Providing outstanding service and creating valuable relationships with patients does not need to take a lot of time - it requires providing patients with undivided attention when they are in your practice. Being present to patients in the short time you may be with them.
Service research demonstrates that the smallest of things can make the biggest difference when it comes to patient service satisfaction:
- Patients receiving undivided attention.
- Patients feeling appreciated that they are patients of your practice.
- Patients feeling they are being listened to.
- Staff anticipating and supporting patients to deal with problems or concerns that may occur.
Patients know when there is stress in a practice and if they are not being paid attention to. They may not be able to voice it but they know when it is occurring. Patients also know when the opposite is occurring - when your team is paying attention to them and they are wowed by it.
Patients are wowed when they are paid attention to by any team member on a visit. When patients are paid attention to by each and every team member they come into contact with on a visit - they typically cannot stop talking about your practice for a day or two because of their experience of service excellence.
Systems play an important role in delivering service excellence to patients from two perspectives. Well defined operating systems keep staff out of stress and better able to pay attention to patients on a day to day basis. Well defined service systems also ensure your staff are paying attention to the things that matter most to your patients during their visits.