Patient care is the backbone to any successful medical office. If you want to improve your patient care, there are techniques you can immediately implement. Below we highlight some of the most effective techniques, including automated appointment reminders as a top game changer.
Start using automated appointment reminders immediately
Automated appointment reminders are not only effective, but easy to use for both patient and staff. Automated appointment reminders are an opportunity to give your staff back their time by erasing the need for constant phone calls. Staff phone calls are inconvenient and time consuming. Patient many times miss the call and you never know if they receive the message. However, you can take this control back. Automated appointment reminders through programs like appointmentreminders.com allow you to use phone calls, SMS messages and emails. Instead of being tied to one communication platform, you know have at least three.
Automated appointment reminders have proven to work. Many studies claim using automated appointment reminders decrease no-shows by as much as 80%! For very little you can directly improve your bottom line.
Properly train your front desk staff
More than likely you wouldn’t hire anyone without the intention of also training them. But, training staff on technical tasks and training staff on customer service should both be addressed. In many cases, the latter is left out. Your staff likely needs training on good customer service just as much as they need to know how your office functions. It is your job to make sure they receive both. In fact, your customer service and customer loyalty directly depends on it.
An easy way to make sure your expected level of customer service is being maintained is to conduct patient surveys. You can decide when and how to conduct these surveys, but this direct feedback is fantastic for gaining insight into making improvements.
Engage with your patients
This last technique directly ties in with the patient surveys mentioned in the previous paragraph. You and your staff should be intentionally and consistently engaging with your patients. Ask them about their experience, ask for feedback and utilize patient surveys. When you receive feedback or survey information, analyze the information and create solutions. Implement those solutions to identify and address any negative feedback you receive.
Everything listed is easy to implement. In fact, take your first step right now by signing up for a free 30-day trial to use HIPAA compliant automated appointment reminders by appointmentreminders.com. start improving your practice and build your loyal customer base today.
