As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, one thing remains constant: the importance of building and maintaining strong relationships with patients. Successful patient relationship management is essential for creating positive patient experiences, improving outcomes in your practice, and achieving long-term success through retention.
In this guide, we’ll explore how you can truly understand the patient experience, as well as the key strategies and best practices for building and maintaining strong patient relationships in your practice.
Understanding the Patient Experience
The first and most important step in truly understanding the patient experience is to see things from their point of view. How would you like to be greeted and treated throughout your potentially stressful visit to a doctors office?
As you can probably imagine, patients want to feel heard, understood, and valued. On top of providing top-notch service in the office, this can also be accomplished outside the office by providing responsive communication and offering patients ways to engage with your organization through online portals, emails, chats, and texts.
You can also leverage feedback tools like online surveys or reviews to hear what they think of their experience at your facility and see what you can improve on in the future.
Strategies for Building Strong Patient Relationships
Effective Communication
When a patient is being seen in your office, they want to feel heard. That’s why communication is so important. Listening to their concerns and communicating with clear and concise language can go a long way in building a successful patient relationship.
Create a Welcoming Environment
The last thing that a patient wants is to be treated in a cold and unwelcoming office. It’s important to create an environment in your office that puts patients at ease. This is not only limited to the physical environment, but also making sure that your staff are welcoming, kind and attentive throughout the visit.
Providing Timely and Responsive Care
One of the most common annoyances that can put a strain on patient relationships is long waits. Making sure that patients are seen in a timely manner is crucial for successful patient relationship management.
There are a number of tools such as online check-ins, digital queuing and virtual waiting rooms which help to ensure that no patient is waiting too long to be seen.
Offer Patients Education and Resources
When you’re treating patients, it’s important to be thinking in terms of their long-term health. One great way that you can show this is by offering them education and resources that they can use to stay healthy and better manage their conditions down the road.
Personalize the Patient Experience
Each patient that walks through your door has their own set of concerns, needs and conditions. When you’re seeing a patient, be sure to cater your care to their unique preferences and healthcare goals so that they don’t feel like “just another patient”.
Utilizing Technology to Improve Patient Relationships
There are a number of digital tools out there that enable organizations to prioritize tasks, streamline their workflows, and create more quality time to spend caring for patients directly. Here are some of the most effective types of software that will help you manage both your practice and patient relationships with ease.
- Patient portals
- Mobile apps
- ePrescribing
- Online check-ins and intake
- Virtual waiting rooms
- Digital queuing
Maintaining Successful Patient Relationships
Address Concerns Promptly
Being able to maintain successful patient relationships is just as important as forming them in the first place. Promptly addressing all of your patients’ concerns as they go through their medical journey is crucial for maintaining a positive relationship.
Provide Ongoing Communication
Keeping a line of communication both in and out of the office is important for both developing and maintaining successful patient relationships. By sending regular (but not too often) texts or emails, it keeps your practice top of mind for your patients, while showing that you care about them outside of the office too.
Follow Up with Patients After Treatment
Reaching out to patients after a visit can go a long way. This shows patients that you are invested in their health and are available for any additional concerns.
Get Innovative Software to Help Manage Patient Relationships
ER Express is the leading developer of digital patient engagement software solutions for urgent cares and emergency departments. Whether it’s a virtual waiting room or digital queuing system, ER Express’ software solutions allow your practice to develop and manage successful patient relationships with ease.
To learn more, request a demo with us today
