Your Role in Patient Satisfaction

Your job security is directly related to your practice's success and your practice's success is directly related to patient satisfaction. Therefore, your job security is related to your patients' satisfaction. 

How can you contribute to patient satisfaction?

Efficiency  No one enjoys waiting.  A study done recently found that patient satisfaction correlates with wait time. The study found "Minimizing the time patients spend waiting to see a provider can result in higher overall patient satisfaction scores" *http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3754818/

Go the Extra Mile Give patients more than they expect. For instance, if it's pouring rain outside and a patient doesn't have an umbrella, offer to walk them to their car with an office umbrella.  It's the little things that mean a lot.

Use Positive Language  Instead of saying "I don't know" say "I'll find out".  Instead of "I can't do that - it's against our policy" say "Here's what I CAN do for you..."  

Be "On Stage"  You're at a work place, not a social occasion. When you are anywhere a patient can see or hear you be 'on stage". This means you have a professional demeanor and keep conversations and actions patient centered. When you're "off stage" (out of patient's hearing or sight) it's okay to let your hair down.

Avoid Calling Patients Pet Names like "honey" "dear" or "sweetie".  Some patients may be offended or feel patronized by these names. Terms of endearment should be reserved for close friends and family, not patients.

Work as a Team Avoid gossip and conflict with coworkers.  When everyone works together and pitches in to help each other out for the common goal of patient satisfaction work is seamless and both job satisfaction and patient satisfaction soars! It's a beautiful thing when everyone works as a team toward a common goal.