Frightfully fun: 8 Halloween activities to boost patient engagement at your medical practice

October is filled with colder mornings, pumpkin spice lattes, and, of course, Halloween. Although it’s not a requirement to celebrate Halloween in your practice, it is an opportunity to engage with your patients while encouraging them to make healthy choices.

If you’re unsure where to start, here are some fun Halloween ideas you can implement at your independent practice.

You don’t have to splurge, but putting up a few skeletons, Jack-o’-lanterns, ghosts, and spiders in the waiting room, patient exam room, and staff break room can create a spooky mood in the practice. Or, if you have the time, you could also do it yourself (DIY) your decorations to add a personal touch. 

Keep in mind that you don’t want to make your practice too scary, especially if you work with younger patients. If that’s the case, you might want to avoid any decor that makes a lot of noise or jumps out, which could be highly distressing for some patients. 

Also, make sure the decorations aren’t a safety hazard. You don’t want patients and staff tripping over items or young children swallowing small decorations. 

Get your staff involved in the festivities by having them dress up in creative costumes for Halloween. To incentivize them to dress up, you can have a competition for the best costume and offer prizes like a gift card, a free lunch, or extra paid time off (PTO) for the winner. 

Be sure to give your staff guidelines on costumes before the festivities start. You don’t want them to wear anything that could be deemed inappropriate and unprofessional for a healthcare environment. 

Hosting an after-hours Halloween party is a chance to strengthen relationships between staff and patients. In addition to offering sweet treats, consider a costume competition, trivia, games, and other fun activities to keep everyone entertained. 

To reach more people, consider opening the event up to your community. This could be an opportunity to meet with potential patients seeking a new provider or network with other businesses and organizations. 

As you celebrate this spooky holiday, you can still sprinkle in some health essentials for your patients. You can create Halloween-themed goodie bags filled with hand sanitizers, Band-Aids, and tissues. For example, if you have a dental practice, you could have healthy goodie bags filled with toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss — which could all come in handy after patients have likely indulged in sweet treats. 

You can also sneak in some health tips related to Halloween. These could range in importance, from brushing and flossing your teeth after eating candy to flu shot reminders.

If your supplies are customized with your brand, these goodie bags can be a marketing tool to promote your practice.

After making the goodie bags, have your staff leave a basket out in the waiting room so patients and visitors can easily grab a bag when they come to the office. 

Connect with your community by partnering with neighboring businesses to host a fun trick-or-treat event. You can ask a few of your staff members to volunteer to stay late on Halloween night to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. Doing this is not only a way to engage with patients and your community but also an opportunity to promote the practice and build relationships with local businesses.

Make sure your Halloween celebrations go beyond the office. You can share some spooky-themed posts on your social media pages while still promoting what your practice offers. 

Here are some ideas to consider for your practice’s social media:

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Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months and older get the flu shot by October 2024, you can use Halloween themes to encourage patients to come in to the office for their shots. You can share social media posts or emails about the importance of flu vaccination with a spooky twist. 

You could also host a walk-in flu clinic on Halloween so patients can quickly get their shots while seeing their favorite providers donned in fun costumes. Consider letting your patients know that they may feel a bit under the weather after their flu shot, but that’s their immune system responding to the vaccine.

Don’t hesitate to make the campaign fun with silly slogans like “Don’t let the flu spook you!” or “Say boo to the flu!”

If your practice works with children, give them fun activities in your office. Here are some Halloween ideas to consider for younger patients:

Patient engagement is important to keep independent practices running, so it’s crucial that you make efforts to connect with your patients. Taking the time to celebrate holidays like Halloween shows your patients that not only does your practice know how to have fun, but that you strive to develop a relationship with them beyond the exam room. 

Are you an independent practice owner seeking to compete with larger healthcare systems? Check out our independent provider playbook to get insights on how you can take your practice to the next level.