Physicians Practice - March 2008 - (Page 33)

back desks. “They want the patient’s information in the back as quickly as possible because they want to get the patient roomed and stay on time, and then I’m putting all kinds of pressure on the front desk to get accurate billing information so we can make sure we get paid for the visit,” Miller explains. door, someone should engage them in eye contact, even if they are on the phone. A simple smile can say, ‘I see you, I’m glad you’re here, and I’ll get to you in a moment.’ That all can be communicated nonverbally. It’s one of the most important interactions you will have with that patient that day.” “We find that if we can drive patients to our Web site right at the beginning of their experience, then they’ll know what’s there and feel more comfortable with us.” WONDERS OF THE WEB Susan Miller, practice administrator 3. Patient greeting and exam. Another vital patient-service experience occurs when the patient is called into the back ofﬁce. “Often a patient has been waiting a long time and is growing anxious,” says Bradford. “When his name is called, he becomes very nervous. It’s a time when the nurse or assistant receiving the patient can best help counteract those feelings and make the patient feel more at ease.” Of course, patients entering an ofﬁce may be ill, irritated at having to take time off from work, anxious about impending test results, or worried about their loved ones. So they’re usually not at their best when they approach the registration desk. “We talk a lot about how not to take things personally,” Miller says. “Patients say what they want is immediate acknowledgement,” adds Bradford. “When they walk in the MARKETING HERE ARE SOME SIMPLE WAYS TO BOOST PATIENT AWARENESS OF YOUR WEB SITE: I Highlight your Web address on voice mail and hold messages I Send new patients a “welcome to the practice” e-mail I Print the Web address on appointment and business cards, letterhead, patient handouts IDEAS I Hang posters in the lobby and patient rooms advertising the Web site and highlighting the self-service convenience options for patients I Distribute “how to” patient cheat sheets to show how to get started I Ask your payers to put a link to your site on their Web sites Source: Adapted From “Redesigning the Patient Experience” at 2007 MGMA Annual Conference, presented by Stephen Malik and Susan Miller. Most often, when patients are taken into a practice’s back ofﬁce, they make several stops before they are shown into an exam room: one place to get weighed, another to have their temperature and blood pressure taken, and perhaps a third to talk to a nurse about their presenting illness and health history. Sanderson-Austin says that although traditional physical plant issues support this game of “room tag,” research has shown that taking a patient into a single exam room complete with all of the equipment necessary to take and record the patient’s vital signs boosts both ofﬁce efficiency and patient satisfaction. “It’s the new model that practices are striving to develop,” she says. McAllister says his one-stop exam room model has been very well received by his patients and their parents. “As I do their vital signs and take their histories, the kids and their patients get a chance to warm up to me,” he explains. “They don’t feel like they’re telling their story seven or eight times to different people and never really getting anywhere, so I think my model simpliﬁes things greatly.” McAllister even administers vaccines and draws blood himself if needed. Everything is done in the same room. He has the capability to do some simple lab work, such as rapid strep tests and urine strips in the ofﬁce; for more complex work, he contracts with a lab. McAllister says that doing all of these procedures himself allows him to spend more time with individual patients. Since he currently sees eight to 12 patients a day, he says he doesn’t feel rushed through appointments. Indeed, the most positive feedback he’s received has been on the amount and quality of the time he spends with patients and parents. “They’re able to ask a lot of questions, and I’m able to make sure that they really understand what I’m saying. … It helps because in the long run it saves me time on the other end because there are fewer questions that come up later that night.” MARCH 2008 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM 33 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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