Patients are the core of everything that you do in your practice, and repeat patients are always the best kind of patients to have. This is the very thing that will build your business, because those returning patients are the ones that will refer other people to you! For that reason, it?s really important to make sure that you?re creating an experience that makes your patients happy. An effective patient experience allows for your patients to feel like you care about them and the impact that they have on what you do in your practice.
When you take the time to really plan out what your patient experience should look like you?ll find yourself with a lot more patients that are happy in your practice and you?ll also be able to show what makes your office stand out from all of the other healthcare professionals that your patients and potential patients have the choice in visiting.
Developing your patient experience doesn?t have to be an elaborate process or something that you invest tons of time and money into. In fact, a lot that goes into creating an effective and memorable experience is about the thought and meaning behind the little things that you do. It will always be the little things that make a huge difference in the overall view that your patients have about your office.
So, what goes into creating a patient experience that?s memorable and that keeps your patients always coming back to book an appointment with you?
Show Them That You Care Beyond Just What You Can Do For Them
Your patients want to know that you understand that they are people too. They?re people who have needs and feelings outside of the service that you?re providing to them. And, they want to know that you know that. They want to know that they?re more than just another patient or another bill you?ll submit to their insurance company. You should want and need to show them that you care.
What does that look like? Having conversations with them. Making sure that you spend time with them during their allotted appointment time and that you actually remember the things that you discuss with them. Asking about their kids or family and actually remembering things that you talked about can go a long way with patients.
Engage With Your Patients And Don’t Position Yourself Above Them
No one wants to work with someone, even their healthcare professional, if they feel like they?re beneath them. For a lot of patients, there?s already some hesitation about saying and doing the right things when visiting their healthcare professional so easing that anxiety can help to create an amazing patient experience.
You want to create an environment where your patients feel like they can talk with you about everything that they need to discuss at their appointment and that you will not make them feel like they?re asking the wrong things or talking about things incorrectly. They already respect you and expect that you?ll do what?s right for them. When you can show them that you?re on their level and want to know what they truly need you?ll find that they are a lot less guarded and the appointment tends to flow easier as well.
Ensure Your Employees Understand The Importance That Your Patients Have To Your Practice
Your employees need to understand that your patients are the core of your entire practice and business. Without enough patients your practice will not make it and your employees will not have anywhere to work. Everyone has to pull together to make sure that patients are happy from the time they walk into your office to the time that they walk out of your office. And if we?re being honest, even after they have walked out of your office.
It?s imperative that everyone on your team is working together to create the experience that you desire to have your patients go through and carrying out your vision. However, the only way for them to effectively do that is for you to be clear on what everything looks like for you and how you would like for them to carry things out.
The best way to make sure that everything that you want gets done is to create systems inside of your practice. Make it easy for your employees to know what to do when certain patient situations arise and how you want them to handle those issues.
But, don?t just stop at planning out what to do when problem situations arise. Think about the good too. What do you want to happen as soon as a patient comes through the door? What about when they?re about to leave? How does this entire process look like for your practice?
Although as the healthcare professional you?re not the only one that’s going to be carrying out the patient experience, your team will do a lot of the work too, so it?s important that you set the tone for how everything will go in your practice. Make sure that you?re intentional about planning out your patient experience.
