Patient satisfaction scores can influence several aspects of your medical practice, from reimbursements to efficiency and profitability. Practices of all sizes and specialties should devote ample time and effort towards enhancing and maintaining patient satisfaction levels to reap the benefits of patient retention.

Patients are increasingly comparing their healthcare experiences with those of others and their own experiences in other sectors such as retail, etc. Unfortunately, the healthcare industry has been long alleged for being slow in terms of adopting modern, engaging, and seamless experiences. Patient surveys, then, are the ultimate tool for healthcare providers to seek feedback from their patients. Here are eight ways in which healthcare providers can improve patient satisfaction through surveys:

Keep the survey simple and straightforward

Keep the patient survey short and simple. Avoid having lengthy and complicated questions since they add monotony to the survey and distract the patients. It shouldn’t be more than a five minutes survey and should be focused on a single topic, particularly the patient’s recent visit to any new technologies added to your practice. The catch is not to do it all in one survey.

Be Timely

It is only timely surveys that render a positive impact on the patient and the practice both. A post-visit survey is best to seek feedback, and it should be sent out within 24 to 48 hours. The sooner, the better, since the patients will have their encounter fresh in their minds. Hence, you want to strike while the patients still remember their experience.

Use Close-Ended Questions

You should avoid having open-ended questions in your survey. Always have closed-ended multiple-choice questions in your feedback survey, but do leave some extra space at the end of the survey for any additional comments. For instance, instead of asking, “How was your wait time?” it is better to ask, “Was the wait time reasonable, yes or no?”

Conduct a Digital Survey

Digital surveys are more convenient as compared to paper-based surveys. You should create and send out surveys electronically using a dynamic QR code since people prefer online surveys 30 times more than paper-based surveys. Using a digital platform facilitates automating the rolling out of surveys as well as analyzing them.

Focus on Problem Areas

Make sure your survey is focused on the few key problem areas where you wish to assess your patients’ satisfaction levels. These might include their experience with your office staff, any difficulty in scheduling appointments, any communication lags, etc. Seeking feedback on these issues will help you improve your work processes to enhance your practice’s overall efficiency using NPS survey tools to gain deeper insights.

Seize the Opportunity to Reflect on Your Performance

Feedback surveys including NPS (Net Promoter Score) surveys, are the best for seeking information for reflecting on your performance. Take the opportunity to ask if your patients are satisfied with your staff’s attitude and behavior, if they are comfortable with the appointment scheduling procedures, and so forth. The best time to send NPS surveys is crucial to ensure high response rates and accurate feedback.

Make the necessary changes

There is no point in surveying if you are not ready to accommodate the necessary changes. Once you have the feedback collected, make a list of all the areas that need work, and then tackle improvements. You might want to:

• Couple potential improvements into small changes and significant changes together.
• Tackle more significant changes one at a time.
• Prefer buy-in on the bigger changes.
• Be open to changes and upgrades in technology and processes.

Follow up

Following up with your patients after any changes are the key to success. Static surveys are of no use. If you have accommodated any changes at your practice, make sure you send out a follow-up survey to inform your patients about the changes and then seek further feedback. This shows patients that you are committed to improving their overall experience and continually engage them in the process.