by Meir Goodman | Feb 1, 2016 | Marketing
“It takes five times more money to attract a new patient, than it does to hold on to an existing one.”
There’s a lot to be said (and done) about the importance of attracting new patients to your practice. Every practice, whether large or small, needs to have a consistent inflow of new patients in order to maintain growth rates over time. But as the old saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And you’ll find study after study showing that investing in customer retention should take precedence over any other growth-related activity. Feed that bird in the hand, and it will generate more income for you than the two birds stuck in the bush.
Consider the following facts about companies that focus on customer retention:
- They make more money: Boosting customer retention rates by just 5% can increase revenues anywhere from 25% to 95%
- They sell more: The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70% vs 5-20% for new customers
- They grow faster: Existing customers are 50% more likely to try new products and spend 31% more compared to new customers
Practically speaking, all of this means that the customer you have sitting in your chair right now is more likely than anyone else to bring their family members in for their checkups. They’re also more likely to shell out the extra $500 for the fancier braces, or to try out the new cosmetic surgery you’ve been promoting.
There’s one more important thing about your existing customers, maybe the most important. A recent poll by Invesp determined that a whopping 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a place of business. Not only that, but, 72% of people said that positive online reviews make them trust the business more, and 88% of people said they trusted online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Customers making a purchase based on positive online reviews are also likely to spend 31% more than the average new customer.
I don’t have to spell it out for you, but I will anyway. By investing in your existing customers and soliciting their reviews, they are creating a positive reputation for your practice that actually draws in new customers. I don’t think there’s an old saying about the bird in the hand helping to attract the two in the bush for you, but maybe there should be.
The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter if you’re running an established practice with thousands of patients listed in your PMS, or if you’re fresh out of dental school. Either way, having an effective strategy for keeping your patients active and engaged is the essential ingredient to ensure the long term success of your practice.
Stay tuned to this blog in the coming weeks and months. We’ll spend some time discussing some of the most important ingredients your practice must have in order to keep your patients coming back.
If you can’t wait, you can check out the tools available from Patient Communicator, to help get you started on keeping your patients happy.
Till next time,
Meir Goodman, CEO
by Meir Goodman | Jan 4, 2016 | Online Scheduling Solutions
Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, a professor and researcher at Harvard Medical School, had scheduled an appointment with his orthopedic surgeon one day for 8 am. Punctual by nature, he arrived on time, only to find that 35 other patients were all scheduled for that same 8 am time slot! You can imagine the mayhem that ensued.
This inspired Dr. Mehrotra to develop a study that measured the value of the time wasted by patients pacing across the waiting room. What he found was that even though the average appointment lasted only about 20 minutes, patients spent an average of 64 minutes waiting to be seen by the doctor. That’s a lot of solitaire. In fact, in a 2014 Bloomberg study that ranked the most efficient countries for health care, the US ranked 44th out of 51 countries!
But there is hope. A 2015 study by the Beryl Institute revealed that over 40% of health care practices make patient experience and satisfaction their top priority. With a little planning and due diligence, you too can optimize your practice’s scheduling policies to improve the patient experience.
The three most common approaches to health care practice scheduling are the Steady Stream, Pure Wave, and Modified Wave methods. In this article we will define each approach, and discuss factors that will help you determine which is the best method for your practice.
Steady Stream
In this approach each patient is assigned a predetermined appointment time and length based on their particular needs. The obvious advantage of such an approach is that appointments are scheduled with the patient’s particular needs in mind, with the focus on giving each patient exactly what they need. In a perfect world, this is the simplest and most patient-centric form of scheduling.
This method will work wonders for practices whose primary care is centered around routine procedures, such as optometric and dental hygiene facilities. It can also work for a diverse practice that has a number of highly specialized providers. The steady stream method will be the easiest and most straightforward way to schedule appointments that are even months in advance.
But when a practice provides a wide variety of treatments to different types of patients, this method could make scheduling, and keeping to that schedule, a true nightmare.
Consider a medical practice that treats patients who range in age from 20 to 65. Virtually every patient being seen on any given day will have a different type of appointment. What’s more, due to the variations in age, even a similar appointment like a routine checkup, could have different time requirements depending on the patient’s age. Scheduling with the steady stream approach would be like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle, as the office manager attempts to fit all the different types appointments into a rigid timetable. This will result in costly empty time slots, and inevitable backlogs in the event that there are any delays.
Pure Wave
Unlike most surfing enthusiasts would assume, this method assigns a group of patient appointments to the top of each hour, or at particular intervals in the day. The assumption is that not everyone will arrive on time, and that patients do expect to wait a little anyway. The popularity of this method is driven by the fact that it ensures optimal productivity for each provider. There is always a patient waiting to be treated, and so no time is ever wasted. That is, except for the patient’s time.
This is the method that led to Dr. Mehrotra to conduct his study, and the one that most likely influenced its results. But to what degree should you consider your patients’ experience at the expense of your staff’s productivity?
A PwC survey of 6,000 people released this year found that 34% of people were willing to switch physicians if offered an ideal experience elsewhere. Yet another PWC study showed that personal experience had almost two times the impact on choices in healthcare than the next closest industry, hotels and hospitality. Evidence even suggests that there is a strong correlation between patient satisfaction and healthcare outcomes.
It’s no wonder that practices aim to maximize the productivity of their valuable medical staff. But, though the short term benefits of this method are clear, the effect it will have on patient satisfaction, and eventually on the practice’s bottom line, have never been clearer.
Modified Wave Approach
This method adopts the principal behind the Pure Wave approach, with a slight modification (hence the name) to make it more patient friendly. Scheduling using the Modified Wave involves double-booking the first appointment of each hour, then scheduling regular appointments after that, while leaving one empty slot at the end of each hour.
On the off chance that both patients scheduled at 9 am will arrive on time, they will only have to wait for the one appointment that is ahead of them. Though there will be some waiting involved, it’s a far cry from the national average of 64 minutes! The empty slots at the end of each hour then give the provider the ability to make up for any delays that may have occurred in the last group of appointments. It allows the practice to account to appointments that may vary slightly in length, without causing too much backlog.
Of course, if your practice has diverse procedure types that differ in length, these procedures will have to be grouped together in order to maintain a flow throughout the day.
Those who’ve worked with the Modified Wave method and are staunch supporters, still warn of a few mistakes to avoid:
- Do not fill up the empty time slot at the end of the hour with walk-in appointments. The reasoning for this should be clear, as it undermines the significance of that slot that should be used for catching up, not to create more backlog.
- Avoid double-booking new patients at the top of the hours, especially during peak hours. New patients simply take more time, and their first experience should be pleasant, never rushed.
The Next Step
Take the time to do a thorough analysis of your appointment and provider types, and start experimenting with the scheduling method that seems most right for your practice. You may not get it right the first time, but simply focusing on improvement will get you closer to ideal scheduling than you ever thought possible. You’ve worked hard to build your practice, to attract patients, and to provide them with the highest quality care possible. So it goes without saying that the last reason you want to lose your patients is because they lose their patience. Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun.
Whatever your scheduling preferences, Patient Communicator makes everything easier with automated appointment confirmation and reminders, and a real online scheduler. The online scheduler enables your practice to set the available appointment schedule, while your patients can book their appointments online, in real time. Click here to learn more.
Sources:
State of Patient Experience 2015: A global Perspective on the Patient Experience Movement, Jason A. Wolf, Ph.D, President, The Beryl Institute, 2015
Time Spent Obtaining Physician Office Visits, K. Ray, A. Chari, J. Engberg, M. Bertolet, A. Mehrotra, American Journal of Managed Care, 2015
Customer Service Vs. Patient Care, Torpie, Kathy, Patient Experience Journal, 2014
Patient Satisfaction: Why It Matters, Grigsby, J. Eugene, National Health Foundation, 2011
About the author: Meir is the founder and CEO of Patient Communicator, a simple but feature rich platform that helps medical and dental practices of all kinds to better communicate with their patients. Meir is passionate about helping practices grow by enhancing the patient experience and improving practice efficiency. Learn more about Meir and Patient Communicator here.
by Meir Goodman | Dec 14, 2015 | Dental Practices
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when inside his house,
A hot drink he was stirring, his name Dr. Krauss;
All his patients’ teeth cleaned by the office with care,
The hygienists went home too, so no one was there;
The children brushed too, now they’re snug in their beds,
While visions of good dental hygiene danced in their heads;
With all his work done, he took off his cap,
Finally on vacation, he settled down for a nap;
When he lay for a moment, then his teeth turned to chatter,
His family said, Dr. Krauss what’s the matter?
Right out of his bed, he flew in a flash,
Tore straight for the front door, he made a mad dash;
I didn’t wish my patients merry Christmas, oh no,
To his office in mid-day, he sped in the snow;
An impossible task, it would so appear,
To reach five thousand patients, could take a whole year;
So he called in his staff, and asked to come quick,
They’ll work ‘round the clock, to be home ‘fore St. Nick;
More rapid than eagles his office staff came,
And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name;
Now! Sasha, now! Francis, now! Francine and Dixon,
On! Janet, on! Ingrid, on! David and Nixon;
To the top of the list, all our patients to call,
A very Merry Christmas, we must wish one and all;
As they picked up and dialed, wild fingers would fly,
With a prayer for success, mounted to the sky;
When Francis now said, somewhat out of the blue,
No, I will not be doing this, and you shouldn’t too;
What? Said her friends, Dr. Krauss’ll hit the roof,
No holiday wishes to patients, is not a little goof;
Francis lifted her head, gave a smile all around,
We’ll be home before St. Nick, a solution I’ve found;
We will send out one message, a great one, a hoot,
It’ll reach all our patients, every last one to boot;
Let’s go Francis, do it! With a pat on her back,
Cause she’s an idea peddler, she has just the knack;
Her eyes – how they twinkled! Their worry she’d bury,
To the computer she went, with a speed that was scary;
Loaded Patient Communicator, and quickly clicked “Go”,
Found a Season’s Greetings template, with thistles and snow;
As she showed them the message, they gritted their teeth,
Wrote special well-wishes, added even a wreath;
I will send this to all patients, yes even to Kelly,
And as Francis hit send, all their knees turned to Jelly;
“So indifferent,” they grumped, like it’s sent from an elf,
And I’d laugh if I saw one was sent to myself;
A wink of her eye, she just twisted her head,
Soon showed us the Inbox, we had nothing to dread;
She spoke not a word, but showed just how it worked,
Replies fill’d all the Inbox, as if going berserk;
“Thank you!” “How thoughtful!” each one of us knows,
Patient Communicator’s greatness was just exposed;
Dr. Krauss he sprung up, to his team gave a whistle,
And home they all flew, left behind only thistle,
Dr. Krauss would exclaim as he drove out of sight,
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
For more information on how Patient Communicator can ease the burden on your office staff and help you increase revenues, contact us for a live online demo or to get started on a 30-day free trial, or call 888-512-3452.
by Meir Goodman | Nov 19, 2015 | Online Scheduling Solutions
You know your practice needs an online scheduling system.
But do you know which one is best for you?
Did you know?
- In 2007, about 35% of patients said they could not get an appointment soon enough — up from 23% in 1997…
- By the end of 2019, 66% of US health systems will offer digital self-scheduling and 64% of patients will book appointments digitally.
- Non-attendance rates for online appointments were much lower (6.9%) than non-attendance rates at dermatology clinics through traditional means.
The success of your practice depends on scheduling appointments – and on managing them efficiently. That’s why the old “receptionist/pen/appointment book” scheduling method doesn’t quite cut it anymore. But lucky for you, healthcare has recently met digital media – producing a whole range of patient communication tools and appointment scheduling systems to help you improve your office procedures.
Keep in mind though, it’s a relatively new space and there are literally hundreds of software providers out there promising to automate everything from scheduling to coffee making. So how are you supposed to know which online scheduling system offers the right features for your practice? Here are 7 things you should look out for to help you decide:
- Know what you want – Break down in detail the specific areas where you want this solution to help your practice. Many of the different solutions have similar features, but nearly all of them specialize in certain areas. Determine which features are absolute must-haves and which are nice-to-haves. Just like with any investment, it’s important to be clear on the goals before you dive in.
- Check for reliability – Before you sign on the dotted line, you want to test-drive the system. Therefore, choose a provider that offers a free trial that will give you enough training and time to test the waters. You want to get hands-on experience with the software’s features and functionality and make sure that it delivers consistent performance over time.
- Make sure it’s user-friendly – Does your staff need a doctorate in software engineering to use the system? Do your patients need to be tech-savvy? Does the system work with all platforms and get the job done with as few clicks as possible? An appointment scheduling software should be designed for simplicity and ease of use, because if it’s simple, people will use it.
- Choose only a Web-based software – If it’s not available online – and accessible to your staff and patients wherever they may be – then it doesn’t serve your intended purpose of having patients schedule their own appointments or your employees processing them efficiently. Nuf said.
- Look for security protocols – Appointment scheduling systems may give you convenience, but they also bring into focus privacy and confidentiality issues. Make sure the system is HIPAA compliant, and that it can safely store your patients’ personal information, including financial data if applicable.
- Seek calendar manageability – Will the system let you have total control? For example, will you be able to manipulate provider availability and procedure details hassle-free? At the same time, will the calendar be tamper-proof, with features that will mitigate scheduling errors and prevent appointments from falling through the cracks?
- Test customer support – Accurate and efficient appointment scheduling is critical to your practice. And investing in a software provider is serious business that demands nothing less than top-of-the-line customer service. Select the provider that can give you high-level technical and other support from software setup to post-sale service.
So do your homework.
If you want a good place to start, check out Patient Communicator’s Online Scheduler and what it can do for your practice – risk-free! Or contact us for a live online demo or to get started on a 30-day free trial.
Patient Communicator provides a first-in-class online scheduling and automated messaging solution especially designed for medical and dental practitioners. A win-win system for both your patients and your practice, its sophisticated features include Automated Confirmations & Reminders, True 2-Way Texting, Online Scheduler, Reviews & Surveys, and Marketing Tools. The solution drastically reduces no-shows, makes it easier for patients to book appointments, and for providers to build stronger relationships with their patients, and grow their practice.
About the author: Meir is the founder and CEO of Patient Communicator, a simple but feature rich platform that helps medical and dental practices of all kinds to better communicate with their patients. Meir is passionate about helping practices grow by enhancing the patient experience and improving practice efficiency. Learn more about Meir and Patient Communicator here.
by Meir Goodman | Oct 13, 2015 | Appointment Reminder Software
Missed appointments = missed revenues.
A prescription for a full recovery? Appointment reminder software, along with other automated patient communication tools! Here’s why:
Fact: Medical practices average a 15% percent no-show rate. But this number goes down drastically with the introduction of appointment reminders.
Fact: An industry survey of 2,931 practices compared no-show rates of patients who received appointment reminders with those who didn’t: Almost half the practices who didn’t use reminders had a no-show rate above 10%, but only a quarter of the practices that did use reminders had a no-show rate above 10%.
Fact: A majority of patients – a whopping 85% – want to receive digital communication from their providers.
Your medical or dental practice isn’t just a place for healing, it’s also a place of business. That’s why the familiar scourge of no-shows or missed appointments has always been a bitter pill to swallow. And it’s not just a minor inconvenience, as you know. Every no-show means lost revenue for that reserved time slot. It also means disrupted schedules, overhead costs that cannot be recouped (like staffing, rent, utilities, insurance, etc.), and of course, patient dissatisfaction. Add to that the cost of scheduling, rescheduling, and managing paperwork – and you’ve got a big direct hit to your bottom line.
Traditional Solutions: Are They Just Band-Aids?
Now, some practices are applying traditional solutions to address the problem. While these may seem to be workable solutions, are they really the way to go?
Downside of Double or Overbooking – Sure, you can book more than one patient into certain time slots to try to cover your bases. But what if all your patients actually show up, wreaking havoc on the practice? Patients will have to wait longer for their appointments, and your staff will be put under even greater pressure. The providers’ time with their patients will have to be limited, and operating expenses will rise if there is overtime to be paid. It seems more like compounding an error than solving a problem!
Drawback of Charging a No-Show Fee – Definitely justifiable in a perfect world, but practically, it’s easier said than done. Yes, charging no-show fees communicates to patients once and for all, that a medical/dental practice is just as much a business as it is a healthcare provider. And that the provider’s time and services cost money. But, how will such a fee policy make your patients feel? Would they complain publicly about your policies? Will it drive them to ditch you for the competition? And is the fee, which is probably just a fraction of your lost revenue, worth the trouble and expense of collecting it?
Disadvantage of Manual Reminders – Endless research has indicated that appointment reminders – whether by phone, postcard, email, or text message – reduce the number of no-shows by as much as 50%! The result is more efficient and profitable operations, increased patient satisfaction (a valuable benefit by any measure), and of course, a greater likelihood that they will show up. On the other hand, these manual reminders are laborious, time-consuming and expensive. Just try to add up all the time and effort expended in making phone calls, mailing postcards, sending individual emails. More important, imagine the salaries paid to your staff for all those hours!
Automated Patient Communication Tools
Your Patients Win, Your Practice Wins!
If reminders are the most effective way of dealing with no-shows, imagine a tool that will send out all of these reminders automatically. Your patients win because they get timely communications – including confirmations and reminders, promotions, and special messages – using an approach that fits their busy, perpetually-on-the-go, 21st century lifestyle. Your practice wins not only because patients who get reminders are more likely to show up for their scheduled appointments. More importantly, you establish stronger connections with your patients – all without the burdensome, expensive, and time-consuming manual methods. With an automated system, you can just set it, and forget it!
Here’s a whole range of patient communication tools, including automated appointment reminders, that’ll put your practice in the pink!
Fully Customizable: Automated Confirmations and Reminders – Send out reminders or other messages via phone, text, or email (whichever the patient prefers). Set them to the relevant provider, procedure, exam room, and all at the times and intervals of your choice. Time is money – and THIS is a time-saving wonder.
Instant Communication: True 2-Way Texting – Your patients will love you – they no longer have to wait for hours to get an answer to a quick question. Your staff will love you – the days of fielding 10 phone calls all at once are over. Moreover, both patient and provider can initiate the text conversation – it’s just like texting with family and friends. Greater productivity, here we come!
Easy-Shmeezy Scheduling: Online Scheduler – Let patients schedule appointments (or wait-list themselves for preferred dates) online, 24/7. Of course, you control all the parameters – including which providers, procedures, and exam rooms can be scheduled online. You also determine the length of various procedures based on specific providers (which only you can see, not your patients). Yes, the system is THAT customizable.
A Click Away to the Next Level of Patient Care: Patient Communication Center – Want to communicate last-minute schedule changes, emergency closures, or other pertinent data? Need a speedy way for patients to contact you with questions and concerns – and for you to reply fast? This feature lets both of you quickly text or e-mail each other. Because time is of the essence to patient and provider, important info is just a click away!
Relationship Builder: Automated Patient Messaging – It takes more than appointment reminders to show patients you care. How about welcome messages to new patients? Or pre- or post-op instructions? Or healthcare updates? You can do it all via automated text, phone, or email. You no longer have to lift a finger to lift your patient’s spirits!
Find out what our Appointment Reminder software can do for your practice – risk-free!
Contact us for a 30-day FREE TRIAL.
Patient Communicator is a state-of-the-art software especially designed for medical and dental practitioners. A win-win system for both your patients and your practice, its sophisticated features make no-shows a thing of the past. At the same time, they make it easier for patients to book appointments online, and for providers to build stronger relationships with their patients, increase revenues, and grow their practice.
About the author: Meir is the founder and CEO of Patient Communicator, a simple but feature rich platform that helps medical and dental practices of all kinds to better communicate with their patients. Meir is passionate about helping practices grow by enhancing the patient experience and improving practice efficiency. Learn more about Meir and Patient Communicator here.
