Employees, services, and outcome should mirror the intent of any facility, and that’s to deliver an excellent patient experience. Think about it: a patient isn’t coming to you because they like the paintings on the wall, for stimulating conversation or even because they like to. They’re coming to you because they’re ill.

The way you treat a patient when they’re ill and being seen at your facility can mean the difference between them coming to you in the future and getting bad press. A PR rep can only do so much to revive your reputation after you’ve given a patient the impression that you don’t care. And even then, once you’ve upset a patient there’s little that can be done to repair that relationship.

There are things you should pay attention to when servicing your customers. Being in tune to them can help your facility run more smoothly:

• Decreasing patient wait times
• Conducting huddles with your staff for the day to ensure you’re all in sync
• Customer service training for staff members
• Staunch communication between the patient and staff
• Excellent bedside manner

Supplemental Health Care’s quick tips are in line with those listed above. Their site enforces a positive patient experience coupled with comfort and making sure you go above and beyond to make the patient comfortable. Family Practice Management lists one very important piece of information some medical facilities neglect, and that’s “always follow up.” Whether it be on lab results, radiology reports, or even a provider or patient canceling an appointment, you should always follow up.

Family Practice Management talks about trust. “What does trust have to do with being seen by a doctor,” you ask? Plenty. The site mentions that when patients trust their physician, they are more likely to adhere to treatment plans and follow advice.

Ken Quest Medical Equipment lists more practical things you can do as a medical facility to ensure a patient has a pleasant experience while visiting your facility.

• Make sure patients can easily find and navigate the facility
• Rearrange the waiting room so it looks like a lounge
• Retrieve patients from the waiting room quietly

Make sure your office is easy to locate. If a patient spends 10 minutes trying to locate your office and ends up missing their appointment, undue angst may be experienced that would probably only add to their medical condition.

Becker’s Infection Control and Clinical Quality says to not rely on patient satisfaction scores alone. While patient satisfaction scores are important, real-time patient feedback on patients’ experience can speed the improvement process. For example, asking patients about their experience during a post-discharge phone call can alert administrators to problems that they can begin addressing before they receive patients’ surveys.

Ultimately, a patient is a customer. Make sure you’re satisfying your customers so that you’ll gain their trust. If you have questions on how to improve the patient experience at your facility, please give us a call at (888) 324-5559.