Have you ever considered the impression a caller receives when they dial into your practice? Are they given a warm and friendly hello? Are they immediately put on hold for extended lengths of time? Are they transferred to everyone in your practice so they can simply have a question answered? At one time or another, we have all experienced frustration when calling into a medical office. The key is to be proactive and determine any areas that need improvement in your practice, and then making the changes needed.

Your medical office lifelines are the staff members who greet your patients when they call into the practice and when they come in for an appointment. If they are not delivering exceptional patient care and courtesy at each and every encounter with a patient, improvements must be made – and fast! You could be the best physician in the world; however, if your patients do not feel treated well by your staff, chances are they are going to switch to another practice.

So how do you measure the patient experience? The best starting point is through medical mystery shopping. Mystery shopping allows you to see your practice through the eyes of a patient. During a mystery shop assessment, your practice is evaluated in many different areas from the initial phone call, to the aesthetic look of the practice and finally, how they are treated by the staff when they come in for an appointment. The findings are then reported to you and improvements are suggested.

Mystery shopping allows you to be confident that your patient’s are receiving exceptional care by your team. By creating your best practice, you can increase patient loyalty as well as patient referrals. So before you put another ad in the newspaper touting exceptional medical care, make sure you truly are delivering the best patient experience.