Patient care is one of the most critical elements in medicine, regardless of your qualifications or speciality as a Doctor. People are most vulnerable when they’re ill, and they entrust health practitioners with their entire being for their recovery. Therefore, you cannot divorce decent healthcare and patient care; healthcare must be patient-centric.

Marketing experts have since concluded that when patients feel that health practitioners and their facilities have served them well and were integral in their recovery, they will in the future use the same practitioner, practice, or facilities and tell others about them too.

Making sure your patients are happy at the end of every visit is crucial for business growth. In health, advertising is not as easy as we see with supermarkets like Big W who can freely share information about their service offerings and products on flyers, websites, social media sites. Australian law in advertising is stringent on how AHPRA-registered health practitioners may advertise their services. Health practitioners can only use acceptable evidence to qualify whatever claims they make. You must ensure that you do not use false or misleading advertising in any of your communications or overstate your qualifications, competence, or registrations.

Because you need to stay within the parameters of the advertising laws and stick to the provided guidelines, how you treat your patients is the best form of ‘free and unregulated’ advertising you can get, and here’s why:

Benefits of patient-centric customer care

1. Lower marketing costs

Word of mouth is a principal marketing tool any business can use, health practitioners included. Treat your patients well enough and they will tell their family and friends who may also come to you as referrals. This also increases your brand visibility and attracts new patients as well

2. Honest feedback

First of all, your practice needs to be one where feedback is welcomed and considered. Whether you use online surveys, mobile apps, or questionnaires in your practice, make sure you take this feedback seriously. Honest feedback from patients helps you hone your services and patients’ overall experience at your practice. Use customer feedback as a tool to enhance your patient-centric care. Patients are more likely to be honest with you if you create an environment where they know they won’t be treated differently after the fact.

3. Lower service costs

Long-term patients are easier to serve, and they are also more profitable to your practice. It costs less to keep loyal customers than to get new ones. Patients you’ve helped for long will also spend more with less fuss since they are familiar with your services. They will not need to be convinced like with a new patient.

How to enhance patient-centric care

1. Show respect and express gratitude

Acknowledge and take care of your patients’ concerns so that they know you see them as humans with unique needs. Thank them for choosing your practice. This way, they’ll also respect the care plan you provide for them and return for future consults.

2. Keep it simple

Simplify things for patients as much as possible. Use non-technical jargon to explain conditions and other issues surrounding what they have come to you for. An informed patient is a wiser and more participative one.

3. Streamline patient care

 Make sure your staff and other doctors you may work with have clear procedures for when a collaborative effort is needed. For example, if the patient is to be transferred to a different facility for specialist care or if you need to refer them to another Doctor, make sure the process is as comfortable and smooth as possible for the patient. They will not forget this, and it will cultivate loyalty to you and your practice.