Customer service and referral opportunities are everywhere

As a service industry, stakeholders within private practice health care (physical therapy, medical practice, dental offices, or anything in between) notice a job well done.  Whether it’s a pat on the back after a good physical therapy session, or giving your patient your cell phone number after a medical office visit, it’s sometimes the little things that go a long way toward establishing a lifetime relationship with patients.

I’ve written about it before…you simply MUST differentiate yourself as a private practice, especially in this economy.  Patients and referral sources are becoming selective, and if you don’t offer something different, something better, something kinder, you’ll get left behind.

Take a moment to think about the opportunities that exist in your practice every day – the simple things like how you answer the phone, how your front office greets your patients, and what you tell your patients when they leave.  These little things make up the whole of who you are, and what your practice means to your patients and your referral sources.  It’s wise to put some thought into it.

Here’s a great article from PT Magazine that discusses some specific keys to cultivating new referral sources by paying attention to – and mastering – the simple things.

What that PT should do at the conclusion of any patient visit, Steffes says, is thoroughly recap the session, emphasize any progress made, reiterate home program instructions, and end by saying, “The next time you come, this is what we anticipate doing.” The result, she says, is that the patient’s or client’s “perceived value” of the visit will be enhanced–which, in turn, will foster positive impressions of the PT and of physical therapy on anyone to whom the patient or client subsequently describes the session. “Your patient isn’t, then, going to limit the description to, ‘She rubbed me,’ or ‘He made me do a bunch of exercise,’ Steffes says. “Instead, he or she is going to say, ‘When I first went in there, I could only turn my head this far. Then the physical therapist did this, and now I can do that. And this is what we’re doing next time.” 

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Tannus Quatre PT, MBA is a private practice consultant and principal with Vantage Clinical Solutions, Inc., a nationwide healthcare consulting and management firm located in Bend, OR and Denver, CO.  Tannus specializes in the areas of healthcare marketing, strategy, and finance, and can be reached through the Vantage Clinical Solutions website.

2 responses to “Customer service and referral opportunities are everywhere”

1. Bud Ward, MPT, CSCS writes:
   

   Great article Tannus. I recently submitted an article to Impact (Private Practice Section publication) along the same lines. I believe that the best long-term growth strategy is to provide an outstanding customer experience. This is more than customer service, it includes everything from the first phone call until the last claim is paid – the physical facility, the clinic culture, personal interactions, etc. I have always been struck by the fact that patients talk about “my doctor”, “my dentist”, “my chiropractor”, but they only say “my physical therapist” when they are receiving PT. As discussed in the PT Magazine article, it is critical that we establish these relationships with our patients & become an ongoing resource for them.

   @ May 13th, 2009 at 19:47
2. Gary Graye writes:
   

   Hi Tannus and Bud
   I read your article and totally agree with you both.
   “It’s sometimes the little things that go a long way toward establishing a lifetime relationship with patients.”
   This is so true when developing a working therapeutic alliance, one of trust and understanding.
   “The next time you come, this is what we anticipate doing.”
   Informing patients of all the procedures and process’s is a way of connecting with your patient and also reducing their anxieties for future appointments.
   “To provide an outstanding customer experience. This is more than customer service; it includes everything from the first phone call until the last claim is paid”
   This to me shows that you are offering the patient a personable service that is carried right through to the last session, some may wish to arrange a review session at some point in the future, giving the patient after care facilities.
   It is crucial to any business to establish good relationships with their patients thus becoming an ongoing resource and reference for them and their families and friends.
   “So what does your practice mean to your patients and your referral sources?”
   Thank you
   Regards
   Gary Gray
   http://www.everytherapist.com

   @ May 28th, 2009 at 03:06