Best Magazines to Provide Patients

In an ideal world, your patients wouldn't have to wait for appointments. But in medical practices, it's impossible to stay on time all the time. Here are our top 10 reception room recommendations for good, quality reading materials:

Men's Health / Women's Health These sister magazines (both published 10 times each year by Rodale) offer a fresh, entertaining take on health, fitness, and nutrition. They cover everything from celebrity fitness trends to workout fashions to exercise, weight loss, and healthy meal planning.

Prevention Targeting women in the over-40 demographic, this classic magazine covers health, beauty, nutrition, mind-body, exercise, and more. Published 12 times each year, the content will never get stale.

Popular Science With a focus on science and technology, Popular Science covers everything from gadget reviews to robots and cars. And for your patients who love to stay on the cutting edge, this magazine (published monthly) is sure to please.

Food & Wine For your patients who love to frequent the latest and greatest restaurants, Food & Wine is just the ticket. This beautifully illustrated monthly magazine is full of delicious, upscale dishes (and wine-pairing tips), travel guides to culinary hubs and wine-inspired locales, and features on up-and-coming chefs.

Cooking Light You try to tell your patients eating healthy is easy - and this magazine will show them. You'll receive a new issue each month, so go ahead and encourage your patients to tear out and take home any healthy recipes that look appealing.

Travel & Leisure Patients are sure to escape into this picturesque journal, practically guaranteed to calm any pre-visit jitters. The monthly book fuses tales of jaunts to faraway destinations with inspiring photography, multicultural recipes, and practical advice.

TIME In-depth features and clever takes on pop culture fill the pages of this classic weekly news magazine. Patients will appreciate international-relations coverage and analytical features (including some super-informative healthcare pieces).

Ebony Founded in 1945, Ebony lives up to its promise as a premiere publication for African-American cultural insight, news, and perspective. The magazine offers a mix of health and wellness, pop culture, and lifestyle content.

Ladies' Home Journal Recipes, nutrition advice, and human-interest articles about interesting women are par for the course in this institutional magazine, which also promises practical marriage advice and great beauty tips. LHJ consistently delivers great, easy-to-read content for its over-35 female-dominant demographic, so you can never go wrong with having it in your waiting room.

National Geographic Who doesn't like to gaze at stunning African safari landscapes and gorgeous gazelles traipsing through the jungles? Your patients will certainly appreciate taking a load off with this journal. Little-known fact about the journal: It waits several years before repeating the same feature topic. So you'll always be guaranteed that patients will be greeted with something unique.

Marisa Torrieri is an associate editor for Physicians Practice. She can be reached at marisa.torrieri@ubm.com.

Aubrey Westgate is an associate editor for Physicians Practice. She can be reached at aubrey.westgate@ubm.com.

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2013 issue of Physicians Practice.