Your front desk always makes a great impact on your patients. These first impressions will often last and become one factor that would determine whether the patient has a good experience at your medical practice and whether they would be returning or not.
If you want to avoid bad impressions with your patients, then you have come to the right place. Read our tips below and apply them to your practice.
1. Greet Patients Positively
When a patient enters your office, the first impression that you give them should be positive. If a patient walks into your office and is greeted by a receptionist who looks tired and irritated, then that patient is likely to be put off by this.
Your receptionists should always smile at patients when they walk into your medical clinic. A patient who is greeted with a smile by the receptionist is likely to respond similarly.
2. Follow Proper Phone Etiquette
When taking phone calls, your receptionist should always have a friendly demeanour. They should always answer the phone with a clear and confident voice. This will give your patients the notion that they are dealing with experienced and well-trained medical staff.
If you have a voicemail, then your receptionist should always follow proper voicemail etiquette. When leaving a message for a patient, your receptionist should follow the proper instructions for leaving these messages. Your receptionist should be sure to follow up with them to confirm the message was left.
3. Maintain Cleanliness
Your medical clinic should be as clean as possible. Patients do not want to walk into a medical clinic that has a bad odour. Your receptionists should be sure to keep the area clean and tidy at all times. In fact, this goes for all the areas of the office.
4. Make the Process Easy and Convenient
Make sure that your receptionists are knowledgeable about all the aspects of the practice. This includes all the doctors, the insurance info and how to schedule an appointment. Perhaps, the easiest part is to make sure that your receptionist always knows when the doctors are in the office. This is crucial since when patients call and there is no availability, they are likely to look for another medical clinic.
If the patient calls and you are running late, your receptionist should be able to handle this situation. When the office is running late, let the patient know. This will ensure that the patient will not wait for hours since they won’t be expecting the doctors to run late.
5. Ensure the Patients Feel at Ease
One way of making sure that your patients feel comfortable and at ease is by providing them with the necessary information. For example, while patients are waiting, they might be interested in what they will be getting during their consultation.
Receptionists should always provide updates to the patient as to when they will see the doctor. Make sure that you provide as much information as possible to the patients to ensure that they feel comfortable. If a patient is interested, they might even ask the receptionist questions pertaining to the medical clinic.
Conclusion
Having great receptionists at your medical office can make the difference between a successful practice and a failed one. If a patient walks into your office and the receptionist acts rudely, then the patient might feel too uncomfortable and walk out. If a patient walks into your office and is greeted nicely, then they will be far more likely to stay and even return. The tips provided should help you teach your receptionists how to make a great impression on new patients.
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