or to the playlist, reaches the screen by itself.
Black out the screen after closing time (optional)
Go to Screens, open your waiting room screen, and go to Screen control. Turn on Automatically turn screen on/off and set the On and Off times for each weekday, or Off for days you're closed. Outside those hours the screen goes black. On an Android player with a TV that supports HDMI-CEC, the TV itself goes to standby; test it after saving.
The result
Your waiting room screen is running. When your opening hours change for a holiday, edit the design; the screen follows within seconds.
GP practices
Opening hours, the flu shot campaign, and how to reach the out-of-hours service, rotating all day.
Dental practices
Your team, the treatments you offer, and a brushing tip for the kids in the waiting room.
Physiotherapy
An exercise of the week and the classes you run, next to your opening hours.