Patient engagement is often a phrase tossed around, but what does it mean to your practice?
Some Practices Suggest:
- Patients more engaged in their health care with follow up visits and preventative checks.
- Using patient portals to eliminate front desk staff processing paperwork.
- Tracking data such as vitals via devices and reporting back.
- Participation in wellness classes, such as weight management and diabetes prevention.
- Active on social engagement such as texts for confirmation and follow up to set appointments.
- Use of two or more social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram) to stay engaged with the latest services practices offers.
o Others want to use social media to keep their patients satisfied with the practice. This could include alerts on the most recent health care trends or a monthly blog from the physician.
- Patient surveys.
Step One: Define your goals.
Review what worked in 2019 and what didn’t. Review the topics above or identify additional ones specific to your practice. Identify at least three to work with as 2020 goals.
Confirm the outcomes you would like to achieve. For example:
- Increase new patients by 15%
- Keep current patient population leaving practice at 5%
- Decrease patient no shows by 20%
Ensure you are considering compliance guidelines and update your compliance policies and procedures if needed.
Step Two: Patient Demographics.
Know your patient demographics. For example, if you are considering enhancing your social media platforms to engage patients, which platforms work for the patients you are trying to reach. Refer to: Statistics on Social Media
Perhaps another tactic is to enhance your website to include a patient portal or blog to keep your practice top of mind and reach new patients. Understanding Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential in addition to keyword searches and relevant topics that set your practice apart from your competition.
Step Three: Implement Your Plan.
Identify your team to implement processes. Do you have a marketing team, or are you as the practice administrator tackling alone? Scope what is reasonable given time and expense. Brainstorm with your team in staff meetings and consult with your physician owner (s) to confirm the final approach. A team approach can help you leverage ideas you did not think of. The front office and back office may be experiencing different issues, but in brainstorming, they can identify solutions you may not be aware were an opportunity.
Identify your available budget and manage it around the top three items you want to achieve.
Step Four: Is it Working?
Once your plan is implemented, it is important to check at least quarterly.
For example, if you have invested in text reminders to minimize patient no shows, measure how it is working toward your year-end 20% goal. If at Q120, you are only at 2%, evaluate the root issue.
- Are you getting a lot of not deliverable messages? I
- Is your patient database as accurate as it should be?Or is the text message going to a secondary number? Did you not confirm with the patient regarding text message reminders?
Identifying the issue early on can help you make the right adjustments to help you meet your year-end goal.
With so many changes in health care, it is important to make sure patient engagement is a key goal that is top of mind for 2020.