As the healthcare industry continues innovating and introducing new breakthrough treatments, 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.
This is where patient engagement strategies come into play, as they can help improve patient satisfaction and overall experience.
To help you boost your own patient engagement, we will explore some of the most effective patient engagement strategies for urgent care facilities to implement this year.
By prioritizing digital patient engagement, urgent care facilities can create a more welcoming environment for patients.
Engaging Patients In-Person
Create a Welcoming Environment
In the oftentimes sterile medical environment of urgent cares, it can be tough for patients to feel at ease. That’s why creating a welcoming environment is such an important patient engagement strategy. Adding some decorative flair around the office and greeting patients with a big smile can go a long way.
Prioritize Communication
Creating a transparent and informative dialogue is important for patient engagement both in and out of the office. During a visit, make sure that all the patient’s questions are being fully addressed so that they feel heard. After their visit, sending a follow-up text or email is a great way to keep the line of communication open.
Empower Patients to Make Informed Decisions
The decision-making process can be difficult for patients as their health is often on the line. Providing your patients with the necessary resources to make an informed decision is key to strengthening patient engagement.
Provide Compassionate Care
One of the most important things you can do to better patient engagement in your urgent care is simply provide passionate care. Remember, many patients you see are going through a medical situation which may have them frightened and stressed. Being compassionate during your examination and treatment is crucial for establishing positive relationships with patients.
Remove Administrative Tasks From Your Staff
Using technological solutions to remove the burden of administrative tasks from your staff will help them spend more time on patient care. Automating tasks such as sending out prescriptions, filing paperwork and checking patients in can help your staff spend their energy on more important areas.
Improving Patient Access
Making it as simple and streamlined as possible for patients to schedule appointments and be seen by a doctor is a must when you’re looking to improve patient engagement in your urgent care. Here are some tools that you can use to make the appointment process a breeze for patients:
- Digital intake
- Virtual waiting rooms
- Patient portals
- Easy check-in and check-out processes
Leveraging Patient Engagement Technology
Use Social Media to Connect with Patients
Besides software solutions geared for urgent cares, you can use some more common technologies to connect with patients. Social media is a great way to provide patients with information they need and direct them to your website.
Send Appointment Reminders and Follow Up Messages
Staying in touch with patients through appointment reminders and follow up messages is key for increasing retention rates. Your practice can easily use technology to make sure that patients remember their appointments and are followed up with to ensure they had a positive visit.
Use Patient Feedback to Improve Services
Surveys and online reviews are very effective for understanding the patient experience through the patient’s eyes. By collecting valuable feedback, you can better assess where your practice is thriving and what areas could be improved upon.
Provide Virtual Care
Since the pandemic, people are more wary than ever to be cooped up inside an office with other sick people. Luckily, there are a number of software-driven tools that let you meet with patients virtually so that they can receive care without having to leave home.
Train Staff
It’s important to make sure that your staff is well-equipped to handle any situation and create a positive experience for patients. Regularly training staff on best practices and encouraging them to create positive interactions is the best way to ensure that patients leave your urgent care satisfied.
Sharing patient feedback with your staff can also help to make sure that they’re aware of which areas need more development and where they’re succeeding.
Elevate Your Patient Engagement with ER Express
One of the best strategies for bettering patient engagement is by utilizing the technology available to you. ER Express offers software solutions tailored to urgent cares and emergency departments so that you can provide the best patient experience possible while reducing burdens on your staff.
To get started, request a demo with our team today.
