Did you know that about 884 million visits happened in doctor’s offices in the United States? Healthcare practice is one of the fastest-growing industries and is crucial to the community. Patient experience is the most vital component of a successful healthcare company.
Whether a patient comes in for a routine check-up or needs emergency care, a positive experience will allow trust between doctors and patients. Keep reading to help improve patient experience in your healthcare practice.
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Focus On Empathy
One of the easiest ways to deliver caring communication between patients and families is by focusing on empathy. Acknowledging the patient by name and saying hello goes a long way to making them feel like you care. You should follow by introducing yourself and apologizing for any time they may have waited.
A good tip to ease into the conversation is to start by talking about something that is not medical. Once you wrap up the conversation, make sure to acknowledge their concerns. Most of all, in any experience with a patient, you should try to see the encounter through their eyes.
Practice HIPPA Regulations
Ensuring that all of your staff and procedures are fully HIPPA-compliant will prevent a disaster from happening. If information is sent to the wrong person, it can create a whirlwind of issues for the patient and the healthcare practice. Try out this HIPAA-compliant form builder to go fully online while streamlining processes and keeping medical records safe.
Motivate Staff
Poor morale and staff happiness can lead to terrible service or burnout happening in the workplace. Make sure to assess staff wellness, and whenever you get the chance, make sure that the staff is appreciated.
Overall, happy staff equals happy patients. If staff have to worry about working conditions or other issues, they won’t be able to focus on providing the premier level of care possible.
Offer Online Scheduling
Many people prefer to book their appointments, so consider giving patients the freedom to do so online. This can be done over the internet, by text, or by email. This can also take some of the workloads off of staff in offices.
Keep The Patient Informed
When it comes to patient happiness, they need to be informed and involved in the decisions about their care. They should be aware of their treatment plan and the healing steps after they leave—keeping them informed along the way will help when encountering delays or bumps in the road because there are fewer surprises for the patient.
Improve Your Patient Experience Today
Prioritizing the patient experience is needed in the continuum of care. If you make a handful of small changes, you can ensure patient satisfaction and retention, leading to a successful healthcare practice. Follow these steps above so that your patients feel satisfied along their medical journey.
If you are interested in reading more about health or lifestyle, check out the rest of our blog.
Knowing The Importance Of The Patient Experience In Healthcare
According to Healthcare IT News, health systems that value customer satisfaction now prioritizes patient satisfaction, which can help your care team:
Increase Profits
Leading hospitals are increasing profitability by improving patient experience and satisfaction, not by cutting costs. “U.S. hospitals that deliver superior customer experience achieve net margins that are 50% higher, on average, than those of hospitals providing ‘average’ customer experience,” says Accenture.
Performance quality measures are being benchmarked as healthcare organizations collect more data. Harvard Business Review cites Press Ganey data showing that hospitals with better patient experiences have better safety, technical quality, length of stay, and readmission rates.
The study also found that a 5-point hospital rating boosts profit margin by 1%. All these health outcomes improved with employee engagement.
Gain Respect
Patients in all industries are becoming more quality-conscious, including healthcare. The National Research Corporation linked patient experience to healthcare system reputation (especially for those with below-average quality patient experience measures).
Reputation is strongest 6 months later. Discharged patients recommend hospitals with high “Most Personalized Care” scores. Healthcare facilities with higher reputation scores had better accommodations, safety, nurses, and quality.
Engage Patients
Healthcare providers influence patient engagement, care plan compliance, and health outcomes. Isolated, insulted, or unheard patients are less likely to follow a care plan. Patients trust healthcare providers more when they have resources and feel supported throughout the continuum of care.
Enhance Health
Health Affairs reports that active patients have better health outcomes and lower costs. That’s why healthcare organizations are improving patient engagement and streamlining patient activation (the knowledge, skills, ability, and willingness to manage one’s health and care and participate in decision-making).
According to research, engaged patients work with doctors to improve their health in a community of care. Patient values, beliefs, and behaviors must be integrated to improve patient satisfaction.
