The PX Has Landed!
Leading a Patient Experience Masterclass with 14 panelists was a golden opportunity to turn the content from Beyond Bedside Manner into a full-day event. It. Went. Great.
There is no question that the need to enhance the patient experience is a global phenomenon. We had nearly 200 attendees from 5 continents, many of whom stayed for the entire day. Each of the six value drivers had its own panel session. The insights and candor offered by our mix of surgeons, practice managers, and consultants made for a great discussion. Each session posed a handful of questions to the audience members, giving each the ability to engage and think about how to apply each of the 6 Ps in their practices.
As I read through the feedback comments and recall the day, there were several highlights worth sharing:
1 – PATIENT – Understanding who the hero is in the story
The audience seemed to have a collective “lightbulb goes on” moment when we discussed the roles of the doctor and the patient in terms of elective procedures. Many practices confuse this and make the doctor the hero. In reality, the patient needs to be the hero of their journey to explore a life-changing procedure. We delved into meaningful ways that the practice can reinforce its role as the guide in supporting the patient.
2 – PLACE – Making the environment more attractive
There was a similar recognition that improving the reception area – that “first impression” space patients encounter when they arrive – needs to be a high priority as it sets the tone for the visit. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that many practices are focusing on multi-sensory enhancement and paying attention to the sense of smell as well as sight, sound, touch, and “taste.”
3 – PROMOTION – Creating awareness in highly regulated markets
Many doctors in Europe would conclude that prohibitions on advertising of services are a huge disadvantage for refractive surgery practice. From a patient experience perspective, the opposite is true as it sets the stage for a far better way of practice-building via patient reviews. Panelists and the audience shared ideas for generating more patient reviews, beginning with simply having the courage to ask for them.
Making these concepts relevant and approachable to attendees from a wide range of cultures seemed daunting at first. What became clear during this event is that these practices that attended want to lead the way in making patient experience the centerpiece of what they do. The portfolio of ideas they generated and shared made it clear that there are multiple approaches to how they set and achieve their own goals. Most importantly, the day reinforced to audience members (and to me!) the reasons why they got into this in the first place: the love and joy they feel by helping patients improve their lives.
