How to improve the patient experience in your medical practice
When it comes to healthcare, there’s no shortage of options. Today’s medical practices must compete with tech giants, retail companies, and other innovative providers seeking to disrupt traditional care delivery models. If you’re a traditional healthcare provider, it’s actually really hard to stand out. How do you convey to patients you provide the best services at the lowest cost? And does that even matter anymore, or are patients looking for something else?
If there’s anything the retail industry has taught us, it’s that the overall experience is paramount. If the customer service is terrible, it leaves a lasting impression—and not a good one.
Ask yourself this question: What is the patient experience like at your medical practice? When was the last time you conducted a patient experience survey? Are patients satisfied? Do they deliberately choose your practice over others? What keeps them coming back? If they’re not satisfied, do you know how to improve the patient experience? Improving quality and patient experience can help your medical practice compete in today’s saturated, consumer-centric healthcare marketplace.
Here are five tips to help you get started.
1. Make it easy for patients to find you. Do you have a professional website for your medical practice? What about a presence on social media? When was the last time you updated these resources? Have you claimed and updated your Google My Business profile? What about investing in search advertising? These are all tools at your disposal that can make it easier for patients to find you.
2. Connect with patients during the visit. One important aspect of the patient experience? Feeling connected. Patients want to feel heard, understood, and as though they matter. Unfortunately, technology can sometimes get in the way. This includes electronic health records (EHR) that otherwise provide many benefits to today’s medical practices. For example, the EHR provides easy access to critical clinical information; however, it’s tempting to stare at the computer screen when viewing that information. When physicians become overly distracted by the EHR, this can make patients feel invisible. Instead, try to make eye contact with patients as you input data or review documentation. You can also move the computer screen so patients can see what you’re doing. HealthIT.gov also provides additional communication guidelines for providers, including what to say as they use an EHR in the exam room.
Similarly, there are ways to improve the patient telehealth experience. The American Medical Association provides a telehealth playbook that includes a telehealth visit etiquette checklist. Some items on that checklist? Avoid background noise, dress professionally and adjust the webcam to ensure proper eye contact.
3. Empower non-clinical staff. Much of the patient experience is based on patient interactions with your front desk staff, referral coordinators, schedulers, billers, and others. Are these individuals trained properly? For example, do they understand HIPAA? Can they explain medical policy restrictions and coverage? What about basic healthcare insurance terminology? Can they communicate empathically?
4. Provide an online, mobile experience. Nearly every industry is moving toward an online, mobile experience, and healthcare must do the same. For example, patients increasingly want the ability to self-schedule a health appointment online just as they would self-schedule an oil change for their car online. They want to check in for a health appointment via their mobile device or a check-in kiosk just as they would check in for a flight at a check-in kiosk. They want to pay their healthcare bill online just as they would pay their utility or credit card bill online. (An added bonus? Online bill pay can also help increase your patient collections).
5. Focus on patient education, engagement. Sixty-one percent of consumers are more interested in receiving healthcare-related news since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Advisory Board. What are you doing to satisfy that interest? For example, do you provide patients with access to trusted health information they can use to answer medical questions, research prescriptions and diagnoses, and learn about health and wellness? Do you provide preventive health reminders? Remember: communication isn’t always a one-way street. Patients want to know they have access to you when they have questions. Does your practice offer securing messaging?
Conclusion
When thinking about how to improve the patient experience, it’s all about the little things. The way you and your staff talk to patients. The ease with which patients can schedule appointments and pay their bills. The ease with which patients find your medical practice and contact you. Taking steps to improve the patient experience can help you stand out, and it may be just what you need to grow your medical practice in the short- and long-term. Learn how edgeMED can help at https://www.edgemed.com.
