4 ways to make your private medical practice more efficient

4 ways to make your private medical practice more efficient

4 ways to make your private medical practice more efficient

With the NHS plagued by reports of increasing waiting times and disastrous staff shortages, a track record for impeccably efficient customer service and care is guaranteed to make your private medical centre a roaring success.

If you’re committed to always welcoming people with a smile, offering timely appointments and maintaining a relaxing atmosphere throughout your practice, you’ll never run out of patients.

But it’s a promise that’s much easier said than done.

We’ve all had to suffer through those manic days where you just can’t get ahead, where a few hiccups in the morning soon results in overrun appointments and delays that leave everyone (patients and staff) in a bad mood.

So that you can keep those times to a minimum and build a reputation for exemplary customer service, we’re sharing four simple strategies that are guaranteed to boost the efficiency of your practice. Take a look.

4 ways to make your private medical practice more efficient

#1: ask your staff for feedback

The people on the frontline (your receptionists, administrators and nurses) are in the best place to offer advice on what aspects of your practice require improvement – after all, they’re the ones dealing with the fallout of issues like late appointments.

Put together an anonymous questionnaire through Survey Monkey and ask them about the problems they commonly deal with. Acknowledging and addressing their feedback will help keep your team happier and less stressed, even on busy days.

#2: give your office a helping hand

The last thing you want is to be wasting tons of time in between appointments looking for patient records and getting to grips with admin. Keep your office in order and it won’t ever become a problem for your practice.

Lloyd George patient notes storage from Invicta Mobile Shelving has been expertly designed to keep files accessible, organised and safe, plus they’ll adapt it to maximise and suit whatever office space you have available.

#3: be honest with your patients

Are you running behind? Are patients likely to be waiting for half an hour or more before seeing a doctor? Then don’t just put your head down and hope for the best.

Be honest with patients as they come into the practice – warn them about the delays (even phoning in extreme cases) and offer alternative appointments. Facing the problem upfront is a much better approach that’ll help stop tempers from rising, so make it a customer service rule all your employees have to follow.

#4: improve your website

Whether they’re new to the area and looking to join the practice or simply wondering about your cancellation policy, handling requests from patients is no doubt one of the most time-consuming tasks your reception staff will deal with on a daily basis.

Make sure your website offers as much information as possible about things like opening times and appointment booking procedures with a detailed frequently asked questions page. It won’t stop requests entirely, but it’s a handy and helpful resource to be able to direct patients towards.

Have you got any other top tips for private practices hoping to make their customer service more efficient? Leave a comment and let us know.