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Just like a business, the practiceis the medium in which to deliver the product and, just like a business, our practices have customers, otherwise known as patients.

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Your medical practice is abusiness. Let me repeat,your medical practice is abusiness. Having workedin both an academic and

private practice environment, I amconvinced the one major thing miss-ing from the medical field is theacceptance that healthcare is a busi-ness. Granted, most physicians stillremember that they chose to gothrough medical school in order tohelp people in need, and granted,healthcare is not just a business butan actual industry unto itself, but forthose of us responsible for managingthe practice and paying the bills, itmust still be run like a business. Just like a business, our practices

offer a product—the wisdom andexpertise of our physicians. Just likea business, the practice is the medi-um in which to deliver the productand, just like a business, our prac-tices have customers, otherwiseknown as patients.

A Real-World AnalogyLet’s say you need to purchase a newcommercial item, such as a briefcase.You’ve researched all the local storescarrying the briefcase you want andyou’ve asked your friends to recom-mend which store they wouldchoose if they needed a briefcase.You decide where to go, you call thestore to pre-arrange a meeting withthe sales clerk, and you arrive to

secure your purchase. Only whenyou arrive, you turn into the wrongbuilding because the store is notproperly marked. You park in theonly parking spot available, eventhough it is too small for your car,and you go inside. Although fraz-zled, you are still excited for yourpurchase and looking forward tohearing the expertise of the salesclerk on what your best optionsmight be. You walk in to find thefront counter worker so busy talkingon the phone and looking at hercomputer screen that she doesn’tnotice you are there. Now frustrated,you wait for the front counter work-er to finally acknowledge yourarrival. She finally hands you a stackof papers to complete about yourmost intimate personal details whiletelling you to have a seat in a crowd-ed waiting area. Although your appointment

with the sales clerk was for 10:00 AM,it is now 10:15 and there is noprogress in sight. You complete therequired paperwork, place it on thefront counter as the employee isnow absorbed in a conversation witha co-worker, and return to thecrowded waiting area. Forty-fiveminutes pass and now frustrationturns to anger. Since when did thestore’s time become more valuablethan yours? Don’t they realize thereare other stores that would love foryou to purchase a briefcase from

them? After 10 more minutes in thecrowded waiting area with three-year-old magazines and worn carpet,the sales clerk’s assistant finally callsyour name. You walk through theback and have a seat in a meetingroom while the assistant continuesasking you the same personal ques-tions you already answered on theform when you checked in. Ten minutes later your sales

clerk arrives, shows you four brief-cases over the course of two minutesand departs the room, the meetingcomplete. At this point do you pur-chase the briefcase? Possibly. Are youexcited about the experience andready to recommend this store to allyour friends? No way.

Bringing the Message HomeAt a time when patients are moreconfident in choosing providers thatbest meet their personal as well asmedical needs, we need to be mind-ful of what we are conveying aboutour care for them as human beings. Ifrequently remind staff that ourpatients are why we are there and,quite frankly, how each of usreceives a paycheck, so we need totreat them with the respect and carethey deserve.To effectively assess the patient’s

experience with your office, walkthrough the entire experience just asyour patients might. In the example

Viewing Your Practice—Your Business—Through Your Customers’ Eyes Ashlie Lefko, MBA

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above, you first encountered issueswith signage and parking. Is yourbuilding clearly and appropriatelymarked? Is the signage big enoughfor all of your patients to read,including the elderly ones whosevision is impaired? Is there adequateparking around your building, and isthat parking immediately accessibleto your facility? Is your staff provid-ing clear directions to patients andmailing a map to new ones? Don’tautomatically assume that justbecause a patient has been to yourlocation before the patient willremember how to get there. Finally,remember to repeat the appoint-ment details. We have learned fromexperience to end each call byrepeating the date, time, and loca-tion of every appointment.

Once the patient actually arrivesat the clinic (sometimes the hardestpart), how is s/he greeted? Is yourfront staff warm and welcoming ordo they simply hand the patient aclipboard with paperwork and tellthe patient to have a seat? Our officepolicy is to treat every patient as ifs/he is a friend; give a smile and awelcome, then take care of thedetails. What about the waitingarea? Is it an environment that youwould want to wait in for 20 to 30minutes? Are there updated maga-zines, appropriate lighting, and com-fortable chairs? In the sales clerk scenario above,

we reviewed a plethora of issues(such as wait times and requests forinformation) that can surround asimple purchasing experience. If

these issues happen in your office,don’t be afraid to communicate real-istic expectations to patients. If theclinic is running behind, for exam-ple, tell patients when they arrivethat there is a slight delay but every-one is working hard to get caughtup. Our patients tend to arrive 30 to45 minutes before their scheduledappointment times, so even a 15-minute delay feels like an hour tothem. We have found across theboard that a little communicationon the front end saves a lot ofgrumpiness in the exam room.

The Importance of EmpathyAlthough many tools are availableto assess and address the patient’sexperience with your practice, noth-ing is as important as the ability toempathize with the patient’s experi-ence in your office. As administra-tors, each of us should spend timeinside the patient experience—sit inyour waiting area, read a magazine,and listen to your surroundings.Watch as your staff interacts withpatients and assess patients’ moodsafter leaving the exam room. Lookyour patients in the eye and ask ifthey were treated as you’d hopeyour father or grandmother wouldbe treated. Remember that the examitself may only take two minutes,but the 1½ hours surrounding thattwo minutes can be the most impor-tant part of the patient’s visit.Embrace that insight: Your patientsare customers and they have achoice in their healthcare. Run yourpractice like a business—a world-class business with world-class cus-tomer service. AE

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Ashlie Lefko, MBA (843-797-3676; alefko@caroli-nacataract.com), is the admin-istrator at Carolina Cataract &Laser Center, Ladson, S.C.

Technology Tools for Happy Patients

In today’s increasingly connected world, your patients are looking for convenience as a keypart of customer service. Two tools worth a second look are online patient portals andelectronic patient communication.

“Ophthalmologists are definitely ahead of the curve from a customer service stand-point,” said Paul C. Seel, MD, MBA, vice president and medical director of Sophrona Solutions.“Ophthalmologists understand that they’ve got to listen to what their patients want and need;they just haven’t connected the dots with the [patient] portal as the easy way to do that.”

Online portals turn traditional broadcast websites into an opportunity for dialogue.Patients can use portals to complete new registration paperwork, update their personal infor-mation, schedule appointments, and access answers to commonly asked questions. Portalscan also help practices comply with the new “meaningful use” requirements for electronichealth records by enabling patients to actually enter most of their information, which savestime and money for your office.

Appointment reminders are another area where technology can make things easier onboth you and your patients, with bigger returns. “Customer service is all about doing thingsfor people on their terms,” said Mark Olson, vice president of sales and marketing at SmileReminder. “The way things have been done in the past in the healthcare space is patients settheir appointment and the practice would send something in the mail to remind patients [or]leave a message on their answering machine days beforehand. Fast forward to today: I canbe reached on whatever mobile device I want with a text message or email at whatever inter-val I want.” Allowing patients to customize their communication preferences increases patientloyalty while freeing staff from mundane tasks.

Ed.: For a case study on how one practice used patient portals to increase their capture ratefor LASIK procedures, see “Implementing a Patient Portal Creates a Marketer’s Trifecta” in theSummer 2010 issue of AE.