According to a recent survey by Harris Interactive, 47 percent of Americans who visited a doctor's office this past year said they were very satisfied with their appointment. In addition, another 36 percent said they were "somewhat satisfied" by their visit.
The survey also found that 83 percent of respondents say that knowledge, training and expertise among doctors and nurses was "very important," which came out to be the most important factor for consumers. In second was the doctor's ability to access the patient's comprehensive medical history (62 percent) and "time spent with their doctor" came in third (59 percent).
But, the survey also says that with the recent changes in healthcare legislation, the market is shifting toward a more consumer-oriented environment.
"Customer experience matters in healthcare and will continue to impact purchasing decisions and customer retention," said Debra Richman, senior vice president of healthcare business development and strategy at Harris. "The healthcare customer is increasingly evaluating brand equity, convenience and product or service value as they make choices. In an increasingly competitive healthcare marketplace, a positive customer experience will serve to differentiate health plans and providers."
Customer relations software can be extremely advantageous to any company, but clearly even more so in the healthcare industry. In order to create and implement a program that will be suitable to each individual facility and program, providers may want to consult FileMaker developers to help create custom database software.
Physicians and administrators can then use this software to store survey results from patients which can help improve operations to enhance the consumer experience. Also, the database can help physicians track patient billing data, keep up with regulatory compliance rates or even assist with daily tasks they may have otherwise overlooked.