It’s a fair assumption to say that most people don’t LOVE going to the doctor. In fact, personally I hate it.
I loathe having to schedule the appointment months out, yet still being forced to sit and wait in the lobby for upwards of an hour. Filling out the registration questions is daunting; having to repeat the information to the nurse and, again, to the doctor is exhausting!
And what makes the whole situation worse is that I feel like a total stranger to my doctors.
I see four doctors yearly: a dermatologist, an ob-gyn, a dental hygienist, and a general doctor. Each visit, I sit in their waiting room with crappy elevator music playing at an annoyingly low volume and I have to regurgitate the same information again and again. Sound familiar?
Save for my dental hygienist (because she’s my mother, and knows too much about me – love you mom!), I feel as though I am just another name and co-pay to them.
The process in its entirety is impersonal. And I know I am not alone. In fact, 1 in 4 patients feels his or her healthcare provider doesn’t care about them as an individual.
Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I am dissatisfied with my providers. I am definitely part of the 70% of patients that are confident in the treatments their physicians provide. But I wouldn’t say “no” to a higher level of personalization with each visit.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s story time.
Prioritizing Her Patients
My mom (the dental hygienist) and I talk frequently about how much she loves and adores her patients, and how much they, in turn, love and adore her. Don’t believe me? In 2014 she had knee replacement surgery and she received more “get well soon” cards from her patients than she did from our own family!
So, how did she nurture such a positive relationship?
She’s been in her position for about 35 years, and in that time, she’s seen hundreds of patients and she remembers almost every single one of her regulars. She remembers their family matters, job promotions, deaths, births… everything! She takes a genuine interest in each one of her patients.
She tells me stories about them (but totally abides by HIPPA, don’t worry!) and often tells her patients stories about me. She’s repeatedly been a consensual go-between, a networking resource if you will, for me to connect with people I otherwise wouldn’t. In fact, it’s through one of her patients that I learned how to write a college admissions essay and later, received my first college internship.
Ok, so why am I telling you this?
Because my mom makes sure every patient that sits in her chair is comfortable, relaxed, and ready. She tries to relieve them of any anxieties. She knows it is not often an enjoyable experience, so she tries to make each patient feel special and at ease for the hour they are together.
However, the rest of her co-workers don’t really offer the same level of patient care that she does. Understandably, it’s a business and the more patients they can see, the more the business grows. And while my mom doesn’t want to lose the personal touch, she understands the need for growth.
Understanding Patient’s Concerns
It was about two years ago when things started to change in her dental office.
She was seeing less of her regular patients, and more new patients that she knew wouldn’t become lifetime customers.
But because of this, she started hearing complaints about waiting in the lobby too long, shorter visits, less time with the doctors – her patients weren’t satisfied anymore.
For once, my mother came to me for advice.
“Shelby, you’re in ‘the business’, right? How can I communicate the importance of repeat patients to Dr. G?”
My first thought was, “Here we go. She still doesn’t really understand what I do…” (still love you, mom!)
My second thought was, “Well, it costs more money to create a new customer than it does to keep a current customer. I’m sure Dr. G can understand that” – thanks Hubspot!
Being in marketing, I fully understand that new customers are great, but existing customers are more valuable.
I asked my mom what the value of a one-time patient vs a returning patient was. The differences in prices weren’t wild, but the margin is more apparent over the course of a 15 year period.
- A new, one-time patient, with no insurance, a full exam with x-ray: $160
- A return patient, with insurance, a full exam with x-ray: $68
So while there is only a $92 dollar difference, that return patient is worth at least $2,040 for a lifetime patient (average 15 years), where the one time patient’s value is capped at $160.
My mom’s lifetime patients felt slighted. It was as if they didn’t matter as much as someone who was only there for a $99 dollar special when the regular clients had been patients for 15+ years.
My mom knew that on top of these new patient concerns lived existing patient concerns. Her patients were bothered by things like lack of personalization from the rest of the office, scheduling conflicts, and lack of follow up post-appointment.
She knew about these patient concerns, but she wasn’t the person who could fix these problems. The people who could provide solutions were the front desk employees, yet they were unaware of the issues.
My mom was, and still proudly remains, a part of the 46% of healthcare providers that set positive patient experiences as a top priority. She knows that her patient’s concerns are popular with patients everywhere.
Learning From Patient’s Concerns
The top five patient concerns and “wants” among surveyed Americans are: (Televox)
- Shorter wait times (50%)
- Advanced knowledge of treatment (49%)
- Not feeling rushed during appointments (47%)
- Providers having a high level of experience treating specific illnesses (44%)
- Easy to schedule appointments (41%)
I told my mom there must be a solution to solving her patient’s concerns and turning their negative points into highlights. I suggested she start collecting her patient’s feedback and relaying her findings to the rest of her team. If she can present patient concerns in an organized way, together, they could come up with a solution.
She started to collect feedback from just the patients she saw and what she found was enlightening.
After their cleaning, before they left her chair, she asked:
- Is this your first visit with us? (Y/N)
- How long did you wait to be seen? (0-5, 5-10, 10-15, 15-20, 20+ minutes)
- Did you feel your time with the doctor was rushed? (Y/N)
- From 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience?
- What would it take to make it a 10?
She did this for about a month before she shared her results with her colleagues.
Her results showed off the patient’s concerns of which she was already aware of. But collecting feedback like this shined a new light on patient concerns she hadn’t considered. As it turned out, her patients were also concerned with the lack of evening hours, select weekend hours, pediatric options, and patients wanted more education about dental health.
Transforming Pain Points into Highlights
After a few months of collecting feedback from patients, my mom and her team were able to have a “big picture” view of what their patients felt.
Thankfully, her boss saw the value behind understanding patient concerns. He was able to recognize the importance of patient feedback and turn the patient’s concerns into highlights.
Her office took into consideration that amount of new vs returning patents and made sure to only schedule a few new patients a week unless there was extra availability. They also hired a new, part-time hygienist to fill in extended evening hours and select weekend hours.
My mom was also able to convey the importance of spending enough time with each patient so they felt educated and important after each visit. These days, the doctor spends at least 15 minutes with each patient reviewing his or her exam and answering questions he or she might have.
The front desk staff also make sure the waiting room is amply supplied with tea, coffee, updated magazines and books, and children’s activities so wait times are more bearable.
The receptionists now also make a point to continue collecting patient feedback from each patient before he or she leaves.
It’s been just over two years since these changes have been applied, and my mom is happier than ever to report that her patients are feeling important to everyone in the office, they feel cared for, and some even look forward to their visits!
