How to Improve the Patient Experience?

In the clinic, your teams' goal is to provide the best possible patient experience to ensure the good health and complete satisfaction of your patients. To achieve this, several strategies can be implemented by your clinic. However, it can be complex to exceed your patients' expectations.

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According to a study conducted by Avtex, 68% of patients believe that clinic staff should have better follow-ups and interactions with their patients. Additionally, according to Silverline, 82% of patients state that quality service plays a decisive factor when looking for a clinic to meet their expectations. With this in mind, how can you improve the patient experience in your clinic? Discover the answer in the rest of this article!

What is Patient Experience?

Patient Experience: What Are We Talking About?

By definition, patient experience is the set of emotions, perceptions, feelings and situations experienced by a patient in the context of a care journey, that is, before, during and after the provision of care. This particular notion differs from customer experience, where the customer chooses to visit a store to fulfill a personal need.

In this sense, patient experience is defined more by the treatments received as well as the various interactions with medical staff. These situations experienced during treatments subsequently generate emotions and feelings that will impact their satisfaction within a clinic. This is why it is important to show empathy, transparency and delicacy to ensure the satisfaction and loyalty of your patients in the clinic!

How to Improve the Patient Experience?

Now that you know what patient experience is, it's time to improve it. However, patient experience is a delicate subject with multiple facets. After all, all humans are different: consequently, each treatment must be completely personalized according to the patient's needs.

How can you optimize your patient experience? To enlighten you, here are seven best practices to follow to offer your patients the experience they deserve.

1. Train Staff on the Importance of Good Service in a Care Context

It is crucial to surround yourself with a team that shares your values and vision so that it reflects your clinic's organizational culture well. Consequently, it is important to raise awareness among your staff about the importance of good service in a care context.

According to a study conducted by Mazars, 96% of professionals are ready to invest in improving the patient experience. With this in mind, hire motivated and high-performing talent, then explain to them how quality service and empathetic interactions are necessary for the proper treatment of your patients. By describing the sometimes stressful context and patient perception to them, your employees will be able to better understand the issues related to their patients' satisfaction. This is a necessary asset for building better relationships with your patients while offering a better clinic experience!

2. Collect Patient Feedback Throughout the Experience

To offer your patients an exceptional experience, you must first know their needs and expectations regarding your clinic. To achieve this, what better way than to regularly send them patient experience questionnaires?

Thanks to software like InputKit, rely on our many patient questionnaire templates to evaluate the different spheres of patient experience. Staff professionalism, employee transparency, receptionist follow-up after an appointment, adequate personalization of ongoing treatment, and more: evaluate what is important to you to keep an eye on the quality of treatments offered by your clinic.

Then, schedule the automated sending of your patient experience questionnaires at the optimal time, one to two hours after a clinic appointment. With an average response rate of 45% by email and 57% by text message (SMS), you will be sure to collect numerous feedback, regardless of your chosen sending method. Thanks to the comments collected during these surveys, you will not only save precious management hours, but also continuously improve the patient experience according to your patients' concrete needs. This is essential to ensure patient satisfaction!

3. Establish a Positive Patient Experience to Optimize Patient Loyalty and Safety in the Clinic

In a world where patient experience is constantly evolving, it is important to know how to stand out from the competition. To position yourself as the best clinic, you must offer your patients a positive patient experience completely adapted to their needs.

To achieve this, why not attend training in your area of specialization? Study the latest trends in your industry to learn more about what you are passionate about. This will allow you to reconnect with certain concepts that you master less. Such training is ideal for learning more about preventive safety measures or to apply during treatments to obtain better results in the clinic!

To continuously improve the patient experience, listening to your patients' feedback is also an essential practice. Rely on their comments and improvement suggestions to improve the experience lived in the clinic.

According to the study conducted by Anhang Price, it has been shown that better preventive measures and active listening to customer recommendations result in better results in the clinic, better safety for patients and a positive care experience. With this in mind, always rely on customer feedback and continuously inform yourself in your field to establish a positive and safe experience for your patients.

4. Simplify Complex Concepts

Imagine: you go to the dentist for your dental exam. While you are undergoing multiple tests, your dentist explains that you will need to come back for new treatments. However, when you try to inquire about the seriousness of the situation, the condition he names means nothing to you. Unwilling to remain uninformed, you insist that he describe in detail the symptoms associated with this condition, its cause, and the upcoming treatments. However, your dentist uses dental jargon that you don't understand. While he finishes his speech, you think only about the upcoming dental costs, the other appointments to schedule and think about the worst scenarios.

To avoid such a situation, make sure to put your patients at ease. It is particularly important to ensure their good understanding of upcoming procedures and treatments. With this in mind, take the time to simplify certain concepts when you explain their condition, symptoms, or even the future steps of their treatment. Such transparency will help you build a relationship of trust with your patients!

5. Remain Available After Treatment if Needed

Of course, your patients' treatments are not limited only to the services provided within your clinic. Thus, a good patient experience is also defined by professional staff available when needed.

According to the study conducted by BestDoc, 70% of patients appreciate when clinics follow up after an appointment. In this sense, make sure your receptionists are available to respond in case of emergency. Inform them of your patients' treatments and send your patients automated emails to monitor their health. Why not equip yourself with a powerful CRM to facilitate case tracking for your staff? This will allow you to save many management hours, in addition to supporting your patients in a more personalized way. This is an excellent way to improve the patient experience!

6. Have a Clear and Smooth Care Process

Your patients turn to you because you are an expert in your field. It is therefore very important to inform them about the nature of the proposed treatments. After all, it is normal to fear the unknown: what better way than to clarify your processes to reassure your most nervous patients before an appointment?

In your waiting room, install screens showing informative videos to better simplify certain concepts related to health, the human body, products recommended by your professionals or treatments provided by your clinic. To help your patients wait, you could even offer them a wide selection of informative books and magazines about your clinic's area of expertise!

In the same vein, in your operating rooms, decorate your walls with explanatory posters to explain to your patients the nature of your treatments. Thus, your patients will be able to better understand what your procedures consist of and will be reassured before being treated by your professionals.

Remember: your patients turn to you because they trust your expertise. In this sense, take the time to explain to them in simplified terms the upcoming treatments and procedures. This will allow you to improve your patient experience while building relationships based on trust and honesty!

7. Be a Good Listener

As mentioned previously, each human being has different expectations and needs. In this sense, to ensure high-quality treatments in your clinic, you must know how to listen to your patients' comments.

After an appointment, conduct personalized follow-up with your patient. Ask them if the treatments received are adapted to their needs, if the employee seems qualified for their role, and if their condition seems to improve over time. During a next visit, make sure your patient is following the recommended treatments and monitor their recovery. In case of sudden pain, intolerance to a prescription or discomfort with a member of your clinic, make sure to immediately apply the necessary changes. Such patient follow-up will certainly benefit your patient experience!

Schedule my InputKit demo to improve my patient experience

To improve the patient experience in your clinic, raise awareness among your employees about the importance of your patients' satisfaction. Encourage them to be good listeners and to simplify certain concepts to reassure your patients. A quality experience will optimize your patients' loyalty, in addition to providing them with increased safety!

In summary, what are we talking about when we talk about patient experience? It is a completely personalized service according to your patients' specific needs. After a clinic visit, send an automated and personalized patient experience questionnaire to continuously improve the quality of your treatments. Then, inform your patients about care processes to reassure them about upcoming procedures. Finally, remain available after treatment if needed. Such patient satisfaction follow-up will certainly ensure your clinic's success!

Now that you know how to improve the patient experience, do you need a solution to collect better customer feedback while motivating your employees? If so, we invite you to schedule a free and personalized InputKit demo at your convenience. Our team of experts will be delighted to advise you to ensure your patients' complete satisfaction.

Finally, here's an interesting video on the definition of patient experience. Enjoy watching!