Recent studies in the Baltimore area show high levels of unconscious bias from physicians toward patients based on skin color. Bias, discrimination, and lack of empathy can fuel poor patient satisfaction scores in hospitals and outpatient clinics.
If you want to improve patient satisfaction in your clinic, you need to find more ways to spend time getting to know your patients and less time on paperwork and other administrative tasks. These are just a few hints as to what we will talk about in our complete guide.
In this article, you will learn four helpful tools that can boost patient satisfaction, reduce burnout, and decrease the amount of time spent on paperwork. Keep reading for more information!
1. Spend Time Treating the Patient
Too often, patients complain about being treated for their diagnosis rather than their ailments as a whole. Ask about patients' physical, mental, and emotional health. These factors all play a role in overall health and wellness and could provide insight into underlying causes.
According to recent reports, patients feel less trustworthy around physicians and lack of quality patient care time is one of the biggest reasons. This has turned many patients toward holistic and alternative medicine where "whole-body medicine" is the culture. Taking a few extra minutes to ask how the patient is doing and treating every aspect, including mental health, can go a long way in patient satisfaction in healthcare.
2. Ask About Communication Preferences
Whether you need translation services or patients prefer phone calls to text, ensure you discuss communication preferences with your patients before starting treatment. Update your paperwork or pre-appointment forms to give patients an opportunity to receive updates about their care through text, phone calls, or email.
Only 27% of a physician's workday is spent with the patient. Having patients fill in forms on communication and language preferences before they arrive can save you time.
3. Streamline Check-in Process
In a patient satisfaction survey, starting off on the wrong foot could affect your clinic and physician ratings. Upgrade software, streamline check-in services, and have patients fill out paperwork from the comfort of their homes. If there is an emergency, accommodate new schedule times.
4. Use Digital Scribes
Arguably one of the best ways to improve patient satisfaction is through digital scribes. Medical scribing can increase how many patients are seen by 25%. In-person scribing is costly, intrusive, and can break HIPAA violations.
Digital scribes allow you to work directly with your patients while avoiding multi-tasking with documentation. You can opt for real-time scribing through telecommunication or transcription services. Digital scribes are essential to a patient satisfaction improvement plan and critical to the success of the three other helpful tools above.
Improve Patient Satisfaction in Your Clinic
Have you wondered how to improve patient satisfaction? You want patients to have trust and respect for their care team. Instead of worrying about lengthy paperwork and transcribing, a digital scribe can reduce burnout and give you more direct patient time.
Improving patient satisfaction starts with spending one-on-one time treating the patient as a whole. For help getting started, check out our list of digital scribe services today!