Physicians Practice - March 2008 - (Page 26)

PATIENT RELATIONS Julie Sanderson-Austin, vice president of quality, research, and management at the American Medical Group Association, recommends holding your own informal focus group with an assembly of loyal patients. “Ask them what you can do to make their experience with your practice better,” she advises. “When practices do … they are amazed at how easy the ﬁxes are. Patients really aren’t that demanding. Your patients’ feedback is your best source for determining how you can develop a service-oriented practice. “Monitoring how patients feel about your services and knowing whether or not they are satisﬁed with them is just a part of doing business,” says Sanderson-Austin. “And the last time I checked, medicine was still a business.” they don’t have anything to do, they’ll come in without an appointment just to work on the puzzle,” a front-desk receptionist told Bradford. Another of Bradford’s clients (a group of orthopedists) invested in two electric massage chairs for its JUST ASK “Patients really aren’t that demanding. Your patients’ feedback is your best source for determining how you can develop a service-oriented practice.” Gauging patient satisfaction shouldn’t be a one-time exercise. “It’s an ongoing process that’s never done,” says Bradford. “Some practices think, ‘OK, we’ve completed our survey, and we’re finished.’ But they’re not. They have to do it again to compare their results from previous times to determine if they are performing any better or worse.” Regardless of whether you hold patient focus groups, offer an online satisfaction survey, or simply hand patients a paper survey with a clipboard and pen, experts agree it’s essential to identify what your patients want and need on an ongoing basis. For example, Bradford says that one of the most common complaints practices receive from patients is about lengthy wait times. Yet extended wait times are sometimes unavoidable no matter how efﬁciently you run your practice. So be creative: Give patients something to do. One group Bradford worked with decided to put a jigsaw puzzle table in its waiting room. The puzzles were such a hit with the practice’s (mostly senior citizen) patients that many started showing up before their appointment times just to work on it. “Sometimes when IN SUMMARY Your patients are the lifeblood of your practice. Although high-quality patient care should be your practice’s ultimate goal, you’ll have little chance of achieving that if you can’t retain a steady patient base. Paying attention to customer service can pay off in spades for your staff, your patients, and your bottom line. Take advantage of maximizing patient satisfaction throughout each step of the visit experience: Julie Sanderson-Austin, American Medical Group Association • Previsit information gathering: Adequately prepare patients for their visits so that both ofﬁce staff and patients already have all of the information needed for the visit before they walk through your front door. can be the most important interaction you’ll have with a patient during a visit. Don’t blow it with unfriendly and unhelpful front-desk staff. patients feel more at ease by greeting them warmly, efﬁciently prepping them for the exam, and not extending their wait time. Knowledgeable check-out staff and conveniences like e-prescribing can help the patient leave your ofﬁce with a positive impression. service by following up with lab work, tests, and referrals in a timely and efﬁcient manner. • Front-desk intake procedures: Check-in waiting room. “The result was that they couldn’t get their patients out of the chairs when the doctor was ready to see them,” she laughs. And what about those outdated golﬁng magazines in your waiting room? Do patients really notice them? You bet, says Bradford: “Oddly enough, that’s one thing they consistently pay attention to.” So don’t just bring in old magazines from home; subscribe to publications for your practice that actually would appeal to your particular patient base. They will take note. EMPOWER YOUR STAFF • Patient greeting and exam: Help • Patient check-out procedures: • Follow-up: Complete the cycle of The fact is that many practices are not user-friendly; that is, their patients frequently have to deal with long telephone waits, delayed physician responses, extended periods of time in reception areas, and poorly trained front-desk staff. Although high-quality patient care should be your practice’s ultimate goal, you’ll have little chance of achieving that if you can’t retain a steady patient base. So how can you make your patients more satisﬁed with your services? Like any other business, you must treat them like the valued paying customers they are, and you WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM 26 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | MARCH 2008 http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physicians Practice - March 2008

Physicians Practice - March 2008 Contents The Bigger Picture: Try a Little Tenderness Second Opinion Letters Physicians Practice Pearls: The Value of First Impressions Noteworthy Cover Story: Your Complete Guide to Patient Service Billings & Collections: Rules to Code By The Administrators Desk: Selecting an EMR Technology: Learn to Love Your Nerd Ask The Experts Coding The Guide The Tech Doctor: All About Blogs The Great Practice Makeover: When Bad Things Happen to Good Practices Start It Up - NEW! The Law: Audits 101 In Practice: Do As I Say... Pretty Please? Healthonomics: Handling the Changes Wrought by Medicare D Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - March 2008

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