What Are the Consequences of Poor Patient Service? – Practice Builders

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What Are the Consequences of Poor Patient Service?

• Patient service is the most important thing for
  your medical practice to get right. Excellent
  patient service can overcome poor marketing, but
  it is extremely difficult and very expensive to
  replace poor patient service with even the most
  delightful marketing.
• It is normal for minor mistakes to happen or to
  encounter patients who are impossible to please.
  These are considered small bumps in the road and
  do not tarnish your service quality.
• However, the following situations are considered
  unacceptable
• Long wait times
• Not listening properly
• Lack of knowledge and experience
• Unprofessional and ill-mannered
• Healthcare providers who are guilty of bad
  patient service traits end up
• facing severe consequences most of which are
  difficult to handle and may lead to the
  practices failure.
• Price of Poor Patient Service Is High!
• You can have the most efficient staff in the
  fanciest office however, if you fail to consider
  how to meet and exceed the needs of your
  patients, you will lose your business. Not
  listening to your patients is one of the biggest
  mistakes medical practitioners make, and it may
  lead to irreversible consequences such as
• Dissatisfied patients
• Lost business
• Damaged reputation
• Not listening to patients is not the only mistake
  that may have an irrecoverable effect on your
  practice. Tardy patient service may also lead to
  angry patients. Treating patients without any
  respect and leaving their

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problems unattended is the fastest way to become
known for the most terrible patient care. In
addition, it takes much more time, effort and
money to acquire a new patient than to retain an
existing one. Therefore, patient retention is a
crucial marker of success for your medical
practice. A practices patient retention is
drastically affected by the quality of its
patient service. Almost 89 percent of patients
will stop visiting a practice after a poor
service experience. In order to satisfy
patients, practices have to keep up with the
latest technological advances and train their
staff or suffer the consequences. By introducing
an efficient patient service strategy, your
practice will have not only positive feedback but
will also earn its patients trust and loyalty.
Consequences of Poor Service Potential patients
have a wider choice than ever before when it
comes to choosing their healthcare provider.
Patients also have the options and capabilities
to compare services. Thanks to online reviews and
patient engagement channels, your practices
performance will be under scrutiny all the time.
Youre existing and potential patients will have
no qualms
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about switching over to your competitor, should
they consider him or her a better provider. In
fact, failing to respond to patients
expectations can have weighty consequences. Their
expectations are high, and falling short of them
is easy. Brand ambassadors are invaluable to your
brand. These loyal patients are often so
delighted with your service that they actively
recommend your practice to others. The opposite
of brand ambassadors are brand detractors they
are your previous patients with an especially low
opinion of your practice and care
quality. Unfortunately, it is easier to
disappoint a patient than to satisfy one. In
addition, unhappy patients are more vocal than
happy ones, and their message is
far-reaching. According to a report by
WalkerInfo, customer experience will surpass
price and product as the key differentiator by
2020. Patient experience and quality care are
decisive factors for most patients. Keeping this
in mind, it is essential for healthcare providers
to understand how a poor patient experience would
impact their bottom line. Here are the three most
severe consequences of poor patient service and
what you can do to handle the negative
impact. 1. Negative Online Reputation Your
brands online reputation is valuable and you
would not want to lose control of it. However,
your reputation is the first thing to be impacted
when you have an extended streak of poor patient
service. Patients today are quick to write
negative reviews online when they have a below
expectation experience with a healthcare
provider. In addition to leaving scathing
reviews, patients vent their dissatisfaction on
social networks for the entire world to see.
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Just in case you think potential patients are not
paying attention to or reading online reviews
about healthcare providers on social media, 82
percent of American adults read online ratings or
reviews before booking an appointment. The same
study also found that 88 percent of people are
influenced by online reviews when choosing their
healthcare provider. (Source Pew Research Center)
What this adds up to is a drastic dip in patient
volume, but more importantly, a major decrease in
word-of-mouth marketing, which is the most
valuable marketing tool a medical practice can
have. Tips to Fix Damaged Reputation Have
someone in your office reach out to those
patients who have experienced bad service to make
amends. Most of the online complainers are hoping
to receive a response or a reaction to their
negative review.
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This means that you can avoid bad reviews simply
by reaching out to the reviewer to learn the
cause of the problem. Responding publicly to
negative online reviews, accepting responsibility
for the awful service experience, and informing
people that you are trying to resolve the issues
can do wonders for reducing the negative
publicity surrounding your brand. However, try
to move such conversations to a private
discussion. Never go back and forth publicly
because you will risk doing more damage to your
reputation than good. After you have reached out
to the patient, based on their feedback, address
the problems internally. Set a higher standard
for patient service and make it a top
priority. 2. Low Conversion Rates Bad patient
experiences can kill your conversion rate. In a
study by Harvard Business Review, good patient
experiences drive conversion rates. Based on
patient feedback, this study revealed that
patients who had the best experiences spend up to
140 percent more compared to those who had a bad
experience. Regardless of the size or specialty
of your practice, patient experience will impact
the bottom line as well as patient lifetime
value. Patient experience suffers the most in a
poorly managed office. This is because the
understaffed team often does not have enough time
to help patients address their pain areas or make
treatment decisions. A 2017 survey by Time Trade
revealed that nearly half of customers were
extremely likely to make a purchase when helped
by a keen and knowledgeable staff. The same
finding can apply to medical practices. When your
patients cannot find the help they need, they
leave with a bad
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experience, which can hurt your bottom line and
patient loyalty, perpetuating the cycle of low
conversion rates. How to Repair the
Damage Excellent patient service does not begin
after the appointment it starts the moment a
patient enters your office. Your front-desk
person is the first point of contact for all
patients. Prompt and courteous responses, from
the beginning, will show patients they are
valued. Patients will hesitate to come to your
practice if the team cannot fulfill their
requests and expectations. Efficient processes
and friendly staff are two of the most important
factors for improving the patient experience.
However, do not ignore the details. These small
things can make patients feel that your staff is
willing to go the extra mile. You can consider
something as simple as offering free Wi-Fi to
patients in the waiting room or even a cup of
coffee. You will be surprised at how much impact
these little gestures can have on patients. You
should take that extra step to ensure your
patients are comfortable the moment they step
into your office. If you want to grow your
practice, you will have to focus on ways to set
yourself apart by providing the experience
patients expect. 3. Low Profits Lousy patient
service can create a downward spiral of revenue
and profits. First, your online reputation gets
damaged, and you start losing referrals, and then
your loyal patients start to leave. At this
point, you need to either cut costs or increase
your marketing budget to attract new patients and
retain the existing ones.
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If you cut costs to compensate for the lack of
revenue, you have to improve your patient service
through training or recruitment, which requires
money, effort and time. On the other hand,
outspending your poor patient service might
attract new patients, but the problem only gets
worse with time. According to Accenture
Consulting, superior patient experiences lead to
an almost 50 percent increase in net margins,
regardless of the size, type or location of your
medical practice. With todays patients
shopping for healthcare services, patient
experience plays a key role in improving your
bottom line. How to Improve your Bottom
Line Address problems with patient service early
and often. Regularly survey patients, chat with
them when you can, and monitor your patient
service KPIs. The best way to resolve complaints
related to poor patient service is to prevent
them, but the second-best way is to correct them
before they get out of hand. Prevent patient
dissatisfaction before it happens and deal with
it when it happens. Treat your patients with
respect and train your staff to do the same.
Never leave negative feedback or complaints go
unresolved and take the time to get into details.
Patient service is the most crucial element of
your practice management that, if ignored, can
hurt your return on investment (ROI). Quality
patient care ensures not only that patients
return to your practice but that they keep
recommending your practice to their family and
friends. It builds brand ambassadors, making them
your biggest advocates when trying to attract
potential patients. By focusing on patient care
and training your staff on the value of positive
experience, you will see more profit. The Bottom
Line
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It goes without saying that the Internet has
empowered patients to share the truth about their
experiences with healthcare providers and
practices. These days, instead of contacting your
front-office executives directly, patients tend
to spread the word to the masses through various
social networks.
To alleviate the side effects of poor patient
service, prescribe customer service training for
your front desk employees.
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For every unhappy patient who expresses his or
her dissatisfaction to your team, many more
patients will keep silent and most likely never
return to your practice. Others will share their
negative experiences with their friends and
family. Thanks to social networks, there is a
strong possibility that patient dissatisfaction
will come in the form of angry tweets, rants and
negative reviews. An unhappy patient has a lot of
power over your reputation. Potential patients
are actively searching for unfiltered reviews
before choosing their next healthcare provider.
Once your online reputation takes a plunge, it
will have a severe hit on your patient
volume. So, go the extra mile for your patients
and steer away from delivering the bad patient
experience. Most importantly, keep reminding your
patients why they chose your practice in the
first place. To learn more about the front desk
staff customer service training and its impact on
patient experience, retention and practice
growth, contact the experts at Practice Builders.