{"id":12380,"date":"2023-11-20T09:33:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T17:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/?p=12380"},"modified":"2023-12-01T10:11:27","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T18:11:27","slug":"patient-health-care-consumers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/patient-health-care-consumers\/","title":{"rendered":"Patient Health Care Consumers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Making the Most of Every Patient Phone Call<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Audiology patients today shop for providers instead of just seeing an audiologist down the road. They expect more from providers and aren\u2019t shy to tell others when they\u2019re not satisfied, often through online reviews. Those in the audiology industry must approach patients in a different way to meet those expectations. This Ask Fuel First article answers the following question: <strong>How can we provide an experience that meets the needs of health care consumers?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Ask Fuel First: Healthcare Consumerism\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/890052006?app_id=122963\" width=\"1400\" height=\"788\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is Health Care Consumerism?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The world of health care is shifting. In the past, people would see a health care provider because they were in the neighborhood or because that\u2019s just who their family had always seen. That\u2019s a far cry from how people make decisions about their health care providers nowadays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, it\u2019s all about consumerism. Consumer behavior has been the rise and fall of many organizations outside of health care, such as big-box stores and online businesses. And now it\u2019s encroaching on the audiology industry\u2019s health care model of how we conduct business. Before a person walks through the practice\u2019s door and becomes a patient, they are a consumer first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consumers are conditioned to think differently, and we must cater to that type of patient. Leaders must adjust their practices to follow the \u201cWhat-How-Why\u201d framework (Heath, 2019). Simon Sinek, author and inspirational speaker, called this framework the Golden Circle (Guerra, 2018) and said that organizations that want to be profitable need to consider \u201cwhy\u201d consumers purchase goods and services instead of focusing on the \u201cwhat\u201d (or the actual good or service). Patients already know their \u201cwhat\u201d\u2014it\u2019s quality health care. They want to know \u201chow\u201d you\u2019ll give them your best, but most importantly, they want to know \u201cwhy\u201d you\u2019re doing it. Is it just for money, or do you care about their health?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">It All Starts Online<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c81% of people use Google to evaluate local businesses\u201d (Howarth, 2023). That means that many of your patients found your practice online before scheduling an appointment. They read reviews from previous patients and clicked on your website to learn more. They wanted to know \u201cwhy\u201d you do what you do. Something drew them to your practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Consumers Want More<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Consumers want a positive patient experience. After an online search, they want that positive experience to continue as soon as they open the door to the practice, where they feel welcomed and valued by the staff they interact with. This fee-for-value model is starkly different than the previous fee-for-service model because the service is less important than the experience or the \u201cwhy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fee-for-value model has impacted the way some practices receive payment from insurance companies. Medicare has even implemented a fee-for-value pay structure, which, instead of just looking at the procedure conducted, now takes into account the overall patient experience based on patient reviews. Based on these reviews, Medicare can then determine a different pay structure for practices. For example, practices that have better reviews can expect a higher payout for services provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For practices to have the best chance of staying in business, they need to have high patient satisfaction rates. This creates loyal patients that keep coming back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Relationship Mindset<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To connect with patients, even during a routine phone call, requires the development of a relationship mindset, not a transactional one, which is easier said than done. We\u2019ve all been conditioned to focus on doing a really great job and being the best at our craft. But most of us are evaluated on how well we perform tasks, our efficiency and how much knowledge we have. The problem is this is different from how patients evaluate us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Patients evaluate us at every touchpoint they experience, from searching online for our practice, arriving at our location, seeing a clinician and receiving a bill. Several more touchpoints make up that cycle, but you get the idea. Every time a patient interacts with some aspect of the practice, whether it\u2019s the website, a person or an email, they\u2019re evaluating their experience. You have an opportunity to set a positive tone for each touchpoint in each patient\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Service vs. Experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Our Professional Development team was working with a team of Arizona patient care specialists and asked, \u201cHow would you know if you were successful at creating a positive patient experience?\u201d One of the attendees gave the following answer:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u201cWell\u2026if the patient is satisfied and I\u2019ve done my job, then we are a success.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This sounds nice, but it isn\u2019t quite right. It\u2019s easy to think that patients are evaluating us by how well we do our jobs, but this isn\u2019t completely true. Patients rave about a memorable experience when we go beyond our usual job duties. Being a wizard at navigating the EHR system and scheduling patients is great, but that\u2019s not what patients care about.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Patients want to make a connection, especially when they\u2019re talking to someone on the phone. They want the scheduler to say, \u201cI\u2019m so sorry you have to deal with that right now. I\u2019m glad you called so we can get you back to feeling better.\u201d Or they may want to hear someone say, \u201cIt\u2019s nice to hear from you again.\u201d These comments build a connection because they show you care about the patient. Remember, the patient experience isn\u2019t about completing the task of scheduling or checking patients in and out. It\u2019s about engaging with the patients off-script and going beyond standard operating procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you go through your day, consider the patients you talk to on the phone. Are you going beyond your job duties to make lasting connections? Making those connections doesn\u2019t usually take a lot of time; it just takes a little effort at the right time. Read the next Ask Fuel First article, \u201cThe Seven Second Difference,\u201d for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heath, S. (6 June 2019). Understanding the path to strong provider, patient loyalty. Patient Engagement HIT.&nbsp;<em>Xtelligent Healthcare Media<\/em>. Accessed online 7 April 2023 from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/patientengagementhit.com\/news\/understanding-the-path-to-strong-provider-patient-loyalty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/patientengagementhit.com\/news\/understanding-the-path-to-strong-provider-patient-loyalty<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guerra, J. (17 April 2018). Start with why\u2014for your business or app. Medium. Accessed online 7 April 2023 from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/josephjguerra.medium.com\/start-with-why-for-your-business-or-app-4ef2b17bd39d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/josephjguerra.medium.com\/start-with-why-for-your-business-or-app-4ef2b17bd39d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Howarth, J. (9 January 2023). 81 online review statistics (New 2023 Data).&nbsp;<em>Exploding Topics<\/em>. Accessed online 7 April 2023 from https:\/\/explodingtopics.com\/blog\/online-review-stats<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Making the Most of Every Patient Phone Call Audiology patients today shop for providers instead of just seeing an audiologist down the road. They expect more from providers and aren\u2019t shy to tell others when they\u2019re not satisfied, often through online reviews. Those in the audiology industry must approach patients in a different way to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","header_content":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","credentials":"","position":"","tenure":"","department":"","location":"","apply_url":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"article_type":[12,108],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12380"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12380"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12474,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12380\/revisions\/12474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12380"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=12380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}