5 Tips to Improve Patient Satisfaction

Regardless of what you look at tackling first, there are many ways to improve patient satisfaction. Today, we’re exploring five methods that are often overlooked.

Consider your environment.

From the drab colors and outdated artwork to poor lighting and uncomfortable seating, waiting rooms are notoriously uncomfortable. Considering that’s where a patient’s experience starts, is it any wonder why satisfaction might be low?

An easy way to improve the waiting room is to add calming colors and more natural decorations. Blues and greens are naturally calming tones and can match up well with plants, zen gardens, and small ponds. Adding in better, more comfortable seating for patients will help improve their mood, especially because so many clinics overlook this detail. Consider offering your patients ways to get work done while they wait, such as free wifi, too.

Remember: Patients are experts, too.

One of the biggest issues patients encounter is a lack of respect, whether real or perceived. This can range from being met by a receptionist having a rough day to feeling dismissed by providers. It can be easy to get into a routine and forget about a patient’s life outside the clinic. Patients have an important, often overlooked source of expertise — their own body. On top of that, many patients are learning more about their medical conditions than in the past thanks to easily accessible information. Because of this, they are able to participate more in their own care. These patients are on top of things and know what concerns they want addressed. It’s important to recognize the work they put into research while balancing their knowledge and expertise with medical information.

What a patient experiences, either within the clinic or within their body, gives them a unique perspective on healthcare and the world. To harness this expertise fully, we need to listen to patients, period. Including patients in quality improvement work will also help ensure that new designs, workflows, and other changes help benefit the end users as much as possible.

Engage in shared-decision making.

Shared decision making is a way of practicing medicine that allows patients to fully participate in their office visits. A patient is able to talk through treatment options, for example, with their provider and work out what might fit best into their life.

This can improve the general feel of a practice, too. Patients are more likely to stay with providers they feel understand and listen to them, even if they have to go out of their way to do so. A great rapport, positive word of mouth, and happy reviews are sure to follow.

This method also helps patients to become more engaged in their care which can lead to a variety of better outcomes — fewer visits to the emergency room, lower costs, and improved overall health.

Beef up your communication skills.

Active and empathetic listening skills are required to have a great healthcare experience. It’s important to reflect upon what someone has said and potentially mirror it to verify a mutual understanding of the topic at hand.

If you’re looking to work on lifestyle changes with any patient, working on motivational interviewing skills is key, too. MI is usually used by nutritionists, physical therapists, and others who consistently work towards improvements in patients’ lives. One of the most beneficial parts of MI is that it asks providers to discuss potential barriers and roadblocks to changes, financial burdens, and how to overcome these issues.

Embrace technology.

Overall, technology has improved the way we live our lives. Patients can better track their daily habits, caloric intake, and activity levels. Providers are able to view some of these statistic and vitals, which helps them to better understand their patients’ lives outside of the clinic.

We may be slightly biased but, here at Carbon Health, we believe that technology should help make things operate smoothly and erase headaches. Optimized EHRs like ours help improve healthcare for patients, from the connected millennial to the overworked parent on the go. We can improve the scheduling process, increase communication between providers and patients, and more.

What will you improve next?