3 Ways Your Assistant Can Create Patient Connection In the Time of Covid-19
The coronavirus pandemic will eventually end, and when it does, the clinics still standing will be those that looked fear in the face and rose to the occasion. You can do this! You just have to think outside the box a bit. Use this time to connect with your patients, develop stronger ties with your community, and improve the skills of your staff as well as your own skills. Making a plan today will help you come back stronger than ever when this crisis ends.
In this 3-part series, we’ll talk about the things you can do right now to support your business. All three will encourage you to consider the things you can do right now by leverage the amazing talent of your Audiology Assistant. Let’s start by
talking about how your Audiology Assistant can help you keep connected to your patients.
We all know our Audiology Assistants are amazing. They make our lives so much easier in so many ways and help support our goal of providing excellent patient care! But in these unprecedented times, we will benefit from looking outside the scope of practice we’ve created for them and look at possibly adding to their daily responsibilities.
Stay Connected By Reaching Out
If you’re like me, you’re missing the every-day interactions with patients that are at the center of our practice. And I can tell you, our patients are missing the connection and communication, too. Tip one is - Just Reach Out. I struggled with feeling like I was “bothering” patients by just calling to say “hello” but what I found is that patients really appreciate that we took the time to call. They want to know how we’re doing just as much as we want to know how they’re holding up. But, how many phone calls can you make in a day? And, how often has it happened that you make a “quick check in call” to a patient and after the 12th question and 30 minutes, you are finally on to your next call. Having your Audiology Assistant make some of those check-in calls can help free up your schedule and still lets patients know that we really do care how they’re doing. If your Assistant is working from home, MedPB has a cool system to help you contact patients from any cell phone that looks like it’s coming from the business number.
Stay Connected by Creating Content
We may not be able to see patients in-clinic at the moment but we can still educate them on what’s new, what they should remember, or things to know about their hearing loss or hearing aids. Because everyone is at home, people are checking their email and going online to social media to see what’s happening. Have your Audiology Assistant help with ramping up your email communication, website information and social media content. Focus on sharing information or offers that can help customers with the difficulties the crisis has caused. This can be a valuable time to forge a deeper connection with your patients. Let your Audiology Assistant have a little leeway in creating content. What questions do they often get asked from patients? Ask them to write a quick email answering those questions. Then, post those same questions and answers to social media. Of course, you can edit before posting, but often we forget the simple questions that patients ask on a regular basis and your Assistant may just be the best person to answer those questions.
Stay Connected by Delivering Kindness
We’re coming up on May fairly quickly. One of my favorite things as a kid was to receive a May Day basket on our front porch. Have your Assistant help with planning and preparing for delivering “May Day” baskets to your patients that are close enough to drive to. The baskets could be simply filled with goodies or with important things you know they’ll need - batteries or wax filters for example. Find someone in your area that is making cloth masks and put one in each basket along with a pair of disposable gloves. Include a note or card that says you’re thinking about them. Have your Audiology Assistant help deliver them to patients.
By thinking outside the box, you can help protect your most important asset: your patient. Leveraging your Audiology Assistant to help get these tasks done is smart business sense.
Stay tuned for more ideas about how your Audiology Assistant can help strengthen your business in the time of Corona in the coming days. In the meantime, I hope you’re doing well and staying safe and sound. If we can do anything for you during this time, please let us know!
