Author: D. Penn Moody, O.D.
When eye doctors look at managing their practices, they usually look from the inside outward. They ask questions such as these:
- How do we confirm a patient’s vision or medical benefits?
- How do we deliver excellent eye care to every patient?
- How do charge and collect the appropriate co-payments and deductibles?
However, there is another side to the story:
- How do we prepare our patients to have a great eye care experience at our office?
- How do we focus on making sure every patient leaves happy with their experience?
- How do we function efficiently without appearing hurried?
Here are some ideas to consider:
- Measure patient waiting times, not just in the front of the office.
- Every patient came from doing something and has something to do after they leave our office. Every minute they spend sitting and waiting is an opportunity for us to improve our processes and for them to become dissatisfied.
- Educate your patients with regular communication.
- This should occur before and after their appointment. We often do not have time to explain everything about their eyes. Use emails and website posts to teach them what they need to know.
- Listen to and document their questions.
- If one patient asks about something you should suspect others would like to know, too. Post the answer on your website in an easy-to-find location.
- Enable questions when they are not in the office.
- Patients often remember something they wanted to ask after they leave the office. Create an easy way for them to ask them online, then make sure to respond. These questions can also be a source of new blog posts.
- Perform periodic surveys.
- Patients will often respond to a short survey. It often works better to ask 3-5 specific questions. Consider creating a “Patient Board” that agree to quarterly surveys for some simple reward. Example: use a points system for responding that lets them earn another pair of glasses or prescription sunglasses.
Our patients are the “other side of the coin” at our practices. Collecting feedback from them can lead to a more satisfying experience for everyone, including the doctors, staff, and administrators. After all, without our patients we do not have a practice.