Poor communication between staff and patients and between staff members can make a good doctor look bad. Patients can become upset and feel like they are not important; that their health is not important to the doctor even if the doctor is not aware of any slip ups.
A good practice with good communication returns calls in a timely manner. They return email requests and follow up on appointment requests, as well. Having the systems in place to make online appointments and email questions is all well and good but if the staff doesn’t follow though with their end, they have let down both the patient and the provider.
From personal experience, it should not take 2 days to get back to a patient who has a concern over a prescription mix up. And when I say mix up, I mean the patient has allergies to the medicine and needs a different medicine that day.
Sending an email with numerous post operative questions that were not answered when discharged for the hospital and never getting a response is unacceptable. Written post op instructions should be given to the patient prior to surgery so there are no questions later.
Poor communication can lead to a bad review on Yelp or other sites and even if the practitioner is wonderful and fantastic and super skilled this can make him or her look bad and possibly drive away a patient. Check your Yelp score; are there legitimate concerns with your office staff?
Asking for feedback will make a difference in your practice. Utilize forms available for patient satisfaction review and make any necessary changes to staff so that you don’t look bad. Poor communication can make for a very unhappy patient and that not what you want. Believe me.
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