How can a Practice Management Software help a Medical Practice delight its Patients, into building long term, profitable relationships?
A Patient, when visits your practice for the first time, is a total stranger. They may have developed a sickness or may have relocated and are now looking for a reliable doctor. In both these cases, there are high chances that the patient is uncomfortable and anxious of what might happen on their first visit.
Think on the scenarios from a first-person perspective, what would you expect?
Clear instructions as to where the reception is, proper guide lines for pre-checkup prep, a staff member/nurse to explain to you about the time it would take the doctor to meet or if any pre-checkup test are required.
Then when you do get to your doctor you expect the doctor to listen to what you have to say, to make an active discussion on what might be the case, be supportive, empathetic and hopeful. You expect the doctor to then carry out the diagnosis procedure and then share the results with you explaining what come next. A complete explanation with an action plan on how to maintain your health.
Then when you do get to your doctor you expect the doctor to listen to what you have to say, to make an active discussion on what might be the case, be supportive, empathetic and hopeful. You expect the doctor to then carry out the diagnosis procedure and then share the results with you explaining what come next. A complete explanation with an action plan on how to maintain your health.
What is it that the patients expect from their Medical Practice?
Transparent Pre-checkup Instructions:
Medical Practices should make it a point to contact the patient the moment they make an appointment. Conduct a simple, introductory interview and establish rapport. Share with them the availability as well as the experience of the doctor they will be meeting with. Educate them about your Medical Practice’s operations (just the ones that may affect the patient i.e., token at the reception, insurance details submission etc).
How can your Practice Management Software help?
Your Practice Management Software should assist you in scheduling appointments for the patients, not just book keeping but should alert you on upcoming or missed appointments. It should act as your assistant, keeping you proactive. More so, in the initial session, where you inquire about the patient personal details, it should automatically run an eligibility verification check (based on information provided) marking the “patient status” for further processing.
Clear Communication:
Medical Staff are all required to be active listeners. They should have patience to let the patient explain their issue, they should be polite and empathetic at all times. A patient can only be comfortable when they realize that they are being taken care off and that their problem is given importance. Before the checkup and then after the diagnosis, the patient needs to understand what caused the issue.
Patient expects counselling for the impact the illness had on their mental and emotional health as well as on their physical health. Doctors can draw diagrams to explain the health issues or can share diet plans/ medication charts for easy understanding.
How can your Practice Management Software help?
Your Practice Management Software should be able to pull patients previous medical data, whether from your medical records or from some other medical practice. This can help you diagnose the issue at depth. More so, based on the patient’s personal details e.g., age, profession, body weight, locality, family history – the software should be able to draw its own diagnosis on the illness that may be affecting the patient.
Trust and Care
Your patients trust you with their health, if you are able to establish a strong relationship then their health is bound to improve. May a times it so happens that there is a subliminal cause to the major health issue that need to be addressed, a strong relationship can help the patient open up about such problems and make the treatment much easier.
More so, patients can sense the hidden agenda behind Medical Practices/Healthcare systems “over-care” procedures. The combined impact of “over-treatment” on their bills is not something they appreciate. Therefore, the right care that is required with transparent, clear reasons as to why a certain test or procedure is required can help strength patient’s trust.
Another way to make your patients comfortable is to pay attention to their physical ques, e.g., if a patient is feeling thirsty offer them a glass of water, if they are cold, give them a blanket or increase the temperature. Flashy offices can sometimes make the patient unusually uncomfortable if they feel ignored or disrespected.
How can your Practice Management Software help?
Your Practice Management Software can alert you on the illness the patient reported with the symptoms they are facing, helping you prepare for their visit. It can then enable educational articles or information on relevant cases that can help your staff educate the patient regarding what they might expect from their visit/treatment.
Connection
Patient these days want to stay connected to their doctors. Introducing telehealth options or sharing your online/social profiles can not only enable the patients to view you as easily accessible fellow- human but can boost their trust levels, making the patients your loyal advocates.
Sharing your personal numbers can become overwhelming but you can share your whatsapp number or your office number to make sure that your patients can reach out to you anytime they need.
How can your Practice Management Software help?
Your Practice Management Software should enable a communication portal on its patient facing side. Patients should be able to log in through their IDs and can have access to their doctor’s profiles.
Time
Patients do not mind waiting for the appointment but when the doctor does meet-up they expect to be given their due attention and time. If you make them wait for 45 min and then rush up their appointment, it not just makes them feel disrespected but may infuriate them into changing their doctor altogether. Always value their time above all. Having a staff member that can inform them if the appointment is delayed or cancelled helps in the trust building factor. More so, a call to the patient if they missed an appointment or are running late also makes them realize that they are given attention and care.
How can your Practice Management Software help?
Your Practice Management Software should on auto-basis sent alerts and updates to the patients regarding their appointment status, informing them if it is cancelled, delayed, if more wait-time is expected or whether a re-schedule is required.
Access to records and Patient Bills
Internet have made staying connected a necessity now. People are generally moving from one place to other on daily basis to meet their personal or professional needs, and they expect access to their medical records as well as billables on the go. Medical Practices should opt for such systems that can enable their patients with on-cloud, easy access to their medical/financial data.
Collaboration
Patients understand their life, body, limitations better therefore explaining them the procedure requirement and asking for their consent not just makes them comfortable but allows them empowerment that can build trust in your practice. Educate them about the purpose and implication of the test or treatment, it enhances their care experience many folds.
How can your Practice Management Software help?
Your Practice Management Software, along with keeping patient medical and financial records private to their accounts should also include precautions, prescriptions, implications of test/procedures etc. Access to any research material that can help them understand their situation will just add to their overall care experience.
Summing it up
Respect your patients and invite them to be an active participate in their healthcare experience, educate them and be empathetic, allow them access to you as well to their medical/financial records. Be transparent about the instruction as well as the reasons for tests/treatment. At the end of the day, the type of relationship that you have with your patients will not just fast track their treatment but will make them your loyal advocates.
AltuMED PracticeFit is a Practice Management and Medical Billing Software that has AI techniques integrated in all its processes. We aim to provide a 100% automated claim life cycle along with taking PracticeFit to such advancement that it can act as your assistant and aid you in not just the clinical/financial side of revenue management but also offer operational and patient relationship management expertise. Contact us for more details.
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