We all know that our patients are our customers.  Sometimes I think that hospitals, surgery centers, imaging centers, etc. forget that physicians are also their customers.  It is just as important to keep these “customers” happy.  Aside from the Emergency Department, every patient that walks through our doors, comes through a physician.  And, the ones that come through the Emergency Department wouldn’t show up if they didn’t think there would be a physician here to care for them (not to mention that many times their doctor sends them there).

So, what can healthcare delivery systems to to make themselves a better place for physicians to practice?  Eliminate the things that annoy, slow down, or inconvenience physicians that are legal and that they have control over.

Here are seven common annoyances that physicians confront on a daily basis:

•        Waiting for lab and/or radiology results
•        Searching for a patients nurse
•        “Sitting out” or delays
•        Finding nurse not current on patient status
•        Hearing complaints from patients about hospital services failures
•        Being “pestered” by HIM for a signature
•        Having trouble getting on the surgery schedule

Source: The Coker Group 2005

With the exception of physicians having to sign charts, these are all controllable “annoyances.”  Not all of them are easy to control, but it is possible.  Do you have the ability to change one of these “annoyances in your facility?”  If you can, you are one step closer to being a more physician friendly environment.

Tags: Customer Service, Physician relations, physician-friendly