Speaker 1: So how do you maximize every patient encounter so your patients are comfortable and satisfied with their visit? Well, in this video, I'm going to share with you nine things I do at every patient encounter to make sure my patients are thrilled about their overall experience. Hey guys, I'm Dr. Ryan Court, and this is Ryan Reflects. On this channel, I share with you actionable personal development content, as well as my thoughts on trending topics and common life experiences. If you're new here, hit that subscribe button. Also, throughout any point in the video, make sure you check out the notes and links in the description below. Nowadays, people have a lot of options in regards to who they go see and support for care, particularly healthcare. And I'm an optometrist, so there are a number of optometrists in the area that I practice. And so my patients have a lot of options on who they go see and who provides them with comprehensive patient eye care. But what I really pride myself behind, and I want you to learn from this video, is going in and providing every patient with a comfortable, happy, and enjoyable patient experience is absolutely critical in growing your practice, growing your business, and making sure they leave your office satisfied and confident in the care that you provided. So let's dive into a few tips on how to best do so. Number one, smile, right? Smile at every patient encounter when you walk into the room. And I know during this COVID-19 pandemic, you've got a mask over your face, so it's a little bit more challenging to do so. But people can smile. You can still see a smile through a mask. So whether you're wearing one or not, and this video has been watched years down the road, and we're not worrying about COVID-19, smile when you walk into the room during every patient encounter. It just, it's the best possible way to start any patient interaction. Number two, I like to make sure that I'm pronouncing the patient's name correctly. So when I have it in front of me in the chart or also in the electronic medical record system, I will confirm with the patient that I'm saying their name correctly. Because at the end of the day, the last thing you want to do is go throughout the entire exam process and say somebody's name wrong repeatedly over and over again. And then let's just say they're a repeat patient year over year or visit over visit. If you don't have it documented on how to pronounce their name in their chart and you continue to do so incorrectly, that's a no-no, right? And by pronouncing somebody's name correctly, particularly somebody whose name may be a little bit more challenging, just builds that much more faith in the process for that patient. And that's where you're going to build a lot of confidence in your ability to provide care to them. Number three, I like to really check in and see how life's currently treating them. For me, I walk in and I'll say, Hey, how's life treating you? Or what's new? Or how was, you know, if it was a recent holiday season or if it was close to the weekend, say, how was your weekend? Or how was your Christmas? How was your Thanksgiving, your 4th of July? But I just check in and just see how they're currently doing. And some people will respond and say, Hey, I'm doing great. And they won't talk about it, which is their visit. But other people may walk into the door and they have a lot of baggage or things that are kind of weighing them down and they may want to talk to you about it real quick. And at the end of the day, providing patient care, it's a human-to-human interaction, right? A lot of people are sitting in front of screens all day and they don't have the ability to communicate with others. So just being there for them to just give them a few minutes to talk about what's on their mind is a great way to approach every patient encounter. Number four, be kind and provide congratulations or compliments where necessary. So of course, every time you're with a patient, you want to make sure you're kind to them. But let's just say that they walk into the room, they're extra bubbly. You can compliment on that. Hey, I love your general disposition today or your attitude. It's just so refreshing. Or let's just say that they're wearing brand new shoes. You can tell they just got their hair cut or they have something that you know is new, like a new iPhone. Or, Hey, how do you like that phone? I'm really excited to get one myself. Or why your hair looks great because you have a personal relationship, that patient. Speaking of a personal relationship with a patient, you can also talk to them about things you know that are going on in their life. So, hey, congratulations on the new addition to your family or congratulations on that raise you got or congratulations on that event you accomplished. Maybe they ran a marathon or maybe they did something super awesome and you knew about it. Go ahead and provide praise where necessary. Number five, a patient walks into your room and they are just, you can tell they're in a bad mood or they just don't want to be there. Be extra kind because you never know. You never know what somebody's walking into your room and what they have, the baggage they may have on them or what they just experienced or encountered or what they're feeling physically or emotionally. You just don't know. Be extra kind. Turn it up a little bit, right? And try to turn that frown upside down. And if you can't, get through the exam, do your best and move forward with it. Don't let it take down your day because you have more time to do it. Don't let it take down your day because you have more time to do it. Don't let it take down your day because you have more people to take care of and care for. Can you do me a favor? If you're getting value out of this video, can you hit that like button? Thanks. Number six, I always like to ask patients, what do they do on a day-to-day basis? How do they spend their time? And if they say, hey, well, I'm working. I'd love to ask them about their job a little bit or, hey, I have a couple of kiddos. I'm a stay-at-home parent. Hey, that's even harder work than what most of us do for our profession. So how are your kids? How do you, what's new in your life? And some people are retired and they're even more fun to talk to because they have all sorts of adventures or, you know, things that are taking place. But I like to ask my patients, hey, how do you spend your time on a day-to-day basis? I'd love to learn more about them. And as a follow-up, I also like to learn about what are some of their hobbies? What do they like to do for fun? Right? What do they do? And I have discovered there are so many hobbies out there I never even knew existed by just talking to people and learning what makes them tick, what makes them excited on a day-to-day basis. You know, right now during this pandemic, tons of people are gaming and maybe more, more people than you even really realize are people that you didn't think would be playing video games all day long. A lot of people are being outdoors. People love to travel, but in general, learning about what makes people excited and what they do for fun is something that brings a positive presence to the exam. And it also lets you provide better patient care by addressing their needs even further. Number eight, I like to make sure that I'm addressing the chief complaint. Clearly that's the reason for the patient's visit, but I like to also make sure that I address any additional questions they have throughout the exam process. And I do so like this. So of course, at the very beginning, I like to know, hey, what brings you in to see me today? How can I serve you with your eye health and vision? And it kind of opens up the door for the ability to take care of that patient. But at the end, as I'm recapping things, I say, what questions do you have for me today? Taking out the whole notion that they may not have any questions by saying, do you have questions? I say, what questions do you have for me today? And in doing so, the patient has to make a decision. Well, I don't. You addressed everything. Or, you know, doc, I really wanted to follow up on this or that topic. It kind of keeps the door open with a non-closed question so you can best provide care to that patient. Number nine, I like to provide patients with additional resources when necessary. At the end of the day, we all know our patients are on the internet. They're Googling things. They're trying to do their own research. Why not provide them with the ability to follow up with your own content that is a resource and it can link out to other resources that you sign off on. So for an example, in our office, I have our patients scan a QR code that takes them to our dry eye checklist if they have dry eye disease and want to learn more about the condition or ways that they can best manage it over time. It also talks about additional services that we provide. And it's a great way to kind of continue that conversation through something that you sign off on. And so I highly recommend that you build out some content for your patients to follow up with, so that they can use those as resources after their examination. I think this is an area where we can honestly all learn a lot from each other. And I learned so much from my peers and how they provide care to patients and how they maximize that patient experience. So let me know in the comments below a few ways that you really wow your patients and what you do to keep them coming back and keep them happy and keep them just thrilled to continue to be a patient at your office. With this in mind, stay tuned for my next video, where we can reflect on some of the things that I've talked about and grow stronger together.