Improve the patient satisfaction it has become an increasingly important goal for healthcare providers in recent years. In addition to keeping your patients happy and healthy, improving patient satisfaction scores can also earn your practice a higher reputation.
Establish a sense of trust
If we want to have any hope that our patients will hear and understand our message, we must be adept at not triggering a state of psychological fear. To do this, we must learn to be keen listeners and careful observers of the small details that allow us to glimpse into the lives of patients and allow us to understand their values, goals, challenges, and interests over time.
Effective salespeople know this tactic and gather important information about their customers. Effective clinicians must do the same, using the skills of the next step.
Discover the real needs of patients
Perhaps the most critical skill in discovering the needs of a client or patient is the ability to inquire. Inquiry, essential for good dialogue, involves asking questions in a spirit of curiosity and with the goal of trying to understand how others perceive the world around them. Excellent physicians probe to meet clients’ expectations and see how they can be of help in the future.
In essence, they establish themselves as trusted partners and lay the foundation for future business, even if they can’t be of immediate help.
Think of the dialogue, not the monologue
Just as doctors don’t like salespeople who seem to dominate the interaction, patients don’t like us when we do the same. The days of patients accepting prescriptive and patronizing advice from their doctor are coming to an end. Leave the didactic monologues behind.
Instead, ask questions, explore values, and connect with each patient. Instead of listening to patient complaints and responding immediately with a solution, dig deep. Find out how their problems affect their daily life, or how they have tackled the problem and what their results have been. Support your inner knowing and acknowledge that they often know their own bodies.
Only after they have finished talking should you address other options. Ask patients what these other options sound like in the context of their overall goals.
Don’t force “closure”
How do you know if a patient is ready? One technique is called “trial closure.” For example, if a patient with uncontrolled diabetes says they are too busy to exercise, try saying, “It seems like time has been their biggest concern when it comes to exercising. If we could find an exercise plan that doesn’t take a lot of time, would you be willing to move on? “
Always follow up
If you don’t have time to follow up, ask your staff to call patients after your visits to ask how things are going, if their goals are progressing, and if they would like to make another appointment to see you. Patients appreciate that staff can support them as they work towards their goals.
Your practice can also show patients that they matter by sending birthday cards, emailing health tips, and finding other avenues of contact. These generate engagement and pose a minimal burden on you.
Related Notes:
China Introduces Crown, First Inhalable COVID Vaccine
EMA approves 2 new treatments for COVID-19 patients
Ivermectin research falsified data on its effectiveness against COVID