FEATURE STORY / 15 WAYS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF YOUR CLINIC
for five or more phone lines, it is virtually
guaranteed that you will lose potential
patients who call in. Being on hold is
frustrating at the best of times, and
much more so when a person is in pain.
6
DELIVER COMPLETE
AND ACCURATE
MESSAGES AT THE
RIGHT TIME
It’s critical to ensure that messages
are passed accurately and efficiently in
your clinic.
Ensuring that messages are accurate
and clear may become easier with a few
standardized forms (e.g. cancellation,
patient questions, referral follow-up)
developed by your practitioners and
staff, so they are customized for your
situation and everyone understands why
each section is important.
When do people in your office share
messages with each other? Some
people may tend to deliver every
message as soon as it’s received,
interrupting other work and leaving
phones unattended. Some may save
them up for the end of the day, leading
to end-of-day tasks that others were not
expecting. Find a happy medium that
works for you and your staff.
7
SEND APPOINTMENT
REMINDERS
The most proven way to reduce
no-shows is to call patients with
an appointment reminder. But are
your reminder calls optimized for
effectiveness? Many clinics find that
these calls need to occur at least 48
hours before the appointment, in order
to allow busy people a full day to check
their messages so they can call you
back the day before their appointment
12
FALL 2017
if necessary. If the cancellation comes
after this point, you’ll need to deal with
a cancellation fee and scramble to find
another patient to fill that timeslot.
8
STREAMLINE YOUR
CHECK-IN PROCESS
Reducing paperwork where possible
can make a big difference for your
patients. Examine your check-in
process, especially for new patients.
Can any of the forms be eliminated?
For example, many chiropractors find
that their patient history form can be
replaced with a conversation, reducing
frustration and time spent for the
patient.
For your remaining forms, are they
focused and well-designed so patients
can complete them quickly and easily?
If patients frequently stumble on
particular questions, consider rewriting
them for clarity. It may also be helpful
to explore whether certain forms can be
completed online before your patients
arrive for their intake appointment.
9
COMMUNICATION IS
THE FOUNDATION
Patients who are suffering and in pain
are often dissatisfied with the level of
information they receive from their
care providers, and this can lead to a
discouraging experience even if you
offer the best treatment available.
Patient satisfaction increases when they
can make sense of their symptoms and
understand the reasons for possible
treatments and prognoses. Starting
with the very first intake assessment,
focus on frequently communicating
what you are doing—and why!—in clear,
jargon free language throughout your
appointments. This will enable you to
dispel unnecessary fears and increase
cooperation with your treatment plans
and homework assignments.
10
BUILD
SUPPORTS
FOR SELF-
MANAGEMENT
You can help your patients make
sustainable lifestyle changes that
have a major impact on their quality
of life. In a 2012 research study, An
Expanded View of Self-Management:
Patients’ Perceptions of Education and
Support in an Intervention for Chronic
Musculoskeletal Pain, patients identified
several things that led to positive
care experiences and enabled them
to engage in self-management while
dealing with chronic MSK pain:
∞ ∞ Help patients find what works for
them. Patients were more engaged
and successful when they had
someone to help them troubleshoot
and overcome the challenges they
experienced. These conversations
helped them generate new ideas and
choose a path forward rather than
giving up.
∞ ∞ Hold patients accountable. Many
patients in the study mentioned
that knowing they would receive a
follow-up phone call was key to their
success. They wanted to be able to
be truthful when the call came and
not disappoint anyone, so they did
their exercises. When patients were
unable to meet their goals before the
follow-up call, they found that the
calls helped them get started again.
∞ ∞ Motivate and provide emotional
support. Some patients will require
more encouragement and support
than others to make lifestyle
changes. Your listening ear and