As a doctor, you’re trained to provide the best medical care possible. Unfortunately, patients don’t always receive the best experience getting the care they need.
It’s a vulnerable time for patients. Yet, they often sit in a waiting room for 30 minutes only to spend five with a doctor.
A patient’s experience at your practice determines whether they stay or leave. It determines if they refer others to your practice or not.
How can you ensure a compassionate and supportive patient experience? Read on to find out.
- Make Scheduling Convenient
Patients are busier than ever. They often don’t have a chance to schedule an appointment during normal practice hours.
You can increase the number of patient appointments by adding an online scheduling option.
This helps your practice and improves the patient experience.
- Emphasize Good Communication
A study published by the National Institute of Health showed that doctor-patient communication is a central part of the medical patient experience.
Patients sense when you’re busy and they don’t want to ask questions if they feel the pressure of time constraints.
Improve communication by being direct with negative news and using everyday language when talking to patients.
Give patients space to ask questions and show empathy and support.
- Be Accessible
Accessibility is just as important as communication. Patients want to work with a doctor they know they can reach out to with questions and concerns.
Many practices have software in place that contains a patient’s medical record. These programs facilitate communication by letting clients send messages to doctors.
That level of accessibility is important for patients. They may not utilize it, but they appreciate that’s an option.
- Get Billing Under Control
Most patients don’t understand insurance and billing. They think that insurance should cover things and they may not understand why they received a bill to begin with.
There are also billing mistakes that happen. That causes undue panic because patients get a large, unexpected bill.
If you want to improve this part of a patient’s experience, consider hiring a revenue cycle management company. Med USA medical billing has a resource that goes over the pros and cons of an RCM company.
- Train Your Office Staff
A patient’s experience is made up of every interaction they have with your office. That includes your staff.
Train your office staff to be friendly and courteous at all times. Let them know that they’re part of the patient experience and it’s important that they’re at their best.
Let them provide feedback and empower them to suggest ways to improve the clinic experience for patients.
Every Patient’s Experience Matters
It doesn’t matter if someone is a long-time patient or visiting your practice for the first time. Every patient’s experience is important.
One poor experience at your practice, and you lose the patient and referrals. Don’t take that chance with your practice.
Follow this guide to improve the experience for medical patients. You’ll have a sustainable practice.
For more tips to handle the business side of your practice, be sure to visit this site often for the latest business news.
