When it comes to making changes to improve the patient experience, they don’t always have to be big investments or grand gestures.
There is a time and a place for making bigger changes, for example if your practice is in need of a full rebrand or refurbishment. However, sometimes just introducing small changes to what you already do can add up to a big difference that your patients will feel and appreciate.
Below are six small things that you can easily do to make sure your practice stands out and build even stronger relationships with your patients.
- Always use patients’ names – Whether you’re speaking to them face-to-face at the front desk, over the phone, responding to a new patient enquiry, or emailing them, you should use the patients’ name. It instantly creates a more personal service and a sense of being recognised and treated as an individual.
- Remember their birthdays – With a big patient list this may sound tricky, but when registering patient details, you could create a calendar reminder or use automated software to remind you when it is their birthday. You can then use that to provide a service that goes above and beyond by, for example, sending them a birthday card, giving them a small gift if it coincides with an appointment, or simply sending them a celebratory text that may include a discount on certain services.
- Share notable information with the team – Similar to remembering their birthdays, if a patient shares with you details of a big holiday they are about to go on or have come back from, that their daughter is getting married, or that they’ve just celebrated a big anniversary, etc, this information should be noted and passed on. You might be able to do that in a team meeting or via your software, but team members remembering this information and bringing it up in conversation, will show your patients that you have a genuine interest in them.
- Keep waiting room literature up to date – Any printed materials that are available for patients to read in the waiting room, such as marketing leaflets, posters and magazines, should be replaced when they become old. The same applies if they start looking tatty or worn. Anything that looks old, has out of date information on it or is shabby will give a bad impression and won’t make for a pleasant experience.
- Think like a hotel – Running a dental practice and a hotel, are of course different. However, you can borrow some ideas from the hospitality industry in terms of creating a practice that people are happy to spend time and relax in. Little extra touches such as the things you might find in a nice hotel reception, i.e. fresh flowers, candles or reed diffusers, a nice coffee machine, will help to create a great first impression and a nice place to be.
- Have morning huddles – A morning meeting with the whole team can help to bring everyone together, which may not otherwise happen, and, therefore, helps with building cohesiveness. Patients will pick up on the atmosphere in a practice, so a happy, strong team is vital. The morning huddle can also be used to discuss things that have gone well or not during the previous day, so everyone is on the same page and can work towards continuous improvement.
These six tips are small things but taken together they can create a practice that puts patients at its heart and creates a journey that makes them feel special.
