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How to improve patient loyalty to succeed

Medical practices must focus on delivering an excellent patient experience to improve outcomes, provide outstanding healthcare services, and increase patient loyalty. 

High-quality healthcare should be effective, safe, and patient-centered. As physicians, providing excellent service for patients can increase patient satisfaction, increase reimbursement, and improve the overall medical experience.  

With the rise of consumer-directed healthcare, discerning patients want choice and expect a higher level of service, including better care, more quality time with a physician, and less time in the waiting room. 

Establishing a good relationship with your patients can help your patients and your practice. Patients have a choice. Despite being limited by factors beyond their control, most patients prefer to change their doctors to get a better patient experience. 

Also, increased patient loyalty means more referrals and word-of-mouth business. Patients will more likely discuss your services with their family, friends, and colleagues. This means more patients and an increased bottom line.  

Here are some simple strategies you can implement in your medical practice to improve patient loyalty:   

1. Create a Patient-Centric Culture 

The traditional thinking about the doctor-patient relationship, where the physician is mainly in control, gives way to the customer-provider relationship for good reasons. The move toward consumer-directed healthcare means providers must focus on providing an experience that keeps patients loyal and proves value. Ensure you and all providers develop a clear vision for patient care.  

Improving the delivery of an excellent patient experience makes everyone´s job easier. Satisfied patients lead to more accommodating patients, which makes the overall experience smoother for your practice. This symbiotic relationship is valuable as it helps create trust, which should be the goal of every medical practice. 

2. Request frequent feedback 

Each patient who enters your practice is a potential critic who can provide invaluable feedback. This plays a huge role in quality improvement and professional development. Measure your patients’ satisfaction through diverse ways such as online surveys, informal feedback, or voluntary events. 

Ask patients about their experiences and expectations to understand what is most important to them. The feedback will inform you of the factors driving or hindering patient loyalty.  

If a patient expresses concern or mentions an unpleasant experience, take the necessary steps to resolve the issue immediately. Don´t let it linger, or the patient may have a bad taste in their mouth when they receive that next appointment reminder.  

3. Simplify things for patients 

Ensure your patient experience is uncomplicated and enjoyable. Some administrative tasks, such as check-in, annual paperwork updates, new patient forms, and other processes, can be simplified to facilitate the process for your patients. These simplifications can also make things easier for your staff, so it’s a win for both parties. 

It also ensures seamless care coordination. Send records and referrals or call a provider to help patients schedule. These things create raving fans out of your patients. Learn more about strategies you can implement with your front desk staff on our blog Improve your front desk processes with these best practices. 

4. Deliver value & engage with your patients 

Patients want to identify your practice´s mission and values. Ensure your patients understand what you do and your value to their lives. Identify what sets your practice apart from your competitors to stand out. 

Hold staff accountable for actions they are or are not to take for your patients. Follow-up and follow-through are at the top of everyone’s list, not just patients. 

You’d be surprised how far a ‘Thank you!’ will go. Be nice, build a relationship, and thank patients for their patronage. Let patients know you appreciate them and their trust in your services, whether they are new or established patients.  

Social media is the best platform for positioning your brand and letting patients know about your services and what you do. This platform will also help you build brand loyalty and improve patient engagement.  

Replying with a personal message or updating your patients with general healthcare-related news is a great way to humanize your brand and strengthen the relationship. 

If you want to learn more about marketing your medical practice, read our blog How to market your medical practice and improve your business.

At Health Prime, we can help!

At Health Prime, we understand that engaged patients are loyal patients. After all, patient loyalty is about reaching out and nurturing the patients who help your practice grow.  

If you want to know more about increasing patient loyalty, reducing your administrative burden, and getting back to what matters most: patients, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Set up a meeting to discuss how we can help you restore your practice to its former glory.

Subscribe to our Health Prime blog. Stay tuned for all the latest updates, learn how to improve your medical practice, and ensure you are getting paid for your work.

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