Did you know efficient service is valued more than plain friendly service? Be efficient while providing a positive experience for your patients!
It is important for your practice to respond with great speed and accuracy while still providing quality customer service. Patients who contact your practice want an immediate response, even on the weekend when offices are closed. With such a demand, how are you prepared to handle it?
Why is Efficient Customer Service So Important?
A lack of efficiency can leave a negative impact on your patients for a number of reasons. The patient might be having a long task list of things to do for that day and staying on the phone on hold for too long can push their entire day back. Making time for your secretary to be free to answer incoming calls is important to ensure they do not have to wait for very long and are able to set up an appointment or receive answers they are looking for before they consider moving on to another office who may answer quicker.
When it comes to emails, most desire a response within 24 hours. Keep in mind, even an automatic response right after sending your office an email is letting the patient know you have received their email and you will answer them as soon as possible. Our system allows you to set up automatic emails for those who contact you online, indicating you have received their email and will respond as soon as you are able. This tells the customer the email was sent successfully and that your office is aware, giving your patient peace of mind. Having this simple solution in place helps greatly during the weekends and other days the office is closed or through busy times. This simple solution reduces stress for you and your team as you are no longer feeling rushed.
Being friendly does not always mean your patient’s experience is a positive one. If there is no solution made to fit their needs after a certain timeframe, they could give up on contacting your practice again (first impressions are everything). It is important to listen and to understand your patients. Sometimes we forget important details they have told us or forget to answer back. Our system allows you to take notes on each patient in their individual profile and set up alerts for tasks you need to complete, such as calling a patient back or emailing them certain information. Remembering a customer’s needs while being efficient in responding to them increases the vision they have of your brand.
Since no one likes repeating themselves, all notes are available for your office staff to see as soon as you type them. This means your secretary can charge for the right plan they want and if another chiropractor must take over an appointment for you, they are up to date on the patient’s information. This allows your entire office to stay efficient.
As you can see, efficiency should come with quality customer service that does not waste the patient’s time and quickly responds to what they need. Friendly customer service does not mean it solved anything or found a solution within a desirable timeframe.
How Can You Increase Efficiency Without Losing Quality
The solution is an easy one: Automation!
Automating tedious tasks that become repetitive throughout the day and delay you from responding to your patients will free up your time in ensuring they are cared for properly without the rush and in a more desirable amount of time. As we mentioned, patients now expect quick responses and they see quick responses as a part of having high-quality service.
Patients still want to connect and build a relationship with you and your office and, in return, this builds brand loyalty. Automation gives you time to do this and since your focus will be on your patients instead of other background tasks, the service you provide and connections you make will have an increase in quality.
Other areas where quality will improve will be appointment scheduling, announcements, and payment plans. Automation will eliminate human error and our system will respond to any emergency office closings or no-shows. This means if a chiropractor has an emergency leave or weather has forced the office to close, all affected appointments within that time frame will show a pulsing icon on the calendar. In response to these appointments, Digital Patient Chart sends out automatic email notifications to all affected patients notifying them they will need to respond or contact your office to reschedule.
If you have upcoming events such as patient orientation classes, special promotions, or patient appreciation day – automatic emails can be set up so when the time draws closer, emails will be sent out to your lists. Not having to worry about sending email announcements out at the same time you prepare for events helps you focus on the event’s execution. Imagine how much better an event will be without the time lost and stress rising from sending announcements in appropriate timeframes.
Having an automated task system in place can reduce office stress by reducing the risk of human error, lessening supervision and micromanagement, increasing workplace organization, and better internal communication. Having less stress will impact how you react to your patients. First impressions are everything and if a new patient walks into an office that is calm and welcoming, the more comfortable they will feel. Our system also has a built-in chat for everyone working within the office so you can communicate without hunting a member of the office down. Stress can increase within your patients if they see staff hustling around the office to look for each other.
To ensure you have efficient quality service for your patients, the goal is to reduce your workload, listen and connect to your patients’ needs, eliminate stress, increase focus, and stay productive. To reach this goal, Digital Patient Chart can automate many tedious tasks that allow you and your office to solely focus on your services and your patients to ensure they get the solutions they need promptly.