Being a physician means you carry a lot of weight on your shoulders.
With that in mind, are you doing all you can to make sure your patients get the best of both medicine and you? If not, it may well be time to review how you go about doing business.
So, is it time you improved things in your medical practice?
What Changes Are You Best Coming up with?
In finding ways to improve the patient services your practice provides, think about:
- Protecting all you worked for – It may sound to some a little selfish, but your priority should be focusing on you. Making sure you can give your patients 100 percent each time out is crucial. Are you in a position to be confident that if even something happened to you, your practice could keep going? That is for a period of time or even longer? A serious illness or severe injury could sideline you for the foreseeable future. If that occurs, what happens to all your patients? That is why it is smart to look into disability insurance for doctors if you have not done so up to now. Such insurance can protect you should be beset with a serious issue. From illnesses to injuries and more, your practice could be in jeopardy if you are not at the helm. Unless there are other physicians alongside you, your patients depend on you at the end of the day. The same is true of your staff. By having the right insurance, all you have worked for is protected if something goes wrong.
- Listen to your patients – It goes without saying that listening to your patients is key. That being the case, are you spending enough time listening and not as much time talking? Sure, your patients want your advice and recommendations when they come to you. This can be everything from a routine exam to when they have a healthcare issue. That said you need to be a good listener. Not being so can make it difficult for some patients to get the care they in fact need. Although time is limited with each patient when they come in, do your best to listen to their concerns. They will thank you for doing so when all is said and done.
- Resolve issues in a fast manner – Finally, how good is your practice in resolving any issues that arise? Along with bad medical care, another thing that can turn many off is when issues do not get resolved. For example, billing issues tend to be one of the biggest points of conflict. If you are aware of any billing issues, do your best to see to it they are taken care of in an expedient manner. Yes, you are a physician and billing is not your specialty. That said it is an important part of running a medical practice. If too many billing issues crop up, it can turn some patients into former patients before one knows it. Make sure you have the right billing people doing the job. Their work is a key piece of the medical practice puzzle when it comes to keeping patients happy.
Getting Patient Feedback is Key Too
It never hurts to take some time to get patient feedback while you are at it.
This can be done with things like in-person chats or surveys that patients can fill out at their own leisure.
The goal is to hear what patients have to say about their experiences in your office each time out. If something is amiss during a visit, do your best to correct it. Not doing so can lead a patient to consider taking their needs to another medical practice.
When you want to improve patient services, where will you begin the quest?
