In 2014, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) discovered that medical practices identified as “better performing” excelled in four performance areas: profitability and cost management; productivity; staffing and capacity; accounts receivable and collections; and patient satisfaction (Patient Surveys).
Nearly 80% of those medical practices made use of patient satisfaction surveys on a regular basis. But how exactly does regular assessment of patient satisfaction levels give these businesses an edge over their competitors? Stepping into your client’s shoes offers your practice a unique perspective and the chance to see where your methodologies and processes can be improved.
Here are our top 6 reasons for how running regular patient surveys can improve your medical practice’s performance.
1. Happier Patients Bring in More Referrals
If your medical practice is doing an outstanding job at meeting your client’s needs chances are they are more likely to refer your practice to their friends or family. It also means they are more likely to leave a positive review of your practice on medical practice review sites.
However, due to the sensitive nature of the medical field, it is important to remember to craft a survey that focuses on the overall experience of their visit and not on the diagnosis they received. If you don’t your results might lean more towards how they feel after hearing a diagnosis and not their reflection on the entire experience.
2. Surveys Can Improve Your Daily Processes
By becoming a more streamlined and efficient business, your practice can cut down on patient wait time, improve satisfaction levels and increase your profitability.
Surveys can help you identify how long patients are waiting after their scheduled time, how easy they found filling out the required paperwork and paying for the appointment at the end.
3. Gain a Competitive Edge
Patient satisfaction surveys are an excellent opportunity to find out firsthand what patients think could have made their experience better. This opens up a pandora’s box of competitive edge by giving you insights into small things you can do to set your practice apart from other businesses.
4. Improve Staff Performance
While we all know how important it is for doctors to have a good bedside manner, some practices find themselves neglecting the impressions other staff have on patients. It is important not to underestimate your patient’s ability to detect a bad attitude from a staff member. It can lead to them being wary of good intentions and less likely to follow proposed treatment plans or worse, avoid coming back to the practice ever again.
5. Improve Your Safety Levels
By surveying patients after their appointment, you can assess how easy they found your physician’s instructions to follow. If any ambiguity is found at this stage in the survey results it gives you the opportunity to correct it and solve the problem before it gets any bigger.
6. Communication
The most important part of running patient satisfaction surveys is that it opens up the lines of communication. This yields a plethora of benefits for your medical practice. Human interactions are at the heart of each visit and by engaging patients through listening to their needs and expectations will create good faith between both parties.
By implementing this extra layer of patient care, you are ultimately improving their health by improving their happiness. This, in turn, will see your medical practice become more profitable in the long run.
What benefits have you seen by running patient satisfaction surveys?