If you're reading this, you probably know how important happy patients are. But how can you truly know how happy patients are and what drives their satisfaction?
Patient satisfaction surveys, that's how.
With up to 82% of patients prioritizing good customer service in medical practices, their voice needs to be validated more than ever. Seeing as patients are the glue of any healthcare organization, they are your customers, in a sense.
That said, the difference between other industries and medical practices is significant. Hospitals and doctor's offices rely on a personal connection that isn't present in any other business.
Because showing sensitivity plays a major role in the medical industry, the importance of patient/provider relationships is everything. Thankfully, with the help of a simple online survey, you can gain detailed insight into your patients' satisfaction level.
In this post, we'll be covering the key benefits of measuring patient satisfaction with surveys:
- Gaining more patients
- Patient-backed recommendations
- Enhanced marketing strategy
- Better patient relations
Keep reading to get all the details.
What are Patient Surveys?
Before we dive into the benefits of patient surveys, we thought a quick refresher on how they work is important.
Put simply, a medical practice will run an online survey that allows patients to share their feedback anonymously.
Such surveys are best done when partnered up with a team, like yours truly at Drive Research. The benefits of using a third-party market research firm far outweigh any concerns you may have about outsourcing, we promise.
That way, we're focusing on the technical aspects of conducting patient satisfaction surveys, while you and your medical team can take action with quality insights.
After we meet, discuss objectives, and run the survey, you'll be given a detailed report that includes the findings and expert recommendations for next steps.
Onto the benefits!
💡 The Key Takeaway: Working with a third-party market research team is ideal when conducting patient-centric surveys. This promotes accurate, actionable feedback.
Recommended Reading: Should You Use a Third Party For an Online Survey?
Benefit #1: Improved Patient Attrition
So, why are patient satisfaction surveys important?
As we discussed earlier, this type of survey lets you understand how your medical practice rates in the eyes of your patients.
Common topics brought up in satisfaction surveys can include:
- Quality of patient care
- Treatment by staff
- Strength of patient/provider relationships
- Telehealth services
There's way more these surveys can include, believe us. How do they attract more patients, though?
Put yourself in the patient's position. If you were looking for a new medical practice, wouldn't you go to one that's known for the quality treatment of patients? Of course, you would!
Practices that run surveys are likely to have a better chance of bringing in more patients because they're listening to actual feedback from those patients. Whether you’re interested in asking telemedicine satisfaction questions or the quality of the in-patient experience, a survey can be tailored to your needs.
The more patient feedback is used in a medical office, the more patients they'll attract. It all comes down to prioritizing their experience.
💡 The Key Takeaway: Patient satisfaction surveys can help attract more patients to a healthcare facility through positive word-of-mouth recommendations and reviews.
Benefit #2: Making Changes Based on Data
Think of this section as an extension of benefit #1.
So, you've run the patient survey and obtained the feedback. Now it's time to put it into action.
No institution is perfect (healthcare or otherwise), and you'll likely have some negative feedback mixed in with the good.
Don't. Discard. Negative. Feedback.
This is the most critical data you'll receive from a patient survey. Yes, it's always key to acknowledge the positive comments, but the negative ones are the catalyst for real change.
The importance of patient satisfaction surveys simply for this factor cannot be stressed enough!
Our healthcare market research firm suggests paying close attention to the negative points brought up by patients. From there, you can strategize how to correct the issues at hand.
💡 The Key Takeaway: Patient-based surveys gather detailed feedback that can be used to improve a practice. While positive patient feedback matters, negative feedback needs to be prioritized.
Benefit #3: Fotter for Marketing
We understand that hospitals, doctor's offices, and other related practices are not marketing firms.
That said, sprinkling a little marketing magic over your organization's outreach strategy won't go unnoticed by potential patients.
Consider repurposing the positive responses you got in your patient satisfaction survey. Get creative and think of ways you can leverage these to boost your marketing strategy.
Perhaps some of the comments can be used for campaign ideas, website content, or posts on social media.
Remember, the importance of patient satisfaction surveys isn't just focused on drawing more patients to your practice--it's about selling yourself in a very competitive market.
💡 The Key Takeaway: Patient surveys are a great way to build an effective marketing strategy. The feedback obtained in the survey will often lend itself to new outreach ideas.
Benefit #4: Develop Genuine Patient Connections
Satisfaction surveys and quality of patient care go hand in hand.
A recent study found that 61% of current patients want a better connection with their physicians. As you can probably guess, the potential for enhanced patient/provider relationships is huge when a survey is conducted.
You can gather measurable insights into how comfortable your patients are and what improvement areas can be made to make them feel more at ease.
All of the benefits we've listed above are ways for a medical team to properly connect with their patients. The more a provider understands what patients are really feeling, the better relationship they'll have.
What's more, strong patient connections often lead to longevity. Meaning, the stronger the patient/provider bond, the longer they'll stay with a practice. In fact, patient loyalty surveys are a way to focus on this idea exclusively.
💡 The Key Takeaway: Running patient satisfaction surveys is a must for any healthcare organization. Through these, important data and patient insight will be delivered.
Contact Our Healthcare Market Research Firm
Ensuring the satisfaction of your patients means everything for a medical practice. With the right tactics and strategy in motion, medical patient satisfaction surveys have the potential to yield huge results for a healthcare organization.
Drive Research is a market research company based in New York. Our team has in-depth experience in measuring patient satisfaction and can work with your practice to craft a unique survey.
Curious about the rest of our market research services? Get in touch with us through any of the methods below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Lark Allen
As a Content Marketing Specialist, Lark has a strong background and passion for creative, professional, and journalistic writing. She is also a self-proclaimed music freak and 90s enthusiast.
Learn more about Lark, here.
