Running your own healthcare practice is a wonderful thing. It gives you a way to help people. To treat their illnesses, and gives them peace of mind. As a healthcare provider, you play an essential role in your community, as well as earning money and growing a business. Not all healthcare practices are equal, however. Some do their primary job well, but nothing else.
Others build trusting relationships with their patients. They offer them positive experiences and make trips to the doctors far less frightening. They don’t just diagnose illnesses and treat patients. They also give the people in their care the knowledge that they need to improve and protect their health. A vital part of this relationship is trust. But, how can a healthcare practice, which so often passes on bad news, build this kind of trust?
Be Transparent
Healthcare practices offer a valuable service, but this does not mean that they aren’t corruptible. Patients might worry about costs, qualifications, where medicines are coming from, and what is on their records.
When it comes to these things, the best thing that you can do is be transparent. Publish information on your website, if a patient asks where your Bacteriostatic Water comes from, tell them, and upgrade to a system that lets patients access their own medical records easily online.
Offer Extra Information and Provide Helpful Content Online
The internet is a great place to share useful information with a broad audience, without having to commit vast amounts of your time. Use social media to share changes to your opening hours or other relevant information. But also to share quick videos offering people advice on how to beat the flu this winter, combating seasonal allergies, or about any symptoms that they should currently be looking out for. Social media is fast and effective. It’s a great way to get information out and to help more people.
A healthcare blog can also be useful. Social media moves quickly, and while your posts will be helpful, they will quickly get left behind. If you’ve got a healthcare blog, you can share much more, educate a wider audience and make an impression. Building an online presence, with your surgery website, blog and social channels can help you to inspire and build trust with your patients, and the wider world.
Make It Easy
Visiting the doctor shouldn’t be difficult, and yet it so often is. If you ask the general public what issues they had with their doctors, they might tell you about difficulties booking appointments, or getting one at a time that is convenient for their lifestyle. Ask yourself how you could make it easier for them. Offering video consolations is one way that many practices have found effective. Changing surgery hours, including adding late nights and weekends, could also give you a chance to help more people. Steps like this show your patients that you are doing what you can for them, which is perhaps the best way to build trust.
Build Relationships
There’s a saying in the healthcare profession, “treat the patient, not the fever.” All patients are different. They respond differently to treatment and exhibit different symptoms. Getting to know them makes your job easier, and your patients more comfortable.
