7 Ways to Promote a Better Eye Care Patient Office Experience

24 May 7 Ways to Promote a Better Eye Care Patient Office Experience

Patients will always remember how you and your staff treated them during their visit, regardless of how often they come to your office. Every visit is a new encounter they get to experience, and it is up to you to determine what their experience will be.

That is why it’s crucial to have an office culture in place and a workflow you follow daily to provide patients with a positive visit. Here are seven ways to begin shifting office visits your patients will be excited to have.

1. Create a Work Culture That Stands Out

Every optometry office has a culture that makes them different. Take the time to create and foster one that stands out from your competitors. The work culture at your office impacts the lives of your team and your patients.

A unique work culture helps attract top talent and keep employees engaged, motivated, and productive. The happier your team is that they get to work at your office, the more likely they will be proud to represent your office during every patient visit. Here are a few tips for creating a work culture that stands out.

• Define your values and mission. These values should be at the heart of everything you do, from hiring employees to interacting with patients.
• Encourage open communication among employees at all levels, and create channels for feedback and suggestions. This will help foster a sense of community and make employees feel valued.
• Empower your employees. Give your employees the freedom to make decisions and take ownership of their work.
• Prioritize work-life balance. Encourage employees to take breaks, prioritize their health, and spend time with their families.

Related: 6 Tips for Hiring, Training, and Motivating Your Eye Care Staff

2. Invest in Employee Training and Education

A knowledgeable and resourceful staff makes a difference when you are busy with patients, and your team knows the answers to questions they may encounter. The more your staff understands how to use your EHR and practice management software, which should be kept up-to-date with all the changes and updates, the better they will serve every patient.

MaximEyes.com includes a self-guided integrated Learning Center with online courses you complete independently. Quickly and easily get existing and new staff proficient in the software without extended downtime for your office.

In addition, investing in employee training and education with marketing resources and tools they need will quickly help them be up to speed to where they need to be.

“We spent several sessions with a MaximEyes.com implementation coordinator who guided us through practice sessions using the system from check-in to check-out based on our existing workflows. And if you have any questions or need help, customer support is an online chat or email away.” –Peter Falk, OD (read his story)

3. Improve Office Flow with Patient Engagement Tools

Relieve patient (and staff) stress by preparing patients before their visits. With a proactive patient engagement process, automatically send them online welcome and intake forms to fill out from the comfort of their homes.

When they get to your office, they will be a step ahead, and you will have more time to invest in their experience. Connecting with your patients will help you have an intentional and smooth office flow.

For Brad Bodkin, OD upgrading to MaximEyes.com’s newly redesigned all-in-one eye care EHR/practice management system with built-in patient engagement tools was critical to continually improving office efficiencies.

“Our practice strives to be as paperless as possible and focuses on a green initiative. Besides using a cloud-based EHR and practice management system, the built-in patient intake and consent forms within MaximEyes.com creates a positive, time-saving experience for staff and our patients.” –Brad Bodkin, OD (read his story)

4. Stay Connected and Increase Office Efficiencies with a Patient Portal

With a patient portal, you quickly enter all the patient data during the encounter, which will immediately be available on the patient’s portal. This improves office efficiencies by eliminating re-entering patient data that takes up time you could use interacting with another patient.

A patient portal lets you send patients notifications via SMS or email for past-due bills. Encourage your patients to use their portal to make online payments from anywhere, making it very convenient for them to pay you faster.

Related: How Eye Care Patient Portals Increase Patient Engagement

5. Balance Workloads with a Scribe

If you have a schedule full of appointments and feel like you are always running around, consider hiring a scribe to help you balance your workload. A scribe’s role functions as an assistant and helps you enter all the patient data during an encounter so you focus your full attention on the patient.

Having a scribe also helps you stay on track with your schedule and see more patients during a work day. A scribe is an excellent investment for offices with unexpected growth and still learning how to manage an office workflow that works best for them.

6. Get Creative with Sales to Increase the Optical Capture Rate

Once a patient has their prescription, promote your products and inform them of any promotions. Create marketing campaigns that attract buyers to purchase from your office.

For instance, include packages with buy one, get one-half deals, 10–20% discounts, gift certificates, holiday sales, or hold a flash sale once a month with frames that sell the least. There are many ideas to implement; the challenge is to find the ones that work best for you and will help you increase your optical capture rate.

Related: 5 Revenue-Driven Eye Care Marketing Ideas

7. Set Weekly Staff Goals and Recognize Hard Work

Identify the areas your staff needs to grow and set attainable goals they can reach. Setting goals cultivates unity and pride within your office. Staff goals will help your team understand your expectations of what needs to be met for the specified time frame.

Once you accomplish these goals, it is essential to have an employee recognition program in place to celebrate an employee that went above and beyond. Recognize and reward employees for their hard work and achievements. This will help create a sense of accomplishment and motivate employees to perform at their best.

Provide Excellent Office Experiences with a Unified EHR & Practice Management System

Promoting a better patient–office experience will improve your work culture, and your patients will leave excited to return and do business with you. With a unified EHR, practice management, patient engagement, and optical point-of-sale software like MaximEyes.com, spend more time supporting your patients and improving a workflow that will help you run smoothly daily.

Are you ready to see MaximEyes.com and how an all-in-one system will take your practice to the next level? Request more information or an online demo today.