More and more patients are making healthcare decisions based on their experiences (whether positive or negative) with hospitals, clinics, and other health organizations. To retain patients, it’s crucial to prioritize their experience and figure out how to improve patient satisfaction. Check out these tips to help you increase patient satisfaction at your workplace:
How to Improve Patient Satisfaction through Interpersonal Skills
Healthcare is an intimate industry. As an allied health professional, you know more about your patients than most of their family members. Your interpersonal skills are crucial to the success of your professional rapports and patient satisfaction.
1. Be Empathetic
When you’re treating countless patients each day, there’s a tendency to become desensitized. Patients want compassionate healthcare professionals. As you treat your patients, empathize with each of them and their families. Show your passion for helping others. They’ll appreciate the extra care you show toward them.
2. Be Polite & Cheerful
Bedside manners are very important. It’s important to care for patients quickly and efficiently, but this doesn’t mean that positive interaction has to be sacrificed. Greeting patients with a smile is so simple, but it’s often overlooked. Chat with your patients about their pets, their plans for the weekend or the new coffee shop down the street. Posture can also affect how your patients see you. Improve your posture to raise your confidence and better your mood.
3. Take Care of Yourself
As a helping professional, you may get caught up in the demands of your job and lose focus of yourself. Although taking care of your patients is the top priority while you’re at work, don’t fall into the pattern of neglecting yourself. Doing so is counterproductive. If you’re exhausted, spread thin and moody, your patients will notice. Try natural treatments like aloe vera to boost your immune system, help you cope with stress and detoxify your body.
How to Improve Patient Satisfaction through Efficient Treatments
Your patient’s feelings are important, but you shouldn’t sacrifice their treatment for the sake of their happiness. Keep their well-being a priority, and their satisfaction with their experience will improve as a result.
1. Adjust Treatment Processes According to Patient Needs
As you examine your patient, ask about any anxieties they may be experiencing. It’s especially important to ask about common fears, like needles, blood or hospitals in general. Knowing these complications in advance will allow you to make changes during future procedures to ensure that your patient is as comfortable as possible. This mutual understanding will make ease your patient’s worries and will help you do your job better.
2. Explain Your Course of Action and Ask for Feedback
Effective communication can greatly improve your patient’s experience. Explain the treatments you’re performing and why you’re doing them. Even if you’re just testing their reflexes or checking their ears, your patients will appreciate the explanation before you start poking around their bodies. Ask for feedback to make sure they’re not experiencing discomfort throughout the examination.
2. Draw Blood Quickly & Carefully
Studies have shown the dread and anxiety surrounding blood draws, one of the most common hospital procedures. Simplifying this process will make things easier for the phlebotomist and the patient. Taking extra care with children and those who are afraid of needles will make the blood draw easier. Ensure that the blood samples are cared for properly so that additional samples don’t need to be taken.
Consider these tips to increase patient satisfaction and determine which options will work for you. Having open communication with your patient and showing your passion for healthcare will have significant impacts on your patient’s experience. What are you doing to improve patient satisfaction?
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