My neighbor shared with me her recent experience of investigating a new primary care practice.  She was somewhat dissatisfied with her current provider and thought she would “stop by” another practice and just get a feel for the service.  She told me that she never even compared the two physicians or the medical service because she stopped short at the reception desk.  The receptionist hardly greeted her and was not at all friendly.  My neighbor went no further.  She told me that she likes the friendly greeting she receives at her current physician’s office and the warm welcome she receives whether on the phone or in person makes enough of a difference for her to stop comparing.  She made her choice based on the receptionist not the physician.

As a health care worker, you are probably shaking your head and saying to yourself that this patient doesn’t know what is important and wondering why my neighbor would decide on a service provider based on something so trivial?!  The thing is you have a broader concept and more information than my neighbor.  You might well chose your physicians based on their medical reputation but most people can’t or don’t base their decisions on medical aptitude.  They don’t have the knowledge to easily make that assessment so their selection criteria ends up being more superficial and typically service oriented.

As the medical provider, you can do one of two things:  1) be smug and feel sorry for my neighbor and the thousands of other people like her and do nothing to help them get past this first impression snafu or 2) you can recognize that there are a few hurdles that need to be met so that my neighbor and others are not stopped short of the actual medical service.

I hope you choose option two.

The first few minutes a prospective patient has in your office sets the stage for the future with that individual. You want to help that individual get past the greeting and feel good about what is to come next.  Think about the routine that happens in your office when a new patient comes in for the first time.  Are they “routinely” greeted and given a clipboard with your patient form and asked to sit down and complete the paperwork?  This is the standard in most offices.

What would happen if your office personnel changed their routine and treated that newcomer as a guest – someone special – who deserves attention.  Since most people come into the office for a specified appointment, it should not be difficult to greet them by name  (i.e. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Smith, we have been expecting you.”)  And if someone you don’t know shows up, the greeting should be just as warm but helpful and inquisitive (i.e. “Welcome to North Shore Medical, is there something I can help you with?”)

Go past the greeting moment and put your guest at ease.  Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Ask to take their coat.
• Ask if they had any problem with the directions.
• Provide a brief tour of the office if they are new (this is our reception area, here is our lab for blood draws, patient exam rooms are all equipped with x, y and z and the doctor will confer with your in his office as you will see shortly, etc.
• Introduce the patient to other personnel, if convenient.
• Take a marketing moment and stop by the doctor’s diploma and mention that Dr. Smith is board-certified in X and is one of the few physicians who does Y.  We are so very proud of him. (Whatever makes you special is a good thing to share and also by having your staff member relay this information, it reflects on the team-like atmosphere of your practice and underscores the important professional information.  This act reinforces the good decision your new patient has made in selecting your practice for their health care needs.)
• Offer the patient refreshments.
• Give them an expectation for what comes next (i.e. “We will be checking your blood pressure and other vital signs shortly, but first why don’t you sit here for a few moments and look at some of our patient education materials while we prepare for you.”)
• You don’t ask them to complete the paperwork, because you have sent it out in advance so that the team has time to be familiar with the new patient prior to walking into the exam room.

All of this takes only a few minutes and not only puts your patient at ease but might even “wow” them with the difference.  Instead of leaving your new patient alone with paperwork, you have provided an appropriately warm, engaged, professional first impression.  And if my neighbor happens to be shopping by to compare, imagine the story she will tell me and ten of her other friends?