Patient's referring others

In a previous post I recently discussed my own provider’s practice and the service that I received as a patient.

Per a recent study* “When selecting new primary care physicians, half of all consumers relied on word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and relatives, but many also used doctor recommendations (38%) and health plan information (35%), and nearly two in five used multiple information sources when choosing a primary care physician.”

This highlights the importance of how staff treats every patient. While I would not share the name of my provider, how many of your patients would share with others how they were treated and your practice name? As a patient, in the past I have been treated rudely and even heard staff gossip about me (it was a former employee of mine gossiping with my new provider outside the exam room as I waited to be seen). What message does this send across to our patients? How can we be sure that our patients are signing our praises and not spreading bad news about us?

Staff education on customer service and patient etiquette should be a high priority. If we rely on our patients to refer us to their friends and families, what message will they give? Be sure that staff is aware that what they do can affect the practice and in turn affect the need for their continued employment with the practice.

Conduct regular training sessions with your staff and consider conferences and workshops to help with the training. Conduct an audit of the practice and see how things are really going. If you do not already do patient satisfaction surveys consider starting one.

For additional resources and information www.thepmsa.org
*Tu HT, Lauer J. Word of mouth and physician referrals still drive healthcare provider choice. Center for Studying Health System Change, Research Brief No. 9, December 2008, Accessed from http://www.hschange.com/CONTENT/1028/ on June 1, 2009