How to Impact over 10,000 Lives Every Year!
Your word carries weight. Your patients, their loved ones, and friends all rely on your advice and guidance to keep them healthy and happy. Even if you have a smaller practice, you are impacting a ton of people in your community every day. If the average patient has 20 close relatives or friends, your message gets spread to over 10,000 people for every 500 you treat.
This power needs to be harnessed to ensure that the messages that you give are understood. But it is hard to make everyone listen to you. You’re harried and they are nervous during their appointment. They want to pay attention and remember everything you said. However, most times it gets lost in translation.
You need to reinforce your messages before, during and after their appointments. You need to tell them what you do and how that is crucial to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But to do this you need a plan:
At Home, Before Their Appointment- create a series of quick, two-minute videos that welcome your patient to your office, that talk about specific programs and services that your office offers, and some high level tips on how to prepare for the appointment that do not include “Google”. Email the videos a couple of days before their appointment. It will help them prepare, remind them to confirm the appointment and show that you care about their health.
In Your Office, Before, During, and After Their Appointment- turn your waiting room and exam rooms into learning stations. Utilize customized HDTV-based digital patient education to explain to your patients how you are going to help them manage their health. Integrate tips from respected sources on diabetes, diet, nutrition, fitness, and more to show the patient how to live healthier. Create brochures and take home checklists to help the patient process your information.
At Home, After Their Appointment- send a follow up email with more video information as well as a personalized follow up. Outline in detail what you have suggested they do to follow your treatment plan and why it is important. Send a second follow up a week later asking how they are making out, suggesting they call the office with any concerns.
Not only will these actions help your patient satisfaction and patient experience scores, but they will impact your practice profoundly. Patients will be more likely to follow your advice and recommend you to their loved ones. This will help you increase positive outcomes and office revenue. What a concept- growing your practice by doing the right thing.
