Patient Loyalty

Consumer loyalty to healthcare providers is not what it once used to be. The realities of the new healthcare market—consumers with high passion for healthcare providers, the rise of digital health disruptors and providers with lagging loyalty metrics—make providers vulnerable to patients switching to competitors. So, how can healthcare providers reset the patient loyalty? They can take a page from competitive consumer industries with experience having to earn their customers’ loyalty. By adopting patient engagement practices from such consumer industries, healthcare providers can respond to this market disruption. What’s more, they can keep the patients they have—and earn new ones. Here are some key findings and possible solutions.

●61% would switch providers to get an appointment quickly

●52% would switch to get an appointment at a convenient location

●47% would switch for a better understanding of care costs

●50% would pay more for weekend or after-hours appointments, or to have more personal time with their clinician

1. Build your brand

Branding is not just about the logo. It is all about what you and your practice is known for, and what it does better than others. For example, demonstrating a special concern for patient needs and providing a solution is an example of your brand message that the practice cares deeply for people.

2. Send appointment reminders

Send appointment reminders to make sure they don’t forget or show up late to their appointment. Yourpatients will appreciate this, especially if your schedule is typically booked out a few weeks. Marketing, in any type of business, helps develop trust and strong relationships between the provider and consumers. Effective marketing also communicates reasons to trust, choose you, and recommend you to others.Follow up their visit by sending a quick text message to say, “Thank you for coming in. We appreciate you!” 

3. Customer feedback

Customer feedback is an important resource that identifies things that your patients love, and don’t love, about your company. Patients appreciate that you are doing everything you can to make improvements and that inspires greater trust and loyalty. Sending a monthly patient newsletter to keep your patients up-to-date with industry news, especially as it specifically pertains to their health, is another way to show your concern for their well-being.

4. Patient questionnaires

Questionnaires or surveys are a channel for patient feedback that reveals additional possibilities for improvement. Use automated patient surveys to find out your level of patient satisfaction and more about each patient’s experience. Thoughtfully consider the feedback given and thank your patients for expressing their opinion.

5. Let consumers know what you are doing for them

Patients look to doctors to provide help with their individual health issues. But beyond that, some healthcare and service benefits aren’t always obvious. It’s useful to explain how the practice can help meet future needs.

Patient loyalty to doctors is relevant to medical services in which doctor-patient relationships are central and for which competition has increased in recent years. The patients most committed to their doctor are more loyal to them. In turn, commitment is determined by patient trust, which is determined by patient satisfaction. Doctor reputation positively influences both patient trust and satisfaction. The explanation chain not only gives an account of how patient loyalty is formed; it also identifies a path health professionals can follow to secure patient loyalty.