Practice Management Alert

With patients becoming busier and expecting more tailored customer service, meeting expectations matters more than ever.

People are paying more and more for healthcare, and, in some situations, patients are starting to see themselves as customers patronizing businesses rather than patients requiring medical services. If your office still has uncomfortable chairs, dingy paint, fluorescent lighting, and a vibe of “hurry up and wait,” you may want to consider a total revamp.

While many businesses dream of having the money and time to completely renovate their spaces, you don’t need to go that far. While sprucing up your space may make it feel more welcoming, the adage that people remember how they’re treated proves true for the healthcare setting.

Adjust Your Language

Using different language can reframe patient’s expectations. Calling the area where patients check in and hang out before being seen the waiting room suggests that all they can do is wait. Consider calling it something else entirely. “Reception area” is a natural possibility, and has the added connotation of being a space where customers are waited upon, like a fancy hotel rather than a physician’s office. You can also consider referring to that space as the lounge area, but make sure your environment fits the name. Invest in comfortable furnishings, fresh paint or wallpaper, and as well as intentional lighting if you’re going to take that route.

If you want to reframe the characterization of such a space, make sure all of your staff is on board. Have your front desk team members suggest that patients can sit in the reception area or the lounge after checking in. If a patient is done seeing the physician but needs to wait for test results or for another reason, make sure staff suggest taking a seat in the reception area or the lounge.

Focus on Amenities

You don’t need to go full-scale with an entire office renovation. With patients feeling increasingly like they’re customers with purchasing power, they expect more value from their services, especially if waiting is involved. Aim to help patients feel comfortable by taking some tips on amenities from other industries.

Hair salons, for example, often require patrons to wait for services, but they make the wait feel like pampering, with comfortable furniture and a host of hot or cold beverages on offer — sometimes including local beer or wine, which probably is not appropriate for the reception areas of other industries. You don’t need to hire a barista, but patients may feel a little less frustrated with a clinician who’s behind schedule if they have a cup of fresh, hot coffee or a calming chamomile tea.

Free Wi-Fi, coffee, and water are the minimum you should offer, says Terry Fletcher, BS, CPC, CCC, CEMC, CCS, CCS-P, CMC, CMCSC, CMCS, ACS-CA, SCP-CA, owner of Terry Fletcher Consulting Inc. and consultant, auditor, educator, author, and podcaster at CodeCast, in Laguna Niguel, California. But a modern design and natural lighting can go even further in helping patients relax.

Note: Make sure the Wi-Fi connection you offer guests is different from the one you use to conduct business and store health records. Prioritize security for all of your systems, including that which you extend to your patients.

Take Patients’ Schedules into Consideration

Consider stealing ideas from another industry that manages patrons’ expectations for wait times: popular restaurants or food trucks. Many busy restaurants or food trucks will be up front with the wait time — “A table might not be available for 45 minutes” or “We have a backlog of orders and your tacos won’t be ready for 15 minutes.”

Along with this transparent communication, many food services ask the patron for their cell phone number when the customer puts their name down for a table or places an order and the point of sale system will automatically text the patron when the table or order is ready. With this technology, customers are able to manage their time according to their own desires.

Of course, emergencies or other unplanned or unforeseeable situations can arise in medical offices, but patients are generally less frustrated by a delay if they know about it from the get-go. Some scheduling software provides an option for automatically alerting patients, via text, that the physician is running 15 or 30 minutes behind, Fletcher says. Consider implementing this kind of system if your office experiences chronic lateness and you want to lessen patient exasperation.

Another tact to borrow from service-based industries: Scheduling your hours to accommodate customers instead of forcing customers to accommodate you. Consider keeping your office open into the evening one night a week or offering Saturday appointments, Fletcher suggests. With this availability, patients who cannot miss work or don’t have daytime childcare can still patronize your business. If your time and services aren’t accessible, patients may go elsewhere for their medical service needs.

Utilize Technology Where Possible

People have become accustomed to modern life revolving around the accessibility and availability of smart phones. People can order premade meals, a week’s worth of groceries, schedule exercise classes, and see high school acquaintances’ children grow up all with a few discreet taps and apps. Sitting on hold with a staff member of a medical office to schedule an appointment can feel frustratingly archaic — especially because human scheduling can often entail mistakes.

If at all possible, offer the technology and availability to schedule appointments and pay bills online. Free up your staff by delegating run-of-the-mill appointment making and bill paying to technology, but remain accessible so patients can call with questions or call to be squeezed in when a health circumstance requires immediate or professional consultation or reassurance.

Offering online scheduling for patients is a patient need, not a patient want, Fletcher emphasizes.

Just make sure the technology you use for communication is compliant with privacy and security regulations.