We’ve all had it happen. A patient comes in once or maybe
even a half dozen times. Then they break their next appointment or don’t make
one at all and never come in to our clinic again. They don’t return our calls
or emails.
What happened here? Of course there could be many
possibilities and it may have nothing to do with you at all. But chances are it
comes down to a few things we could all do differently to lower the number of
disappearing patients. Here are my ideas on this subject and I hope they
resonate with you or offer you some food for thought.
I believe most patient disappearance comes down to three
things: poor office-patient communication and education, poor business and
office management, or inflexible pricing and payment options. Here are some
ideas on how can you improve?
Improving office-patient
communication and education
To keep a patient for the long haul, we need to do our utmost
to make sure that patients see, hear, and
understand all our communication with them. Firstly, this is important when
educating patients about the necessity of getting a full course of treatment,
however many you believe are required to get the patient well using
acupuncture. With herbal therapy this may translate into how many weeks or
months of herbs you believe they will need to take.
Secondly, signage in your clinic can go a long way toward
explaining things about our medicine as well as what you specifically offer to
patients and to your community. You can and probably should have “did you know”
type signs about various conditions that you like to treat. For example if you
like to treat insomnia, a simple sign that says “Did
you know that sleep disorders are the most common diseases in the US today?
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can provide quick and effective help for many
patients who suffer with sleep disorders. Ask for information for a friend or
family member today.” can be
effective at educating your patients about the broad scope of conditions that
you can treat and about which they did not know. Also, signs that offer your
services as a speaker for your patients’ groups and affiliations, signs that
let patients know about your volunteer activities, and signs that offer free or
reduced price treatments in exchange for participation in a fundraising or
volunteer activity all let your patients know that you are a community
participant and care about something before your front door. All this kind of
information all should be on your website or company Facebook page.
Third, your written educational materials should be
easy-to-read and understand. Be wary of using the word “qi” when speaking to
patients or writing educational flyers or website copy. We are not even able to
translate this word accurately into English. I suggest discussing ideas that
Westerners can understand, like balancing your nervous/endocrine/ system,
improving your immune response, engaging the body’s innate ability to heal
itself, improving organ function, helping the body overall back to proper
homeostasis, as better approaches to helping patients understand something
about what we do. Always write copy for brochures and your website for the
first time reader who knows nothing about acupuncture and Asian medicine.
One friend of mine always schedules an extra 30-45 minutes
into her first appointment with a patient. This time is spent allowing her and
her patient to get to know each other a little, doing extensive and planned
patient education, as well as making sure the patient understands and agrees to
a specific financial arrangement with the clinic. In her case, that may mean
having her assistant check on insurance benefits while she is working with the
patient, it may be creating a payment plan or agreeing on a treatment schedule
that will work clinically but also be workable for the patient’s budget. She
loses very few patients before their care with her is complete. She says her
goal is to keep every patient for life.
Finally, I suggest bonding calls and reminder calls (or
texts or emails), as well as semi-regular email and snail mail communications.
A bonding call is done within 24 hrs of a first appointment and treatment. It
allows you to answer any questions that may have come up in the patient’s mind,
reassure them that you are there for them and really concerned about their
care, and allows you to nip most problems of perception or misunderstandings in
the bud very quickly. Reminder calls or texts are self-explanatory, but they
will cut down your no-shows and most people appreciate these. (Who among us has
never forgotten an appointment just because of the busy-ness of life?) You can
use an opt-in email newsletter to stay in touch with patients, but mostly make
this type of communication about cool things you are doing in the community
(especially if they can participate), classes you are offering, the discount of
the month, a book review, a video of you teaching a seasonal qi-gong exercise
or preparing your favorite seasonal recipe. Think fun, light-hearted,
community-centered.
As for snail mail, I think the best use of it is to send a
birthday or “thinking of you” card now and again, but one that has a specific,
hand-written message in it instead of just signing your name. For example,
“Dear ____, Here’s hoping this card finds you well and thriving. I saw that
your birthday is coming up and it occurred to me that I recently attended a
seminar where I learned a new type of treatment for your condition. If you ever
have a recurrence of symptoms and would like to discuss it, please don’t
hesitate to give me a call. Meanwhile, stay well and enjoy your birthday. PS. Did your son get into one of the
colleges he had applied to?” You
get the idea here. Keep it friendly, short, and specific to their life in some
way.
There are many more suggestions about effectively managing
patient communication in Section 2: Chapter 13 of the new and updated edition
of Points
for Profit (10/2013)
Next time…Part 2 of
this blog: What Does Your Office Management Communicate to Patients?
