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9 Ways Managers Can Change Healthcare in 2011

Kindly turn off cell phones & pagers

Healthcare is changing.  It is changing to eliminate waste of money, time and resources.  It is changing to make more care available with less providers.  It is changing to empower patients to participate in their own care.  How are you changing with the times in 2011?  Here are 9 ideas.

  1. Make your website interactive, clean-looking, interactive, friendly and interactive.  Think of your website as your digital receptionist to your practice.  If all your patients can do on your website is look up your phone number, you’re wasting everyone’s time.  Patients want to register, make appointments, pay their bill, get their test results, chat online with a staff member, access their personal health record (PHR), watch videos and listen to podcasts you make or recommend.  They do not want to wander around your phone tree or wait on hold.
  2. Give your patients information, information, information. According to a MedTera study conducted in September 2010, 95% surveyed indicated that they are looking for more comprehensive information about disease management, and 77% said they hadn’t received any written information about their illness or medications directly from the physician.  See more details about what patients want here.
  3. Understand that people have different types of learning styles and offer your practice and medical information in different ways. Offer information via written and digital documents, videos, and podcasts.  Offer support groups and group education for the newly diagnosed. Help patients build communities around your practice.
  4. Take down all those signs asking people to turn off their cell phones.  Cell phones are going to revolutionize healthcare so go ahead and bite the bullet and embrace them.  For all you know the person on the cellphone when you walk in the exam room is texting “gr8 visit til now, wil i <3 doc?” (Great visit until now, will I love the doctor?)
  5. Eliminate the Wait. Patients have much better things to do than wait in your practice.  It doesn’t matter why the provider’s late – you’re cutting into the patient’s ability to make money and get things done.  Text them to let them know the provider is running late.  Text them to let them know an earlier appointment is available. Give patients an appointment range (between 10am and 12N), then text them when their appointment is 20 minutes away.
  6. Use a patient portal to take credit cards, keeping them securely on file and stop sending patients statements. Use the portal to deliver results and chat and email patients.
  7. Stop fighting the tide and let your staff use social media at work – for work.  Involve everyone in Facebook, Twitter and your website and blog. Using social media for communication and marketing is not a one-person job.
  8. Form a patient advisory board and listen to what specifics your patients want from you.  If people don’t have time to attend a face-to-face meeting, Skype them in.
  9. Think about alternate service delivery models, both in-person (group visits, home visits) and digitally (email, texting, Skyping, avatar coaches, home monitoring systems.)  Emotional technology studies show that people can improve their health by accepting and utilizing technology in healthcare.

What do patients want in 2011?  They want information, communication and a real connection with you.  Use social media and technology innovations to make it happen.

Photo credit Image by gumption via Flickr

Posted in: Innovation, Social Media

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FierceHealthcare is Thankful For Yours Truly!

I am amazed and thrilled to have have been named one of FierceHealthcare’s “10 Bloggers We Are Thankful For.”

I am in delightful company as the other nine bloggers are writers I read and admire.  33Charts is one of my very favorite blogs, both because of the focus on social media in healthcare and because I just really like Dr. V’s writing.

There aren’t many practice management-related blogs on the web today, but some I recommend are pediatricinc.com (Brandon Betancourt) for insights from a pediatric manager married to a pediatrician, and practicemanagersolutions.com (Rebecca Morehead) for great motivational commentary and practical advice.

Don’t forget to stop by www.fiercehealthcare.com and visit their sites on healthcare IT, practice management and finance.

What blogs do you read and recommend to the readers of MMP?

Posted in: Social Media

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Chris Brogan Gives Good Advice to Small Businesses (and Medical Practices are Small Businesses)

I have been a fan of Chris Brogan’s for quite awhile now.  He is a superstar on the social media landscape and I almost got to meet him once when I lived in Seattle (sigh.)  Today I came across his post  “5 Things That Small Businesses Should Do Now.”  Many medical practices are small businesses (privately owned and operated, with 100 employees or less), but may have not considered any of these options.

Here are Chris’s suggestions and my commentary:

  • Start a blog ”“ I can’t think of any simpler website technology to start and master, and there are cheap and free platforms readily available. Why a blog? Because they’re easy to create, because they’re easy to update, because they encourage repeat visits, and because you can use them in many flexible ways.

My comment: Most practices have websites and it is easy to add a blog to a website.   Some administrators and/or physicians would gladly take on a blog, and if not, there are some great writing professionals who can create and write a blog for you.  Professional bloggers get to know your practice and your patient demographic and create a voice for your practice that uniquely fits you.  A blog extends and enhances your relationship with existing and future patients. It’s all about the communication.

  • Start listening ”“ People are talking about you. Find out where they are and who they are.

My comment: It has been hard for physicians to come to terms with the fact that patients are publicly rating them. In some cases, physicians are requiring consumers to sign gag orders before becoming patients.  The truth is, patients will not be stifled and physicians need to monitor the bandwaves for commentary about them and take it seriously.

  • Try Twitter OR Facebook ”“ Let’s not rush things. Facebook has many more users, but it’s a bit harder to find customers, prospects, partners and colleagues. Twitter is easier to use and faster to connect with people, but there are far fewer users on there today. I’ll let you choose. If you go with Facebook, make a personal account under your own name, and then start a fan page for your business.

My comment: Does this seem too far out? It’s not! At the very least, practices should be learning about the technology and preparing for the time when they will need to jump in.  Businesses (who want customers) can no longer hold themselves aloof. You need to be part of the conversation, or at least know where/what the conversation is.

  • Get the word out ”“ If you’re going to spend time building these social sites, let’s presume that you want more people to contact you and interact with you through them. Print business cards with the company name, and/or the request for people to join your fan page or follow you on Twitter.

My comment: Your website and your social sites should be on everything you print that patients take home or receive from you, and can also be communicated to patients via automated communication: appointment reminders, messages on hold, emails, and electronic newsletters.

  • Try moving the needle ”“ now lets really get crazy. See if you can fill the place up with social-media minded folks. Okay, this won’t work for every business, but don’t be too quick to count out the idea. Let’s try inviting them to a store-only special event, or let’s give them a discount code. You know, the stuff you already know how to do. Any difference in the results? See if you can do some kind of really special one-day-only push, and what that brings to you.

My comment: This won’t work for every medical practice but it’s ideal for practices with elective services – plastic/cosmetic surgery, allergy, complementary & alternative medicine, sports performance, vision correction, cosmetic dental services, infertility treatment, etc.

Posted in: Innovation, Social Media

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