Impeccable patient care is more important than ever. But how do you know what your patients really think of your practice and the care they receive?
Although some patients may be vocal, just as many won’t speak up when they’re not happy, and you may risk losing them. Patient feedback is crucial for retention, managing reputation and improving your practices care.
Here are the top 3 reasons to ask for feedback.
1. Patient Retention and Loyalty Asking your patients for feedback increases the chances of your patients returning. Patients will feel as though their opinions are valued and their loyalty is likely to improve. Patients that haven’t had the best experience with you have to the opportunity to voice this, allowing you a chance to rectify the situation.
You may have assumptions and theories about why some patients do not return, but you will not honestly know unless you ask. Retaining patients is vital for practices success in this increasingly competitive industry.
2. Managing Reputation In this day, many patients turn to the internet to voice their frustrations. Negative reviews left online on platforms such as Google or Facebook can be detrimental to your practice. It is human nature to take notice of these negative views and therefore, can turn new patients away.
By asking patients for feedback, you intercept the negative reviews online and through word of mouth. You can now ask for more information, contact them or offer a discount for their next visit. All while managing your reputation and making your patients happier. Win, win! You can also ask your happiest patients to review your practice online.
3. Improve your practice Receiving feedback from your patients tells you precisely what you do well, as well as what could be improved. The negative feedback can be a blessing in disguise as it enables you to spot weaknesses, common trends and resolve any issues. The feedback can also give you unique insight on what your most vulnerable patients experience and help you identify gaps in your service.
You can receive feedback via surveys on:
- Your booking appointments
- Wait times
- Communication
- Professionalism
- Thoroughness
- And much more
You can compare your patient’s satisfaction over time and see the quality of your practice’s care improve. Feedback is vital to improve your practice with fierce competition rising continuously.
How should you receive the feedback?
Feedback can come from directly asking your patients, customer interviews, phone calls, or simply by sending out a follow-up questionnaire email to your patients. Many services allow you to do this automatically.
EasyEngage allows practices to build custom surveys to their patients after their appointments. They generate customer awareness of services, encourage return visits and enable practices to follow up on scores and comments.
