In an uncertain and less stable environment, it’s understandable that we and our team members sometimes struggle with how well we handle things. And then, there are the added challenges that come with managing patients who are unwell and experiencing additional stresses and worries.
We can’t control what our patients encounter personally or the stressful factors our team members deal with outside of work. Still, we can strive to provide a great practice environment for everyone. Customer service is central to this, whether you’re providing or receiving it. Team members are happier and more satisfied when they know they’ve provided good service, and for our patients, it can make all the difference to their experience. Plus, it’s crucial in building returning and loyal patients.
What can help to underpin excellent customer service in your practice is policies and procedures backed up with training – for both your admin and clinical team members. To help you form the approach for your practice, below are some tips and points to consider and discuss with your team.
Tips to support a service focus
Let’s start with great first impressions:
Answering the phone within 3 rings with a smile / friendly approach. Although the patient can’t see you, they’ll notice the positive inflections and emotions.
Greeting each patient with a ‘hello’ and a smile when they walk through the door sets the tone of what they can expect in your practice environment.
Listening to their responses, acknowledging what they’re telling you and empathising with their issues makes them feel welcomed and that their well-being is prioritised when they’re at the desk and in their consultation.
Keeping voices low (wherever possible) when on the phone or interacting with a patient in person supports confidentiality.
Reaching out to patients with follow-up care through a call, text message, or email shows them your practice truly cares for their well-being.
Identifying the journey that your patients experience will highlight the critical touchpoints between your patients and your team. You can then adapt your team’s customer service training accordingly. To help optimise this journey in your practice and identify the key touchpoints, you can visit parts one and two of our ‘Optimising the Patient Journey’ articles.
Supporting patient privacy
Patients trust your team with so much - their health, of course, and a lot of personal information they wouldn’t usually share! Having your privacy policy readily available on your website and at reception will help them know the measures your practice puts in place to maintain their privacy. They’ll be even more reassured by how your team lives and breathes it, including things like:
Confirm three core patient identifiers for each patient on the phone and on arrival in the practice – name/contact number/date of birth/address/Medicare number.
Ensure what’s happening at the reception desk can’t be overheard by people in your waiting room. You could invest in a medical streaming service on a screen or speakers playing calming music – making this the focus of their attention.
When your team members need to discuss patient details, they move to a private area of reception/a back office where they can’t be overheard.
Other factors supporting great service include:
Ensuring informed financial and clinical consent is obtained. As well as being a legal requirement in healthcare, providing the information empowers your patient and ensures they can make their own decisions about their care and finances.
Revisiting the practice values in team training, including how they can reflect these in the day-to-day with patients and one another.
Making sure your team is up to date with your practice’s policies & procedures, including changes to things like consult fees and how to deal with an appointment cancellation.
The customer may ‘always be right’, but there are limits!
Whilst the saying goes – ‘the customer is always right’, this doesn’t mean that your team should be putting up with rude or abusive behaviour!
Often challenging or upset patients aren’t expressing frustration because of the person in front of them but are upset about external situations that your team members have no control over. This can result in misdirected emotions and behaviour, from irritation to rage.
Putting a policy in place to guide how your team deals with abusive patients can ensure everyone is on the same page. This may include encouraging team members to listen to and actively acknowledge your patients so they fully understand their needs and show that they do.
Of course, where patients are constructive and respectfully convey their concerns, listening carefully to these could better your service and practice overall. Plus, when your team members respond empathetically and professionally, it can help prevent further conflict or upset.
At the same time, ensuring that your team know what, when and to whom they can escalate things they don’t feel comfortable with, will empower them in challenging situations and help them maintain their professionalism until a supervisor takes over.
If you want to create your policy and procedure, you might find our free Policy & Procedure Template helpful.
As healthcare is a customer service industry, patient satisfaction and loyalty can make or break your practice. So, focusing on defining what service means for your practice, refining your policies and procedures to reflect this, and training your team accordingly are well worth the time investment!
The Augmentum team provides a broad range of consultancy and management services, supporting healthcare business owners and decision-makers in many key areas, such as strategy development and action planning, building effective foundations and teams, keeping your finger on the pulse, and driving growth and success.
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