Success by Improving Patient Experience: Part I

In this three-part podcast series, Bhavna Tank, MD, a family practice physician in North Carolina, discusses how to make your family practice successful by keeping the patient in mind. In the first podcast, Tank focuses on changes to make in the patient’s experience before he or she even steps foot in the office for a visit.

Bhavna Tank, MD, wasn’t looking to get into family practice, but she ended up taking over a practice from a retiring physician and ended up overhauling the entire business. There was always one thing she kept in mind while making changes: giving the patient the best medical experience.

According to Tank, in order for a family practice to do well, “the patient has to be comfortable and happy. Change everything in your office keeping that in mind.”

“If I’m seeing someone for diabetes … and they are on medication, there are labs that we have to do regularly to make sure everything is okay,” Tank explains. “And if I order the labs after the appointment, then I have to call the patient, and many times we end up playing phone tag. And it just takes a lot of time of mine, of the nursing staff, to follow up with the patient.”

One way to make a patient visit quick and efficient is by making sure all the labwork is done beforehand. The physician can then discuss the results in person, rather than over the phone or calling the patient back in for another appointment.