5 ways to improve patient physician relationships

5 Ways to Improve Patient-Physician Relationships

As an industry focused on providing quality care, relationships must be prioritized. In fact, it is strongly believed that patients who share good relationships with their physicians are more likely to be more receptive to medical advice, and as a result, have better health outcomes. The benefits of taking the time to build patient-physician relationships are many. But perhaps, the two most important reasons are that it helps ensure that your patients are well taken care of and also boosts business. Your patients are more likely to point their family and friends in the direction of your practice if they feel you have something extra to offer. 1) Build trust: Many professionals don’t realize this but, people care less about technical knowledge than about receiving personal attention. This applies to the medical field too. Patients want to know that they are genuinely cared for and respected by their physicians. This knowledge alone creates a safe healing environment that reduces patient-adverse events. 2) Clear communication: One of the unfortunate developments to have taken place in the medical industry, over the past few years, has been the decline of clear communication. The rapid integration of health IT into the medical industry has lessened the need for physicians to develop close relationships with their patients – something once regarded as the foundation of every patient encounter. It is very important that the patient is comfortable enough to recount his entire story. There must be enough time for the patient to voice any queries both before and after the visit. 3) Adopt a patient – centered approach: With the shift from fee-for-service to value based payment, more physicians are seeing the wisdom in adopting a patient-centered approach. This improves

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patient experience while also making a positive impact on the entire outcome for both the physicians involved and the patient. Additionally, there has been an increase in patients demanding a change from the traditional provider-centered approach to a team-based, patientcentered approach. 4) Organize data efficiently: Ensuring that your patients’ data is carefully organized and updated on a regular basis will eventually pay back tenfold in patient satisfaction. Managing patient data efficiently simplifies the check-in process for the patient, eliminates billing errors, and speeds up the billing process. Your patients will be grateful for the added concern, and your practice will certainly do better with the steady reimbursements sure to come in with better organization of patient information. 5) Be patient: Like any new implementation, taking the necessary steps to build strong relationships with your patients will require a good amount of patience. Change doesn’t happen overnight. As long as you continually prioritize your patients and make certain that every decision is made with the patient in mind, you can be sure that your patient experience scores will improve. When the patient is at the center of all the decisions made, the gap between the patient’s wants and the actual care provided is effectively bridged. This improves the overall experience of the patient drastically, as the care provided isn’t always what the patient wants. With the medical industry being built on the foundation of quality care, investing in strong patient-physician relationships is a necessary step back in this direction.

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