2020 was not kind to the physician bottom line. The American Hospital Association estimates that hospitals lost $200 billion between March and June. Those revenue declines translated to furloughs and layoffs for doctors and other healthcare workers. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says healthcare unemployment stands at 4.1%, down from 6.6% in July. But relief is in sight. As of writing this, there are three viable COVID-19 vaccines. It may take up to a year, however, for immunizations to reach the general population. Physicians and healthcare systems looking to change their economic outlook for next year need to be proactive. Proactivity begins with communication. Patients don’t know what you don’t tell them. For example, have you (or your employer’s marketing department) told them that you’re open again? Have you explained the added precautions you’re taking to prevent COVID-19 transmission? Have you informed patients about the risks of forgoing routine care? If you haven’t, then it shouldn’t come as a surprise that patients aren’t scheduling. Practice growth and recovery in 2021 will require physicians to improve their patient communication efforts. Physicians should make the following efforts to bring patients back to their practices in the new year. Communicating with patients Early in the pandemic, EM physicians across the country were wondering where all the heart attacks had gone. Likely, it wasn’t that they stopped, but rather patients were afraid to come to the hospital for treatment due to fear of contracting COVID-19. Though we now know more about the virus and how to contain it, it’s probable that many Americans are forgoing medical care to avoid catching coronavirus. This is despite the fact that hospitals and medical practices have implemented added infection control measures. Patients need reassurance. That means communicating (and possibly over-communicating) with them to let them know what your practice is doing to mitigate COVID-19 risk. The key to effective patient communication is meeting patients where they’re at, meaning communicating with them in ways they’re familiar with. This will vary from specialty to specialty. For example, an obstetrician will have a younger patient base than a vascular surgeon. Therefore, the OB may have more success communicating with their patients digitally, and the vascular surgeon may do better with the phone. Establish the average age of your patient base. Think a bit about how people in this age cohort tend to communicate. Then, begin forming a patient retention strategy using one or several of the methods that follow. Phone Phone is one of the most powerful ways to bring patients back to your practice. It’s also one of the most easily misused. Phone is a great way to communicate with anyone born between 1924 (G.I. or Greatest Generation) to 1979 (Generation X). Those on the older end of that spectrum may not be comfortable with digital communication, and those on the younger end have comfort with both. Call younger patients, however, and you run the risk of annoying them. We’ll give some more suggestions on how to reach them later. Chances are your practice’s EHRs can tell you who is overdue for procedures and checkups. And chances are, your front office staff are not as busy as they used to be. Have your staffers call overdue patients, much in the way your dentist might do. Prepare them with call scripts that explain the precautions that you’ve taken to minimize transmission risk, and conclude the call by asking them to schedule an appointment while your staffer has them on the phone. Email Email marketing and communication to patients can be tricky. It’s also legally regulated. Employed physicians will want or need the help of their employer’s marketing department for an effective email communication and marketing strategy. And physicians in private practice may want to hire an outside marketing firm. Regardless of your employment situation, there are some important considerations to keep in mind. The first is your target demographic. You’re going to have an easier time reaching digital natives, such as Millennials, Generation Y, and Generation Z via email. But there’s a fine line between under- and over-communicating via email. Think of how many sales and marketing emails you delete daily without opening. Also, think of all the newsletters that mysteriously arrive in your inbox that you never signed up for. Both feel like an invasion of privacy because they are. Legally and ethically, you must respect somebody’s email address in the same way you would their patient data. This is why we suggest leaving it up to the pros. The same idea applies here, though. You want to inform patients about what’s being done in your practice to mitigate COVID-19 risks, and provide a seamless, one-click option for them to schedule an appointment online. Phone-free scheduling is a major priority for younger patients. Text If an unwelcome email is the equivalent of showing up at someone’s door unannounced, an unwelcome text is the equivalent of showing up and helping yourself to the contents of their refrigerator. Text is a fine way to remind patients about upcoming appointments, or confirm that they’ll be showing up. Hectoring patients, regardless of age, about scheduling their next checkup via text is a great way to aggravate and lose them, however. This is another area where you’re going to want to work with the pros. Like with email, there are legally stipulated privacy considerations and complex technical implementation requirements. The core functions you’ll want are appointment reminders, confirmations, and rescheduling. Many Gen Xers, Boomers, and even some of the G.I. generation text, but it’s best to stick to voice calls with them. A good patient communication platform will even allow patients to select their preferred methods of communication. Younger patients will like text alerts, as long as you don’t abuse them. Feedback You would never diagnose a patient without asking them about their symptoms. Therefore, would you attempt to improve your practice’s communications without asking your patients for feedback? This is something you can do as formally or informally as you want. Informal option: At the end of their appointment, have a staffer ask a patient how everything went. Did they feel safe? Did the appointment begin on time? Is there anything that we can improve upon? Etc. Just keep in mind that patients may not be as forthcoming as they would be when given the opportunity to send their thoughts anonymously. A formal patient communication system can automatically generate emails with surveys after a patient visit. They also may prevent a patient from writing a negative review on a public-facing platform, such as Yelp, Google, or Facebook. A private survey response gives you the opportunity to course correct, then follow up with the patient privately. Final thought Patients don’t know what you don’t tell them. If you haven’t told them that your practice is as safe as it can be during the pandemic, many will not show or fail to schedule routine care. If you want to reverse negative financial trends created by the pandemic, you need to reassure patients that you’re doing all you can to keep them safe. And you need to spread this message using the proper communication methods that are familiar to each demographic. TL;DR Want to bring patients back to your practice in 2021? Communicate with patients in familiar, age-specific ways. Older patients will prefer the phone. Younger patients may be put off by it. Email is a fine art. Too much, and you start to look like spam. Too little, and they may never get read. Text messages are best used with younger patients, and strictly for appointment confirmation, reminders, and rescheduling. You don’t know what you don’t know. Ask patients what you can do better, then fix it. Source
