The post-pandemic world has changed the way patients approach care for themselves and their loved ones. This reflects the long-term impact of Covid and creates a new healthcare landscape where providers must navigate different (often higher) expectations. Patients continue to struggle with frustrating appointment booking processes, inefficient care, and poor billing practices. Patient-centered care and engagement are key to success for practices large and small, as patients seek new sources of care that meet their needs and expectations despite ongoing challenges, fueling competition among organizations. Patient-centered care integrates the patient’s preferences, values, and beliefs into the decision-making process and creates a treatment plan that is both appropriate and meaningful to them. It is more important than ever to provide patients with an end-to-end experience that not only delivers quality but also meets their growing expectations, especially given that they want to be more involved in the decision-making process.

In urgent care, quality and efficiency are top priorities for business owners and their staff—but when delivering services, it’s also important to remember that impressions and engagement create repeat customers, referrals, and ongoing patient loyalty. To deliver the kind of experience the modern patient seeks, two industry best practices should be followed: setting practice goals that outline what success looks like and leveraging technology to create and sustain a patient-centered care model.

Defining success through a culture of goal setting

Because emergency department visits can be stressful for patients, it’s up to clinicians and their established processes to make the experience as pleasant as possible for them. There is no universally accepted definition or measurement of patient satisfaction, so clinics must identify the wants and needs of their patients. Based on these unique insights, clinics can set goals and metrics to ensure they are properly aligned with the patients they care for. By setting goals as an organization and working toward providing a seamless experience, the patient is more likely to return for future episodic events knowing their experience is a priority.

Lasting impressions

Repeat customers depend on the impressions they make before, during, and even after treatment. For new patients, the clinic should strive to present itself in a way that impresses prospective patients before they even walk through the door. Factors that can support this goal include online registration, mobile technology, and even providing detailed information about the clinic. These additional resources help set a positive tone for the visit that leaves the patient feeling prepared so the provider can deliver a great experience. Repeat customers look for a few key factors in a clinic, including clear access and navigation, trustworthiness, and convenience with things like quick online check-in and online lab or test results. For repeat patients, it’s critical to make things as easy as possible for them, regardless of how often they may need urgent care.

Keep in touch

Regardless of the episodic nature of emergency visits, the doctor-patient relationship doesn’t have to end with paying the bill. Clinics should make an effort to stay in touch with their patients, both for patient retention and reputational reasons, both of which can impact the long-term success of the business. A follow-up or thank-you note after the visit can go a long way with patients and open the door to additional opportunities to make an impression and gain insights. Incorporating a survey into follow-up communications gives patients a voice and can help the clinic further tailor care. Asking the patient to write a Google review can have a similar effect, but carries risk due to public visibility. Format aside, the clinic should follow up on all feedback, especially negative insights.

Urgent care clinics can also continue to stay in touch with their patients by re-engaging with them based on their specific needs. The patient-centered care model is unique to the individual, or at least demographically, so following up on the services that are important to them (e.g., sports fitness exams or STD screenings for college students) can help the patient feel more understood. Patients are more likely to return when they know they have been heard and cared for, and that their medical history has been properly recorded.

Typically, it’s assumed that patient-provider interaction ends when the patient leaves the clinic. However, clinics and their staff can go the extra mile to follow up and ensure that the patient’s condition is improving after treatment. Follow-up care also plays a role in continued patient retention, whether by the clinic itself or a referral partner. By showing that providers are invested in a patient’s journey and success, they can build more trusting and loyal relationships with them – helping to make decisions about where to seek care in the future easier, which in turn increases clinic revenue.

Technology for the benefit of patients and providers

With patients dissatisfied with healthcare overall, the urgent care industry has an advantage thanks to its ability to provide same-day services. However, this is only possible with high-quality care and technology-based convenience in the form of patient engagement solutions. Online appointment scheduling, wait time estimation, and pre-registration are just some of the services patients seek to improve their experience. Combined with an efficient electronic health record, they enable providers to provide improved care that contributes to the patient-centric model clinics are working toward. Patients are looking for providers who are easy to work with, so incorporating technologies that streamline the care coordination process is ideal.

Mitigate a stressful financial experience

An effective revenue cycle management (RCM) process goes hand in hand with high-quality patient engagement solutions. On-point RCM is critical to a clinic’s profitability as it enables faster billing and payment cycles and greater accuracy in billing across integrated systems. On the business side, it streamlines administrative processes by automating both appointment reminders and check-ins, which reduces no-shows. Additionally, RCM can efficiently process patient information and insurance verifications, reducing the burden on clinic staff.

For patients, RCM solutions provide more transparent and faster billing processes with easy access to payment options. Becoming more involved in their healthcare by assuming the role of a consumer also helps patients reduce overall treatment costs. By assuming the role of consumers, patients’ expectations of healthcare processes are changing and mirroring retail experiences that provide fast, easy, and convenient service. To support this shift, real-time insurance verification/eligibility (RTV/RTE) can verify insurance coverage and help determine patient responsibility up front. Additionally, a credit card pre-authorization process can ensure quick payment and reduce billing complexity, but it also makes billing easier for the patient by allowing the provider to bill their balance to the card. Finally, RCM can send SMS balance reminders, which have been proven to improve patient collections as well as the patient experience.

Patients still want to be involved in their care journey from start to finish. Using tools and systems that provide transparency, communication, and options tailored to the individual helps alleviate some of the major stressors associated with care coordination.

Continuous innovation and adaptation

As patient expectations change, the healthcare industry must evolve, too. That means the tools, processes, and technologies used to deliver healthcare must adapt as well. With the right technology, urgent care clinics can improve communication with patients and expand the channels through which they interact, improving access to care overall. Technology plays a critical role in a patient-centered care model, benefiting both patients and providers. By maintaining a culture of innovation and adaptation, clinics will be more successful as they work to establish a patient-centered model that still delivers the quality and efficiency that urgent care is known for.

Photo: boonchai wedmakawand, Getty Images

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