Now that the lockdown is lifted, and patients are slowly starting to go to clinics and the doctor’s office you need to find out ways to boost patient re-engagement. Your practice can just sit idle and wait for patients to get appointments. The best approach is to have proactive strategies in line which can encourage your patients to get back to you without fear and improve their overall wellbeing and health.
Patients are Anxious about in-person visits and Telemedicine Sessions
The most palpable solution your practice would do is to promote the use of Telemedicine EMR Software solutions to provide diagnosis and treatment to your patients from the comfort of their homes. However, healthcare providers know that these sessions can’t equally match the care checkups they do in their examination rooms. Telemedicine has helped to maintain solid and consistent communication between patients and providers and if your practice hasn’t used this platform then you can offer telemedicine now.
According to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), a great proportion of patients are feeling apprehensive about reengaging with the American health systems, this consists of both in-person and remote care sessions.
Suggestions to Boost Patient Reengagement
As a medical system, we need to understand from the patient’s perspective as their fears are solid due to the pandemic. However, healthcare professionals can take some steps to ensure reinstate the patient’s confidence in the American healthcare system.
1. Reach Out to Your Patients
It is crucial for your healthcare organization to take the right steps to maintain a communication link with your patients. Some patients such as the elderly patient groups are more comfortable with printed material. While you can reach out to younger patients digitally. Keep patient preferences in mind before engaging with your patient.
2. Make use of Your Newsletter
This is the perfect time to make complete use of your newsletter which can help inform patients about all health and safety precautions they should to protect themselves from COVID-19. You can also provide specifics related to how often to clean surfaces and wash hands.
3. Utilize Social Media
Social media websites like Facebook and Twitter can be used to talk about how it’s beneficial for patients to come for routine healthcare services. To make the information conveyed more interactive you can post behind the scene videos about patients revisiting you in a safe environment.
4. Blogging will help
Engage with your patients by using your blog posts section. Articles related to wellness and healthcare and safety updates can be uploaded regularly on your page to keep patients engaged and informed. You can also write about how your clinic or setup is using new equipment to facilitate them and the safety protocols you’re following.
5. Chatbots Round the Clock
Leverage the power of Artificial Intelligence to reengage with your patients in a smarter way. You can use an automated chatbot that can answer patient queries round the clock from your website.
6. Touch Base with patients who missed Appointments
Staff members can look into old appointment data to get in touch with patients who missed or canceled appointments during the spike of the pandemic. Encourage them politely to reschedule their appointments so they can get their pending checkups. Also, let them know your practice knows how important it is to follow safety protocols during an in-person session.
Final Takeaway
Medical practices have a greater responsibility to ensure that patients are finally ready to get back to them. Communicate with them and follow all necessary protocols so they feel safe when they visit your office. Reengaging might be challenging due to patient worries, however contacting them, informing them, and engaging them through the proactive solutions mentioned above can work! Good luck.