People want to combine business with pleasure, quality with practicality. The relationship between patient and professional requires compliance with some premises. The first, according to the report’s responses, is the healthcare plan. Well over 80 percent of people say that it is very important or important that their doctor accepts their plan. This point refers to some conversations with mentees, who wanted to move from insurance providers to out of pocket appointments. In my opinion, as I said then, depending on the experience of each professional and time in the market, it is not recommended to carry out this migration 100%. Although the study is North American and based on the US experience, the health insurance plans and health coverage are a gateway, a form of introduction to patients. Some of these patients will follow their doctor on this migration, but another part will not be able to do so and will not do so. In the equation, professional experience is an essential variable for this decision making.
And, as wrote in the first article, location is another deciding factor. If patients tend to remain faithful to the doctor they trust, this trust has geographic range. If there is a change of place of care, patients consider changing doctors. Location is also decisive in the initial choice. Obviously we know that rare medical conditions or financial power nullify any type of barrier, but in common cases, the tendency is to choose a professional at a convenient distance. And this is reflected in the responses, with 70% of people indicating this.
Regarding the importance of recommendations in choice making, half of inquired used online ratings and reviews, while a third revealed that they followed the recommendation of family or trusted friends and around a quarter used a list of “physicians’ locations” from their health plan. In other words, trust in the source is fundamental for choosing a doctor, specialist or not. Consequently, we can make the logical leap to the moment that leads to the recommendation: the patient experience. The way patients analyze and evaluate the care they receive can be attract or repel new patients.
An essential aspect for a successful patient experience is the behavior during the appointment or procedure. Any professional – unless they are in the dental field – must open two-way communication. And it must be effective, which implies the availability to listen to the patient, but also the ability to have assertive and understandable speech. If, on the one hand, it is necessary to use terms that demonstrate scientific knowledge and authority, on the other, it is necessary for the patient to understand what must be transmitted to them.
Let’s end the poorly constructed idea of technology critics that doctors spend more time paying attention to the screen than paying attention to the patient. Technology has nothing to do with the process, whoever focus on the screen also does the same with a notepad or a sheet of paper. It’s just personality, it’s digital just like it was analog. This close and empathetic relationship must be extended to each and every phase of care, during the first contact, at the appointment, in the waiting room, and does not end when the patient leaves the office, clinic or hospital.
The report also looked at remote or virtual care. This subject was covered in a separate article.