At the end of the day, every healthcare organization’s ultimate goal is to provide the best experience and outcomes for their patients. But going above and beyond in providing care does more than just keep your patients happy and healthy- it helps to improve the reputation of your practice too.
Organizations with better public reputations stand a greater opportunity to attract and retain patients, improving their acquisition. Today we’ll be reviewing how creating a positive patient experience boosts patient acquisition in your practice.
Understanding the Patient Experience
To understand the patient experience, you have to understand what it is that patients are looking for when they step foot into your practice. There are a few small things you can do that go a long way with keeping patients happy. These include having clear communication, keeping a pleasant demeanor, being punctual and keeping your facilities clean.
In the bigger picture, providing high-quality care and online convenience options like virtual queuing/digital intake/online scheduling can also do wonders for creating a positive patient experience.
Understanding Patient Acquisition
Patient acquisition refers to how new patients become returning customers of your healthcare business. This can be achieved through a number of avenues such as marketing/advertising, insurance directories, and word-of-mouth recommendations.
Each method of patient acquisition has its own advantages and disadvantages as well as associated costs. For example, if you’re spending more on marketing than you are earning in revenue from patient visits, the marketing aspect of your patient acquisition strategy has a high cost associated with it.
Having said that, continuous patient acquisition and long-term retention are both vital for any healthcare organization to remain viable in their communities.
Connecting Patient Experience and Acquisition
Word-Of-Mouth Referrals From Existing Patients
The cheapest and possibly most effective way of retaining patients is through word-of-mouth referrals. When you provide a positive patient experience, your patients are more likely to both return to your practice and recommend it to others seeking care.
Online Reviews and Ratings
In the digital age, maintaining a positive online presence is crucial. When your patients have a good experience, you can encourage them to leave online reviews. This in turn helps boost the reputation of your practice and attract new patients.
Repeat Visits and Patient Loyalty
Overall, when you provide a positive experience for your patients, they’re likely to return and maintain a form of loyalty to your practice. Keeping patients happy so they continue to return is key for the long-term success of your practice.
Strategies for Improving Patient Acquisition
Improve the Quality of Patient Care
Ultimately, when patients receive high-quality care, they are likely to return to your practice. Providing the best possible care is the most efficient way to ensure that your patients return.
Improve Communication with Patients
It’s important for patients to feel heard throughout their medical journey. Maintaining an open line of communication is necessary for improving the patient experience.
Use Technology to Enhance Patient Experience
There are a number of technological solutions that you can use to improve workflows in your practice, enhance communication and ultimately improve the patient experience. These can include EHR’s, online scheduling softwares, digital queuing, online intake forms and SMS messaging.
Train Staff to Improve Patient Interactions
Your staff are the central driving force of your practice and will be communicating with patients throughout the entire process. Making sure that they’re properly trained will help ensure every interaction with patients goes smoothly.
Address Patient Feedback and Concerns Promptly
In order to improve your practice’s patient experience, you need to not only collect feedback but act on it. Make sure that you are addressing all patient concerns so that you can ensure the best possible experience for them upon their return.
Measure Impact of Patient Experience on Patient Acquisition
Once you introduce these strategies to your practice, you will want to measure their impact on patient acquisition. To do this, you must determine and track KPIs such as number of new 4+ star Google Reviews, number of appointment requests/month or number of phone calls from patients. Keeping track of these will help measure your progress over time to see if your strategies are having an impact.
Improve Patient Acquisition by Offering a Better Patient Experience
ER Express offers a host of digital solutions to improve both your practice’s patient experience and acquisition. From EHR’s to digital queuing systems, ER Express has the tools you need to keep patients happy, healthy and returning to your practice in the future.
To learn more about how you can leverage our solutions to improve your own patient experience, request a demo today.
