Five Ways
To Satisfy Patients
In Less Time by Susan Keane Baker
Find out about your patient’s needs
first. It may not be the most clinically
significant issue, but finding out what
your patient considers a priority is important.
You’ll save time because your patient
can be a better listener after his concerns
have been addressed. And you may avoid
the all-too-common request to re-start
the visit when the patient forgets to
introduce his concern but then recalls
it as he is walking out the door.
Help patients create relationships
with your support staff. Do you have
patients whose mantra seems to be, “I’ll
only talk with the doctor?” Perhaps its
because they haven’t created a relationship
with anyone else in your organization.
A few no-cost, no-time tips to begin building
those relationships: Everyone should wear
a name tag at chest or collar level. You
and your staff should refer to one another
by name, so that patients begin to learn
names. “See our receptionist to book an
appointment in six weeks” should be replaced
with “Julie Baron, our receptionist, will
be happy to schedule your next appointment
in about six weeks.” Encourage staff to
use some of your relationship-building
techniques.
Minimize interruptions. Those
“Now, where were we?” conversations always
result in longer visits. Consider reserving
ten minutes of each hour for telephone
calls that require interruption. As your
regular interrupters become accustomed
to your practice, they will begin to call
you, or return your phone call, during
your “call time.” Think psychiatrists.
Be prepared. The time to find
out that you don’t have the patient’s
lab test results is not during the visit.
Have a system to review the record ahead
of time so that missing information can
be obtained prior to the patient’s visit.
A report tracking system makes this quick
and easy to do. If the test is important
enough for you to order it, it’s important
enough to track it.
Put it in writing. For your patients
who read, putting the simplest of instructions
in writing enhances the likelihood that
they will follow through on your advice.
And you and your staff will save time
spent on post-visit telephone calls, e.g.
“What did Dr. Moore tell my husband he
was supposed to do?”
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