Three Ways You Can Become More Relatable to Your Patients
One of the key buzz phrases within patient satisfaction is that healthcare providers need to become more relatable. But what does that really mean? In my opinion, it means that you make an attempt to befriend your patient. I am not talking about having dinner with them, but find some common grounds to show that you care about them as a person.
Based on that definition of relatable, please see three simple ways you can become closer to your patients.
Build Social Media Relationships. The first way to become more relatable is to humanize yourself in their eyes. Open a Facebook account that you only use for business purposes (different than a fan page) and friend your patients. Wish them Happy Birthday, comment on their cute kids, and kid them about the photos of their dinners. It will show that you have a sense of humor and are interested in their private lives. Don’t worry if you are not tech savvy. Someone in your office is and can handle it for you.
Add Personal Notes in Your Charts. Knowing the names of your patients’ spouse and children and asking about vacations and hobbies are great ways to connect with your patient. And you do not need to have instant recall to do that. You can simply make notes about them and input them into their chart. The personal notes will be there when you enter the room. It shows that you care about what is important to them.
Develop a Friendlier Front Office Environment. Be sure that your patients are greeted by your receptionist. Take your customized, ad-free HDTV-based patient education system and customize it with announcements, “global” birthday wishes and segments on fun hobbies and trips that would interest your clients. Anything that will get them engaged to learn how to live healthier and how you can help.
Being relatable is not hard. It just takes some planning on how to approach your patients in a genuine way. The best part is that patients that are more engaged with you will send their friends and family. Imagine, you will be paid to be nice. Not a bad deal.
