A 2022 survey by The Beryl Institute found that out of just over 1,00 respondents that 60% had a negative experience with a healthcare provider. These negative experiences can range from the patients not feeling like they’re being listened to or “fobbed off” over health concerns to major medical elegance cases that have far-reaching consequences.
With these figures in mind, how can you, as a healthcare provider, improve the patient experience? After all, you need to ensure your patients stay on your books and are satisfied with the care they receive for your practice to thrive and grow.
Acknowledge Each Patient
Every single patient that comes through your doors should be acknowledged and made to feel welcomed and cared for. The money they don’t have is the moment they find a new provider. This needs to be enforced by each member of staff. From being greeted by front-of-house staff to excellent care by nurses for blood draws to attentive doctors for diagnosis, and so on. Acknowledge each patient as an individual and make them feel like their health is the only thing that matters to them. Other ways you can do this include employing more staff for busier periods, offering additional extras, including wifi, remote patient access, and appointments when possible, and even transporting those who struggle to make it to appointments.
Utilize Technology
Technology has revolutionized modern healthcare, showing no signs of slowing down from the equipment used to diagnose illnesses and conditions to transforming admin and increasing patient control over their data and healthcare needs. Electronic health records, video appointments, mobile apps, and e-reminders are popular ways to increase engagement and the customer experience for the better. An effective patient access center can help you reduce no-shows, improve patient communication, and improve your overall patient experience.
Collect Feedback
How can you make changes for the better? You don’t know where you are under or over performing. To make the right changes and improve what you do and how you do it, you need to have a system to collect feedback and put changes in place based on this. There are various ways you can gather feedback. From surveys to fill in when they leave or in reception, sending emails out after appointments asking for thoughts and feelings on their recent experience, holding conferences or open evenings to invite patients to discuss their ideas on what they do, or using a third-party provider to send out surveys for people to fill in. From here, you need to collate the data effectively, look for patterns that indicate failings and cause for concern, and then implement a plan to help you put things right
Be accountable for all of your promises and strive to put things right to improve the patient experience. Make sure to listen to each patient and connect back with them if they wish or choose not to submit anonymous answers. You can let them know you are sorry for any failings and what you are doing to change how you approach this in the future.
Conclusion
Improving the patient experience must be a top priority for all healthcare providers. With the fierce competition in this sector, you should be doing everything you can to ensure your patients are happy and satisfied with the care they receive from you.
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