How to deliver an exceptional patient experience during the festive season

What’s inside

> One patient’s story

> Festive checklist

> Tips from our practices

As Christmas approaches,

it’s easy to get caught up in the

festive excitement. And, as a result,

you can often overlook things that

can cause your patients to stress

or worry while you’re away.

That’s why we asked

patient experience expert,

to share her top tips

for keeping patients

happy over the holidays.

As Australia’s most respected

authority on patient-centred

practice growth strategies,

Shelley knows better than

anyone that a successful

practice stems from creating

a deep bond with your patients.

In this article, she shares her insights

on delivering an exceptional

patient experience this Christmas.

Shelley Thomson

A Fright Before Christmas...

Picture this: It’s Christmas Eve, and a young mum stands outside a practice holding her infant.

She’s stressed, frightened and exhausted. She’s been up all night worrying about the pimple-like rash on her child’s back.

She’s so tired in the morning that she forgets to ring to book an appointment. Instead, she comes straight to the practice to see her GP.

But the practice is not open.

A tall tale? Not at all. In fact, this happened to a woman in Canberra last year. Her practice failed to inform patients of their holiday closing hours.

So she turned up to an empty practice with a very sick child on Christmas Eve.

Imagine how scared she was!

In the end, she went to the emergency department for treatment. But the whole scenario eroded a lot of the trust and goodwill she

had towards her doctor. She left that practice for another one soon after.

Your festive checklist...

When it comes to building trust and rapport with your patients, communication is vital.

That’s why the first step to delivering an excellent patient experience this Christmas is to inform everyone about your festive opening hours as soon as possible.

Inform patients about festive opening hours1

“This sounds simple, but many practices get it wrong,” says Shelley.

“Sure, they post festive opening hours on social media, websites, HealthEngine and Google. But then they forgot other critical communication tools.”

“For instance, have you updated your out-of-office email replies for all your staff plus the admin contacts? Or have you changed your voicemail to inform callers that you’re away?”

“It’s a small thing. But if you overlook voicemail, patients might keep calling each day to check if you are open yet. They can get very frustrated if you don’t answer the phone.”

“Another thing to consider is that different generations use different communication methods,” explains Shelley.

“Remember that older patients may not be tech-savvy. You might need to reach them in other ways. For example, put a sign on the front door with trading days and hours. Or snail mail a Christmas Card with opening hours included.”

How to keep your patients

happy during the Christmas

season

Build trust by offering alternative care options2

Before you go on holidays, action all your recalls and reminders. Inform referrers and pharmacists about festive opening hours. Give ample warning to patients, so they book available appointments and avoid disappointment before you go on leave.

“You should also remind patients to fill their scripts BEFORE you close for the holidays,” says Shelley.

Plan referrals, recalls and prescriptions in advance3

“Illness doesn’t take a vacation,” says Shelley. “It is inevitable that some patients will need help while you’re on holidays.”

“Offer your patients an alternative option if they need help while your practice is closed.” “Referring patients to your competitors may seem counterintuitive, but it actually benefits your practice in the long run. Your patients will feel like you care more about their health and wellbeing than making money.”

Similar to your closing hours, you need to inform patients about alternate care options via all your communication methods.

Post a message on social media and your website. Include the relevant information in your Christmas email. Put a sign on your practice door for ‘drop-ins’ and mention in on your phone voicemail.

For example, change your voicemail to say: “We are away on holidays until the 2nd of January. But Dr Jones Surgery is open for emergency appointments. You can contact them by calling 000-000-000. If it’s an emergency, please visit go to St. John’s Hospital Emergency Department.”

The holiday season is a great opportunity to prove how much you value the close relationship you have with your patients. Filming a festive greeting can create lasting goodwill that stays with you all year.

Your Christmas video greeting doesn’t need to be a ‘Hollywood’ quality production. You can use a smartphone or tablet. In fact, that makes it look more genuine and ‘real’.

Invite all your staff to join the fun. For example, your team could dress as Santa Clause and can yell, “Happy Holidays” together. Or you can get the doctors to sing a holiday song.

When your video is ready, publish it on your social media channels. You can also email it to your patients with a personalised ‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year’ message.

Shy on video? You can use a platform like Boomerang to create silent video loops without sound.

“One thing you can do,” says Shelley, “is to create a Christmas wall. You can hang cards on the wall. Or you can get kids to draw pictures while they’re in the waiting room and then hang them up.”

“Another idea is to have a resolution board where patients write up New Years’ resolutions. This can create a great vibe going into January too.”

Adding festive cheer to your practice can also improve the patient experience.

Sometimes, it’s the small things that can make the biggest difference. Putting up a Christmas tree, hanging tinsel or playing Christmas songs in the waiting area are easy to do. But they can make patients feel a little better.

“Even with ample warning, patients will contact you during the break,” says Shelley.

“Make it a priority to respond to these patients as soon as possible. Consider extra staff to clear the backlog, if necessary.”

Show patients you value them with Christmas video messages

4 Cheer up sick patients by

bringing Christmas into

the practice

5

Clear the backlog fast

when you return

6

Tips from our practicesOur patients expect a high level of care from us so we make sure we provide it all year round, including the Christmas period.

With 3 chiropractors at my practice, we rotate shifts to ensure our patients still get the care they need between Christmas and the New Year. We also try to inject a bit of festive fun into our shifts to make it a bit different for both the patient and practitioner. One day we might work in board shorts and flip flops, another day we might take the treatment tables outside and work on our patients in a relaxed garden setting.

We also provide our existing patients with a direct number for us should they have any festive mishaps… and more often than not they do! One of my patients called me last year after hurting themselves playing with the kids in the pool on Christmas Day!

Dr Joshua Tymms Owner Duncraig Chiropractic

“

”

The Hahndorf Medical Clinic value our ability to engage with our patients and the local community. We are working together with

our other Better Medical clinics in the Adelaide Hills to raise funds for ‘Drought Angels’ which is an initiative to support farmers

experiencing hardships as a result of the widespread drought. Patients are invited to ‘buy a bauble’ . Their donation goes towards

this worthy cause and an extra bauble is added to our Christmas tree at our Mt Barker Clinic

Laura Engagement Manager

The Hahndorf Medical Clinic

“

”

Dr James TorranceDirector

Medicrew Buderim

We love to bring a bit of festive fun into our clinic, we even have a Christmas tree in the red, white, blue colours of our logo!

Christmas is about giving back for us so we collect donations for a local charity called Sunshine Coast Basket Brigade that provides

food and gift hampers to needy families in the area. Across our clinics we’ve collected a number of gifts to add to their food hampers.

It’s really nice to do. There are around 350 needy families that get a food hamper along with gifts donated by people like us.

“

”As you can see, delivering an exceptional patient experience over Christmas is easy. You just need to do some forward planning. But creating a great patient experience is not just for Christmas. Putting patients first can benefit and grow your practice all year round.

Conclusion...