A Guide on Improving Patients’ Experience
Improving patients’ experience is a complex yet rewarding endeavor for almost every single healthcare provider. Yet as important as though it may be, there’s still yet to be a clear definition of patient experience. As healthcare organizations work diligently to improve patient satisfaction, it’s the patients’ own words and not that of the healthcare provider that are considered the yardstick.
Regardless of the ambiguity surrounding the matter, there are certain agreed-upon ways that lead to both happier and healthier patients. In this blog, we look at a few ways healthcare organizations can improve the patients’ experience.
Give Patients Your Attention and Make them Feel Respected
From the time patients enter the facility for scheduled appointments until the time they leave, physicians, staff, and managers must strive to give patients the attention and respect they deserve. Encourage each staff member maintains a standard of service as established by the manager and helps keep employees accountable.
Doing so will enable you to measure your consistency in meeting the golden standard of care and service. Another way of benchmarking your performance is to implement post-encounter interviews, conduct patient satisfaction surveys, and establish robust patient dispute procedures.
Ensure the staff is adequately trained by implementing annual customer-service workshops that’ll also help to reinforce a culture of excellence when it comes to providing customer care. Another way of instilling a spirit of compassion into your staff is to ask for feedback on how to become the best-service practice in your locality.
Permeate the Look of an Engaging Practice
It’s the first impression that matters and patients will judge your practice well before they even have a chance to interact with you or your staff. Making a great first impression begins by creating an attractive and easy-to-navigate website where potential patients can find information regarding your services, operating times, location, etc.
Additional features such as drop-down menus, live interactions, Google map directions, scheduling appointments, and secure payments go a long way in adding credibility to your business. Don’t forget to do the same with your practice – a welcoming, comfortable, and clean office permeates a sense of quality and professionalism.
Create Easy Access for the Patients
Creating ease-of-access for the patients begins with a well-managed scheduling system which depends on having a sound understanding of fluctuating demand followed by availability of space and staff to meet that demand. Essentially, it refers to a seamless flow of customers and keeping open lines of communication at all times.
Additionally, your scheduling staff should be capable of addressing shifts in the demand by adjusting appointment times without compromising the patients’ needs. The EHR and practice management systems can deliver critical performance data in this regard. Such procedures enforce a sense of accountability focused on improving the overall patients’ experience.
Strive to Improve Communication
This means responding to patients’ phone calls with enthusiasm, being helpful, and answering any and all questions. Train your staff members to never say ‘no’ to a patient and always act in a kind and courteous manner. This includes smiling, maintaining eye contact, looking for cues the patient might be giving, and to reassure and comfort those that appear to be restless or display a sense of anxiety.
When the patient is about to leave, inquire about their experience, what you can do to improve it, and if there’s anything else you can help them with. As healthcare providers, meeting the emotional needs is – at times – more important than physical ones.
Enforce Timeliness
Be quick to answer phone calls and respond to emails within a limited time frame. Don’t have them constantly go from one person to another and ensure that each member of the staff is aware of the established timeframes – all of which requires accountability.
Timeliness takes a hit when patients are made to wait in line for their appointments. Update them from time to time regarding how much longer they have to wait. Practice management systems track patients from the time they check-in and are important tools for providing reports and ensuring no patients waits longer than required. It also eliminates any bottlenecks that interrupt the patient flow and significantly improves customer service.
It’s common for healthcare facilities to forget that their performance is being measured based on the quality of patient experience they provide. This requires extra commitment and effort from each staff member. Another crucial factor that cannot be ignored is the quality of healthcare services provided by your physicians and nurses. Getting hold of qualified medical personnel is key to improving value.
Fortunately for you, Medical Associates Consulting offers medical staffing services in Pennsylvania. They have medical databases consisting of some of the brightest minds in the country. Contact us today for more information.
