Dermatology World July 2011 SUPPLEMENT : Page 13
“I pause outside the door, before entering the exam room (to gather myself). Knock; then enter the exam room with energy and a smile … introducing myself and shaking hands with the patient. That’s rather than rushing into an office,” Dr. Marks said. “One of the things we’ve taught our nurses: When you go to the waiting room to call a patient, don’t just stand at the door and call Mr. Jones. Rather, when you call Mr. Jones and see him standing up, walk over to him, help him, introduce yourself, shake his hand, and introduce yourself to his family. It’s a more welcoming way of greeting the patient.” People want to be greeted warmly. They want to have their names used. They want to be listened to and cared for, according to Dr. Ellis. “They want a warm goodbye as they leave,” he said. “These are the types of interactions that tell patients that they are really being appreciated.” “We’ve found that one of the easiest tips is to say, when appropriate, ‘my pleasure,’ instead of ‘you are welcome,’” Dr. Ellis said. “‘You’re welcome’ is such a neutral phrase. ‘My pleasure’ is a much warmer and much stronger statement about the importance of the patient. After you’ve said it a few dozen times, you begin to internalize it, and then continuously realize it is a pleasure to take care of patients and help people get better.” Most surveys don’t ask questions about medical outcomes; rather, they are focused on the experience that the patient had and interactions during the visit, according to Dr. Ellis. nothing Short of exemPlary The keys, according to these experts, are to monitor results, act to improve gaps, and survey patients on a regular basis. “Here’s the most important thing: Most patients will rate you well. The real key is to use the data to achieve exemplary status. If a patient says pretty good, that’s not good enough,” Dr. Marks said. “Certainly, if you get a negative evaluation, think critically about it. Don’t just brush it off — ‘well it’s probably just a patient who is having a bad day.’ More often than not, it’s a breakdown in your system, or your process of communication, or the environment in which you provide the care.” Use the negative and non-exemplary responses to improve, advises Dr. Marks. “If you don’t do anything about it, you’re not improving,” he said. Whether using surveys or not, practices can successfully focus on service excellence, according to Dr. Ellis. derm leaderShiP iS eSSential This is an opportune time for dermatologists to look at whether there are gaps in their service, Dr. Ellis said. The MOC-D program requires dermatologists to conduct periodic patient surveys. The 2010 health reform law offers physicians financial incentives to participate in programs like MOC-D. Further, the health reform law requires that patient experience information be published on the Physician Compare website in the future. It’s important that doctors lead the commitment to service excellence, according to Dr. Marks. “You can’t delegate this process to an office manager. I think that we, as physicians, are the leaders in our offices, and if we want our staffs to see this as an important aspect of our practices, we need to lead it. It needs to be a priority,” Dr. Marks said. If physicians and their staffs make a commitment to service excellence, they can make substantial improvements, according to Dr. Ellis. “It takes time. It’s often gradual. But I think if you’re focused on it and speaking about it in your staff meetings, everybody will be thinking about it from a patient-centric approach,” Dr. Ellis said. “I think you’ll see that you’ll have much higher patient satisfaction; you’ll reduce the complaints; and you’ll have a better workplace.” dw PinPointing Patient concernS One way dermatologists can gauge how their patients perceive their experiences with your practice, as well as whether or not the practice is improving in service excellence, is to conduct regular patient satisfaction surveys. Ready-made surveys are available online or through companies that specialize in patient and customer satisfaction tool. Or, practices can develop their own survey questions and ask a sample set of patients. The American Academy of Dermatology offers an online survey tool to its members, which also helps dermatologists satisfy one of their MOC-D requirements (go to www.aad-dss-survey.com). According to Dr. Ellis, low-cost alternatives include having the office manager interview a few hand-picked patients about what they think of the services they’ve received. Practices might also create a card with three or four questions and hand it to patients for a few days. “You can collect those in a locked box upfront, on their way out. That’s the easiest way to do it,” Dr. Ellis said. The staff would tabulate results after they’ve received 30 to 50 surveys and consider what changes if any should be made, before starting the process again. supplement to dermatology World // July 2011 13
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