Despite its altruistic nature, medicine is still a business in the U.S. It will continue to be for as long as our system remains private. And that being the case, it is important that medical practices understand why they lose patients and what can be done about it.
We have done a bit of research in hopes of coming to a better understanding of why patients decide to switch doctors. Some of the most common reasons for switching probably won’t surprise you. Moreover, some of them can be addressed with the right medical answering service.
1. Poor Communication Practices
Communication between the provider and customer is more pronounced in medicine than in most other industries. Because we are dealing with health and wellbeing, communication should be clear, transparent, and easily accessible. Patients are unhappy with:
- A lack of responsiveness. Patients increasingly expect prompt replies regardless of the chosen communication channel.
- Impersonal interactions. Patients expect personalized reminders, follow-ups, etc.
- A lack of transparency. Patients want and expect clear explanations of everything. This includes treatments, billing, and wait times.
A lack of adequate communication practices only leads to patient frustration. Some of that frustration can be mitigated by a professional medical answering service implemented to ensure that every patient receives the expected level of customer service.
2. Poor Access to Care
Next up is poor or limited access to care. Patients may not get too upset by having to schedule appointments a few weeks in advance. They expect some delays in a healthcare industry experiencing a shortage of practitioners. But waiting months for an appointment is unacceptable to many.
Poor access to care facilitated by rigid scheduling, limited office hours, and other similar issues erode trust. A medical answering service cannot improve access where it does not exist, but it can streamline access by ensuring that appointments can be made and modified 24/7.
3. Poor Patient Experiences
Patients are customers to a certain extent. And just as with any other business, give them a poor experience and they will look elsewhere. Patients are turned off by overcrowded waiting rooms, impersonal staff, rundown offices, and a lack of modern amenities. They are chased away by rushed appointments and inattentive clinicians who do not have enough time to sit and have an in-depth conversation.
4. Billing and Administrative Issues
Some patient losses are directly attributable to billing and administrative issues. On the billing front, a lack of billing transparency and limited payment options top the list of frustrations. On the administrative front, one of the best ways to frustrate patients is to make sure there is a disconnect between back office, billing department, and reception. When the left hand doesn’t know when the right hand is doing, it creates problems that frustrate patients.
The Role of a Medical Answering Service
Local medical practices can lose patients to the competition in any number of ways. Oftentimes, it’s a conglomeration of things that worked together to make for dissatisfied patients. The big question for us is this: what is the role of a medical answering service in making sure patients are happy?
A company like Apello can’t do anything about waiting room overcrowding and a lack of amenities. There is nothing we can do to mitigate billing and administrative issues. But we can streamline communications through a variety of phone-based services.
To the extent we can facilitate better communication, we can improve patient satisfaction at the same time. That goes a long way toward preventing the erosion of a medical practice’s customer base. And we think that’s important.
