Marketing Your Practice The Patient Experience – A Proven Practice Approach By: Bill Champion, President of Orthopaedic Marketing Group ReferralsRecommendations from previous patients are one of the largest referral sources for an orthopaedic practice. For that reason, it is imperative to insure the patient experience is exceptional. The patient experience starts fromwith the first phone call to make an appointment and ends with the last post-surgical visit. Patients, however, will pass that experience along to friends and family inwho need orthopaedic care in the future. The patient experience is like a chain comprised of all of the functional elements, or “links”, of the a practice, including the front desk, physician assistants, nurses, physicians, billing, durable medical equipment (DME), etc. Any one of these “links” can break the chain when it comes to a patient’s experience. Patients rarely refer to individual functions - forof a practice when describing it to others. (For example, “today I had a great check-in experience” or “check -out was horrendous”. Each and every event gets ”.) When patients describe their experience with a practice, everything they’ve encountered is rolled up into an overall perception of the practice and their visit. One weak link can affect the entire experience. There are two primary approaches to improving the patient experience. The first revolves around simplifying the operational aspects of patient flow. The key hereto this approach is defining each point of contact for the patient practice (scheduling, directions, parking, check -in, physician time, check -out, etc.) and beyond making them as ensuring a smooth and simple and smooth as possible, process for every visit, communicating expectations to and providing directions.direction for each patient. The overall patient experience can be dramatically improved if patients are conditioned and educated on what to expect, including wait times. You can make real progress , thereby minimizing anxiety and surprises. The second approach a practice can utilize is filling the gap between operational points of contactany “down-time” with meaningful experiences. Opportunities for this approach Occasions to enhance the patient experience include the time prior to the patient’s first visit, as well as their time spent waiting in the lobby wait, patient , the examining room wait and after surgery., and postsurgically. When done correctlyfully utilized, these periods of time provide an opportunity to differentiate the practice from competitors and influence future referrals from patients. An example of improving a gap is utilizing a television in the lobby while patients wait. Although it may entertain, it doesn’t differentiate the practice and on some days with some channels, may create more anxiety. We recommend finding ways to reinforce to patients that they are in the “right place”. This helps you and your patients. The OrthoRx approach to handling orthopaedic DME demonstrates bothembodies and enhances the operational aspects of points of contact andsimplifying patient flow very well.through defined points of contact. First of all, OrthoRx supports patient’s patient needs through education and oneon-one time with a qualified staff member. It also provides an around the clock resource for questions, allowing theOrthoRx is available around-the-clock to answer any questions a patient may have about their orthopaedic DME products, or provide any assistance that may be necessary. This availability allows the practice’s front desk, as well as answering service, to takefocus on clinical

calls, not instead of product calls. This approach allows inquiries, and clinical staff tocan focus on efficiently movemoving other patients through the clinical process. It’s a winning situation for patients and physicians. Additionally, the OrthoRx process of distributing orthopaedic DME reinforces the positive aspects aboutattributes of both the practice and the patient’sreferring physician. This third-party endorsement only enhances the trust and confidence a patient has in their clinical treatment and their overall patient experience. Patient experience is critical. Pending your subspecialty and the maturity of your practice, it can have a dramatic financial impact on you and your partners, and is only compounded by ancillaries. The above approaches are broad in nature, but provide a guideline to addressing each opportunity to improve. Be assured that as an OrthoRx client, your patient’s experience with orthopaedic DME will be one of the stronger links of your practice.