If you’re running a medical business, you’re going to need to make a number of key investments. When you do this, you will be able to ensure that your business is set up the right way to provide the best possible solution and service to your patients. However, it’s true to say that a lot of medical practices are guilty of failing to focus on a key aspect of the setup. We are of course talking about customer relationship management software. Below are some helpful things to know about medical CRM software and why it is going to be an essential part of your medical practice as soon as you get set up.
What is CRM Software?
When you have a medical business, you need to make sure that you are thinking about the customer experience and general levels of satisfaction. This isn’t just about making sure that you have the latest equipment or that you offer a beautiful waiting room that makes them feel relaxed and comfortable. Instead, you need to make sure that you are handling issues with data analysis, medical errors and administrative mistakes.
Medical CRM software can help you tackle all these problems with ease. It will help improve the loyalty of your patients and reduce the costs of your business at the same time. You might think that this is a pipe dream, but it is actually a real possibility that you should explore.
With this software, you are going to be able to manage information about your patients effectively while keeping it all stored on a secure system. This will also improve the efficiency levels in your business.
It’s worth noting that there are typically several key components of CRM software. This includes:
• Communication
• Task management
• Reports services
But this is just the tip of the iceberg, especially when talking about Crystal Clear’s Social Patient Center (SPC). Each component of the software provides a different solution that could benefit you and help make managing your business more effective and easier overall. Of course, it will also help you provide a better service to your patients.
With the communication piece, you will be able to track your interactions with patients or schedule appointments and ensure that you engage with them effectively. You’ll be able to schedule reminders and set appointments as necessary, too.
With task management, you can make sure that the staff is able to add tasks or update them and ensure that progress is continuously tracked and monitored. By doing this, you can ensure that you don’t have to worry about issues like falling behind deadlines or problems with completing a particular process.
Reports are crucial. For instance, you can find out about the ROI of a particular campaign that you are currently running. You will also be able to assess how many patients aren’t showing up for an appointment and potentially the reason why this might be an issue.
Of course, medical CRM software will also have specific features that are exclusive for health care industries and of particular use. For instance, there will typically be a patient management module. This is going to help ensure that records for patients can easily and quickly be updated where necessary. It will also help ensure that patients can be targeted based on their conditions, and this is going to improve communication.
Be aware that while this is a basic list of standard components that will typically be included in medical CRM software, they are completely scalable. Our Social Patient Center offers a number of key features, including:
• Document and photo storage
• Package tracking
• Referral tracking
• Recurring memberships
• And much more!
Why is It Essential for a Medical Practice?
First, it’s important to be aware that this isn’t just suitable for a particular subset of medical professionals. It can benefit anyone working in the medical industry who is involved with or connected to patient care. That’s a lot of people including care centers, outpatient medical centers, medical spas and many more.
There are numerous benefits of utilizing this type of system in a medical practice or business. While it can take a short amount of time before you start to see the results, eventually, an impact will be felt.
Boost Customer Experience
One of the first benefits to keep in mind isn’t related to you but your patients. You need to understand that patients are constantly looking for a solution or service that can offer more than typical businesses that they might be used to. They want a more personal level of care. The good news is that with medical CRM software, you have the ultimate way to do this. With this solution, you won’t forget about making a call to a particular patient. You will also be able to immediately tackle their needs and requirements head-on from the beginning.
You certainly won’t have to worry about getting their name wrong or failing to target their specific medical concern. Indeed, with medical CRM software, you will be able to tackle all these issues and immediately improve your business.
It’s the personalized experience that you want to focus on here. With the right CRM software, you’ll have access to a lot of useful information including pertaining to the patient. You will be able to make sure that every interaction that you have with them is carefully formulated to target them directly. This isn’t just going to improve the reception of your services. It’s also going to ensure that you can deliver a better standard of care to every patient.
Have Lower Wait Times
It’s true to say that wait times can be a massive issue for medical businesses. You’re probably thinking that an issue with wait times is a fault with your business model, or potentially even your staff. However, that’s not usually the case, and a recent report has revealed that wait times can be caused by issues with patients arriving late. Indeed, 60% of doctors suggested that this was the biggest cause for long wait times.
With medical CRM software, you will be able to make sure that you are able to automatically remind patients of appointments. This will help ensure that they do show up on time and they don’t put your staff behind schedule. Don’t forget, it’s also going to help tighten up connections and ensure that you are able to have a closer relationship with your patients.
Avoid Errors in Administration
Administration errors are a nightmare for patients. It can quite easily deter them from using your services again and could be the reason for significant levels of patient churn. Indeed, 74% of patients who were surveyed in one poll revealed that they needed to provide the same information to multiple staff in the same practice. This shouldn’t happen, and they definitely shouldn’t need to retake tests, which are another issue. Ultimately, this is going to cause problems with the satisfaction levels of your patients. It’s a serious concern, particularly when you realize that medical practices are now being penalized for not taking the necessary steps to protect the welfare of patients.
With medical CRM software, errors like this can be effectively avoided and reduced in your model. This is possible due to the increase in automation in simple processes where things can go wrong. Specifically, human interactions between staff members are greatly reduced without impacting the level of interaction with the patient. The system then provides all the information a team member requires to provide the right level of care to a patient.
Keep Patient Care Streamlined
Another big benefit of a solution like this is that you can ensure that patient care is completely streamlined. This means that there are fewer delays as a patient passes from one specialist to the next. It does improve the quality levels of the treatment provided and ensures that you don’t have to worry about patients being provided with the wrong or repeated information. It also ensures that patients are not getting two contradicting pieces of information by two members of staff in your medical practice.
Furthermore, you don’t have to worry about patients getting lost in the system. Instead, you will be able to track patients as they receive care and treatment. Don’t forget if you lose a patient, you will also be losing significant levels of potential profit.
Take Advantage of Patient Insights
Additionally, with medical CRM software, you will be able to learn more about your patients. That’s important as you can then use the information to develop and build a marketing campaign that is going to pay off. You no longer have to worry about not hitting the right targets. Instead, you’ll know exactly what a specific group of patients wants or needs from you. This is possible due to the automated surveys that can be arranged and sent out through the CRM system. These automated reports are easy and clear to read. As such, they can be used for a wide range of improvements beyond just your marketing goals and tactics.
To learn more about how our Social Patient Center at Crystal Clear Digital Marketing can help you and your practice, contact us today! We look forward to hearing from you.
