What every doctor needs to do to delight his patients

1. Difficult relatives
Angry patients
Lazy staff
Untrained nurses
IT officer
Spouse

3. Try to do too much. Overbook
patients, run from clinic to clinic,
always late
Rude to patients
Shout at staff and micromanage. Do
not delegate
Waste time talking to MRs
Undisciplined and disorganised

4. You are the problem - which means
you are also the solution !
You need to get out of your own
way and stop hurting yourself

5. • Only 1 of 20 unhappy
patients bother to complain.
• Others walk out of
your clinic and
tell ten others
about their
bad experience.

6. You are the most
valuable resource in your
clinic
You are the bottle neck
in your clinic

7. Problems have become worse
Smartphone - expected to be on call
24/7
Our time is not our own - doctors live
chaotic lives
Daily wage earners
No work life balance
Burnout !

8. Set priorities
Delegate responsibility
Say NO !
Organise your
work area
Don’t waste
time !

9. Do it now
Do it soon
Put off until later
Doesn't need to be done

10. You are the bottle neck in your clinic –
and the most highly paid resource
What can you get someone else to do ?
Create clear SOPs with a due date
Remember there is a learning curve – be
patient and follow up
Don’t dump your work on an assistant!

12. Doctoring time = doing valuable
clinical work. When you are in
flow = in the Operation Theater
Delegate-able time
Downtime = wasted time.
Causes frustration

13. Time lost while waiting for meetings;
patients; and while commuting.
Reclaim this time !
Read medical journals on your
smartphone
Listen to CME podcasts
Multitasking !

14. Staffing issues ( insufficient, unreliable,
unproductive staff)
Emergencies (unexpected complications)
Scheduling problems (overbooking)
The heartsink patient –
long list of complaints
and inquiries
Like making patients wait !

15. Brainstorm about the ways
that time is wasted
Come up with strategies to
reduce these inefficiencies

16. The consultation is
free if you are
more than 60 min
late

18. Convenience ? Cost ?
Clinic ambience ?
Reputation ?
Justdial ? Practo ? Google ?
Referral ?
Parking availability ?

19. Not your perception – the patient’s
perception
Life is not always fair.Not all busy
doctors are good – and not all good
doctors are busy
No point in complaining about this.
Learn to accept reality !
Soft skills are often more important
than clinical skills

22. Underpaid
Not respected
Overworked
Get flak from doctor and patients
No training provided
No infrastructure for better
customer service

23. I. The patient is never an
Interruption - the patient is your
work.
Everything else can wait !
II. Greet every patient with a smile.
III. Call patients by their name.
IV. For patients, all staff members
are as important as the doctor !
V. Never argue with a patient. Be a

24. VI. Don’t say, "I don't know.” Say “ I will
find out”.
VII. The patient pays your salary - treat
him like your boss !
VIII. Choose positive words
IX. Always go the extra mile. Exceeding
patient expectations is the best way of
keeping patients happy !
X. Brighten every patient's day. This will
make your own life happier.

25. • Follow flowcharts for improving
workflow!
• Need processes which your staff can
follow
How to answer the phone
How to greet a new patient
How to help them fill up a form
Doctors usually create bottlenecks !

26. No interruptions when you are with
a patient
No phone calls during clinic hours
Return all calls at a fixed time
Intelligent phone systems for
recording all calls. Cloud based
virtual receptionist
I prefer email – no phone tag

27. •Reminder SMSes to reduce
“noshows”
•Prescribe apps to your
patients
•Set up whatsapp groups
•Ezines

28. This does not mean that there are
no problems or that all your
patients are happy with you
The truth is that most patients
are scared to complain and will
not tell you they are unhappy to
your face

29. How many of your
patients refer their friends
to you ?

30. “The patient will never
care how much you know,
until they know how much
you care !”

31. Medical training is arduous and kills our
humanity. Sleep deprivation and fatigue
means residents are overburdened
Juniors are treated badly, and they in
turn treat their patients badly
No good role models
Poor , illiterate patients are scared and
will not speak up

32. E - Eye contact
M - Muscles of Facial Expression
P – Posture
A - Affect
T - Tone of Voice, Touch
H - Hearing the whole person
Y - Your response

33. There will be slips and lapses
Master the art of service
recovery
Take ownership of the problem –
it’s your clinic !
Don’t abandon the patient !

34. • R = Re-establish rapport ( empathy)
• A = Agreement ( get the patient to say Yes)
• P = Problem ( define this)
• S = Solution
• A = Ask Permission ( is the patient happy
with the solution you have offered ?)
• N = Next step ( Follow up)
• D = Document

37. Doctor did not explain properly
Not enough time with the doctor
Unnecessary long wait time
Rude staff
Overcharging
Poor documentation

38. Learn to give a second opinion
tactfully
Highlight all the correct things
the earlier doctor has done
Don’t play the game of
oneupmanship

39.  Anatomy
 Hardware
 Software – Human resources
 Physiology
 Pathology
 Diagnosis
 Patient feedback
 Learn from other doctors
 Treatment
 Staff
 Consultant

41. Treat all patients as VIPs.
Respect them !
The lifetime value of a patient