4 Ways to Make A Great First Impression with New Patients

A popular adage goes, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” First impressions matter. They create a perception that’s not easily changed.

Considering this fact, how can your practice make a great first impression with new patients?

A new patient’s first visit to your practice is a delicate situation. Why? Because he or she will undoubtedly base their decision to return to your practice based on the reception and treatment they receive from you and your staff.

Therefore, consider the following advice about how you and your staff can create a great first impression.

1. Schedule first-time appointments ASAP

When a new patient calls your office to make their first appointment, they usually want the appointment soon. If they don’t get an appointment, they are quite likely to go elsewhere because they have no relationship established with you or loyalty to your practice. Therefore, it is important to schedule the new patient as soon as you possibly can.

If the patient asks, “Is that the earliest the doctor can see me?” you must instruct your staff to do their best at being firm (if there is no earlier date possible) but accommodating.

An appropriate response by your staff could be, “Yes it is, however, I can call you if an earlier appointment opens up. Could you come in on short notice?”

Do your best to accommodate new patients and get them scheduled as soon as possible.

2. Get the name right

Everyone likes to have his or her name spelled correctly. When talking with colleagues, friends, and in introductions to new people, we all want our names pronounced correctly, too.

This is vitally important when new patients come to your practice. The initial telephone conversation may be the only time you feel comfortable asking patients to repeat their names and tell you how they are spelled or pronounced.

Insist on getting the patient’s name right in the beginning to avoid confusion and embarrassment later. Once you’ve established the pronunciation, jot it down phonetically. Be sure that other staff members with whom the new patients come in contact with also know how to pronounce their names.

Your morning huddle is a great time to make your team aware of any particular tricky names scheduled for the day. You need to communicate and everyone on staff in the loop to provide the best customer service experience possible.

3. Inform your new patients

You want to make new patients feel right at home when they enter your office for the first time. So before they arrive, make sure you’re doing your best to answer their questions ahead of time.

Here’s an example of questions you want to ask, and information you want to gather before a new patient arrives for their first appointment.

• Ask if the patient knows where you are located or needs directions to your office. Send them an appointment email confirmation that includes directions to your office.
• Manage expectations by informing new patients how long their first appointment will last.
• Direct them to your website for more information about your practice, or email them a brochure before their visit.
• Tell your new patients what your procedure is for confirming appointments. Will they receive an email, phone call, text, or combination?
• Remind them of what they need to bring to their appointment. That might include their insurance cards (or better yet, their insurance policy), social security number, previous medical history, driver’s license, etc.

4. Give them the red carpet treatment

You will want to do your best to make your new patients feel that their arrival at your office was eagerly anticipated.

It starts with a warm welcome from the receptionist.

Invite your patients to make themselves comfortable in your reception area and tell them to feel free to browse through the reading material you have available for them. If you need to obtain personal information from the patient for your files, invite them to a private area for this purpose.

To make the task even more pleasant, complete the form yourself, using their answers to your verbal questions. If possible, offer the patient a beverage while completing this task.

When it is time for the patient to see you, have a staff member quietly walk up to the patient in the reception area and ask them to come along and meet the doctor.

As the staff member is walking the patient back, he or she can be acquainting the patient with the different areas of the office. If the introduction is to be made in the doctor’s office, make sure that the office is welcoming, and when the staff member brings the patient in, let them make a formal introduction.

Conclusion

You may decide that these suggestions are not quite right for you and if that’s the case, feel free to modify them to suit your personality and style. You must be comfortable with whatever methods you utilize in making certain that new patients have a great first impression about their first visit to your practice.