Studies show that patients fire their doctors , but not because of the doctors. Instead, practices were losing patients because the younger cohort increasingly demands what they Jordan Phone Number List have learned to expect from other industries: a simple, seamless patient experience with prompt communication and excellent service. Let's talk about the importance of patient experience and how you can start to improve.
Definition of patient experience Patient experience refers to the Jordan Phone Number List range of interactions a patient has with your practice through various touchpoints, encompassing first contact, scheduling an appointment,
and interactions with staff. Consider patient expectations Remember, patients are getting used to seamless experiences with companies, whether it's easily ordering a new book from Amazon or calling an Uber from their cell phone. These same expectations carry over to health care practices. While it's not fair that the customer experiences of billionaire companies are used as a benchmark, it is the sad reality. Current practices are not living up to the high expectations that patients place of them. According to Prophet,
81% of patients are dissatisfied with their healthcare experience. There is plenty of room for improvement at all levels. Patient experience and health outcomes Believe it or not, patient experience surveys can even improve the overall health of your patients. Studies have shown that collecting patient experience feedback leads to better health outcomes. But that wasn't the only benefit of improving the patient experience.
The study also found the following: Excellent patient experience means less risk of malpractice lawsuits great patient experience means lower turnover rates An excellent patient experience means greater patient loyalty So the evidence is clear. taking action to improve the patient experience helps your practice, your patients and your employees. So how can you start improving your patient experience? There are simple steps you can take to start meeting those expectations.
Let's go through them. Develop a strong online presence Remember that the patient experience begins with the first discovery. Make sure your website is updated. Be sure to show testimonials from past patients and high definition photos so that potential patients understand from the start what kind of care they can expect from your practice. Next, make sure your information is up to date on relevant ad sites like Google and Facebook. Having the wrong opening hours or the wrong phone number can lead to patient frustration and turning to another destination. Let your patients send you a message with the online chat It's important to make it easy for your potential patients to contact you with their insurance and planning questions.
No one wants to call and be put on hold, but it's far too common for a healthcare practice to use this outdated method of communicating with patients. Studies show that consumers prefer webchat over communication methods like phone and email. In case you don't know what Webchat is, it's the little icon you see at the bottom right of this blog that you can use in case you have a question. After all, patients can send their questions via chat with much less effort than a phone call or email. Send appointment reminder notifications Remember that your patients are busy. It is important that you communicate with them to remind them when they need to see you.
No one wants to have missed appointment charges on their insurance when they didn't even know they had an appointment in the first place. That's why you need to send appointment reminders where your patients are most likely to see them, via SMS. Use a HIPAA-compliant text messaging service that allows you to easily communicate with your Jordan Phone Number List patients. However, avoid services that require patients to download an app.
Very few patients are willing to do this, so you're just limiting your potential reach. Use of automated patient experience surveys The best way to improve your patient experience is to ask your patients what works and what doesn't. We recommend investing in software that allows you to send these surveys automatically. Instead of letting your staff spend time trying to collect these feedback manually, you can ensure that these patients receive these SMS surveys immediately after their visit. There are different options for patient surveys.
The first is Net Promoter Score surveys . These surveys allow you to ask your patients how likely they are to recommend your practice to family and friends on a scale of 0 to 10. The great thing about these surveys is that a patient can answer it in a second. All they have to do is click on a number. These surveys can give you a good idea of general patient sentiment. However, you should consider using more in-depth surveys to get more specific feedback. These surveys can give you a better idea of the exact areas where you can improve. Here are some qu