Marketing

Patient Satisfaction Surveys: Measure Expectations, Then Exceed Them

By Ally Stoeger, OD

We are used to positive feedback from patients, so when my practice received a “fair” rating from a patient’s mother via the Websytem3 e-mail survey we send, I was surprised. We are used to “grades” like “excellent” and “very good,” so I wanted to see why we seemed to have failed at exceeding this mother’s expectations.

My staff and I were stumped because the patient’s mother seemed happy while in the office. We had great rapport, her child was nice and the exam and the eyeglasses selection process seemed to go well. In fact, this mom rated us excellent in all categories except in frame selection, which she only rated as “fair.”

When we get a response from a patient that indicates they are not happy with something that occurred in our office, I usually call the patient to get more details, apologize or explain. In this case, I called the patient’s mother and explained that since she told us she only wanted her son to choose a frame from the collection completely covered by her vision plan, her son’s choices were limited.

But as I was speaking to her, I realized that we could have worded things much better during the frame selection process. For patients who want to stay within their vision plan allowance there is a difference between saying, “These are the frames that your vision plan will cover,” and, “These are the frames supplied by your vision plan–this selection is completely determined by your vision plan. If you do not find a frame that you like from your vision plan collection, you can use your vision plan benefit toward any frame in our optical.”

This patient’s mom thought we intentionally had just a few children’s frames covered by her vision plan because we wanted to sell her more expensive frames. She felt she had experienced that at other practices. By calling her, and having a pleasant conversation, I was able to inform her that with this particular vision plan, and her determination to stay within the vision plan allowance, the selection is completely determined by the plan and not by our office. I assured her that the frame her son picked really did look good on him or we would have encouraged him to view frames outside the vision plan collection.

The take home message on surveys:

1. Surveys provide important information.

2. Almost all of your survey ratings should be “excellent” or “very good.” If your survey scores are lower than that, you have problems to fix. Contrary to what you might see on TV reality shows, most people are kind.

3. It is OK to call a patient to apologize or explain a situation. But always do it within the framework of appreciating the fact that the patient took the time to do the survey and offer you information that will make your practice better.

4. Do not e-mail apologies or explanations! This type of conversation requires the benefit of hearing how your patient is responding to what you are saying. As always when you respond to a patient concern, you know you are doing it right if you are listening more than talking.

Do you conduct patient satisfaction surveys? How do you use what you learn to better your practice?

Ally Stoeger, OD, was a founding and managing partner of a multi-doctor practice and has recently opened a new practice in Gainesville, Va. Contact: ally@realpracticetoday.com. You also can follow Dr. Stoeger on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/gheyedr.

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