10 Patient Communications Tips For Hospital and Clinic

Hospital systems and hospital-owned clinics have an opportunity to connect with patients, potential patients and those who influence them like never before. Below is a list of 10 ways to do it, and please note none of these include spending more on traditional advertising.

1. Create and locally promote your physician locator.

2. Make sure your physician locator includes maps, directions, parking instructions/validation information, and links out to area services for patients’ family members, such as pharmacies, restaurants, shopping.

3. Create and locally promote a searchable patient ambassador network tied to physicians, clinic locations and conditions, so your patients can read about others “like them.”

4. Encourage patients and their “care guiders” to provide satisfaction or “How Are We Doing?” information at every stop along your system’s health care path.

5. Leverage technology to communicate with patients where they are — mobile, online, your waiting room, Facebook, email.

6. Any time your clinic is going to make a referral to a specialist, provide printed materials that cover information on that specialist from the physician locator.

7. Create two-way communications opportunities for patients to build a community of care with them.

8. Ensure every patient-facing messaging effort accomplishes the following objectives:

• Sets appropriate expectations
• Guides through your system’s healthcare maze
• Educates patients and care guiders
• Improves satisfaction, from general practitioner to hospital to recovery to rehab

9. Always provide quality, custom and easy-to-understand patient education materials on conditions and treatments options.

10. Finally: Always, always, always connect with patients! Use images, words and methods your patients will understand.

Source - healthcarecommunication