So, let’s refresh our memory. What is client communication, anyway? In a nutshell, any interaction with your clients can occur in person, over the phone, or via the Internet. Today, establishing clear communication online is especially essential across multiple channels like social media, your website, or email.

Communication must feel personal to enhance client satisfaction and build trust. But what does this look like in practice? The following sections will explore the benefits of prioritizing communication training. Plus, plenty of easy-to-use practical strategies to improve client interactions.

Key Communication Tips To Try

It has become a common issue for any business today to deal with negative reviews. Dealing with negativity online can be challenging. However, don’t worry too much you can turn the situation around with a little bit of strategy.

Address the reviewer: First of all, it’s crucial that you acknowledge every negative review. Your clients want to be addressed individually, and that’s why you should ensure that you call each pet owner by name instead of using generic terms like ‘dear customer.

Say thank you: Your veterinary team members must be gracious with their response to the client’s concern. However rude or unflattering the review may be, you must thank them for bringing to light their concern with sincerity. The client’s position should be dealt with with care and finesse.

Apologize and sympathize: Humility is the key when you’re dealing with an unhappy customer. Even if your veterinary practice is not at fault, say sorry anyway. When practices appear too proud or unapologetic to clients, people often get turned off. Remember that you’re not just addressing an unsatisfied client; other possible clients also see how you deal with difficult situations.

Take responsibility: Your veterinary practice should not make excuses for what happened. Acknowledge the customer’s experience. At the same time, you should show the pet owner how your practice holds itself to the highest standard, which is why their satisfaction is your priority.

Talk offline: To discuss the issue in detail, you should reach out to the unsatisfied customer to fix the issue. Some details should be left out of the public space, and you should resolve the problem directly with the client.You may ask for their schedule for a call to discuss the matter.  

Ask for another chance: To show how much your veterinary practice values each client, invite your unsatisfied client to come back to your practice. And promise them their next experience will be much better. This way, you can prove how much you appreciate their business and that you’re dedicated to improving a veterinary practice.

Key Benefits of Good Communication

Building Trust and Transparency

Proper patient care through communication empowers your team to establish its credibility in veterinary medicine. As you would be clear when explaining human medicine, effective communication involves clear explanations of treatment options, costs, and outcomes.

While you want to make your clients happy, you should be transparent and provide a realistic picture of what they can expect. They’ll want you more when you’re there so they can better gauge their options. You wouldn’t want to surprise them with extra charges. Nobody would appreciate suddenly being charged thousands of dollars as a surprise.

Enhancing Client Retention and Satisfaction

Building a solid community doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and effort to build client relationships and position yourself as a veterinary expert in your area. The effort will have been worth it once you see the results.

Consistent communication can help your veterinary team increase client loyalty and positive experiences. While there is no guarantee that a single follow-up will entice patients to return, your goal should be to be top-of-mind in pet care. Even if past clients have no plans of returning, they might recommend your clinic to other pet parents who require your help.

Improving Treatment Compliance

Another valuable benefit your practice can enjoy from effective communication skills is that it ensures patients follow through with patient care instructions and treatment plans. While you should carefully explain to clients what they should do next, there is a chance they will not follow your instructions afterward.

Providing carefully worded instructions helps pet parents take better care of their pets. They also serve as guides in case they forget some steps and particular details. It would be ideal to leave no stone unturned rather than keep clients guessing what to do next. While you should be ready if they have questions, giving them all the tools needed to take care of their pets is better.

Pro Tip: Creating templates or guides can help your veterinary team provide routine instructions for the best pet care. You don’t always have to develop new ways of delivering the same message. After all, different clients will receive these instructions.

Reduce Misunderstandings

Regardless of how clear your instructions are, misunderstandings are inevitable. Even if you ensure transparent veterinarian-client-patient interactions, some things are out of your control. While it’s impossible to eliminate misunderstandings, you can reduce their chances.

Timely communication can reduce confusion regarding billing, your services, and procedures. Good nonverbal communication can help avoid potential issues that might strain your client relationships. If your client has a not-so-positive experience, transparent and empathetic communication can clear the air and help you make amends.

If you don’t live up to a client’s expectations, proper communication can help you navigate the situation and maintain a positive relationship with that client. How you handle that situation can make or break your relationship.

Start an E-newsletter

Starting an electronic newsletter or e-newsletter is an excellent way for your veterinary team to deliver news and insightful stories to patients. An e-newsletter is a modern email strategy used to generate client leads and foster a loyal patient base.

Start by using the email address list of your current and former clients to send them regular updates on your services and promos. You can also invite pet owners who visit your website to subscribe to your e-newsletter to stay up-to-date with news about your veterinary care practice.

Make every email blast count. An e-newsletter is an excellent platform to share exciting information about veterinary care and, of course, for client education. You wouldn’t want your clients to skip reading your emails, so you must share things that they may find valuable.

Like social media, newsletters are a great way to have a narrative with pet owners. While it’s recommended to keep captions concise yet compelling on social media. Opt to go into detail about your services and other possible topics of interest through e-newsletters. You can even get creative by including lively and fun visuals to support your emails.

Send Thank-You Emails and eCards

Your company email is not just for sending e-newsletters to your clients. You can use emails as an effective marketing tool to drive more sales to your business. A simple thank you email gives your patients a positive experience. At the same time, it shows how you value them trusting your practice.

Make sure you have automated thank you emails ready every time a client visits your veterinary practice. When clients fill out your online form, make sure they provide their email address and visit details so that it can easily be transferred to your database.

The way you design each thank you email or eCard should mirror your clinic’s personality. So don’t be afraid to insert fun elements like a cute pet picture or emojis. The email should put a smile on the recipient’s face.

Update Your Patients Via Social Media

First off, make sure your practice has a presence on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Google My Business. Then focus on using these platforms effectively to communicate with your local pet owners. 

With over 2.9 billion users worldwide, Facebook is the largest social media website. Facebook is an excellent platform to raise awareness about your veterinary practice. In addition, drive traffic to your veterinary website and educate clients about your practice.

Another popular platform your veterinary clinic should take advantage of is Instagram. This particular social media platform is all about visuals. It’s the ideal client communication channel to capture the work your practice is doing every day.

Keep Your Contact Information Updated

One social media platform most veterinary teams don’t maximize is Google My Business. It might just be the most critical client communications platform you’re not using to your advantage. This platform is where new clients within your area can search and find your practice on Google.

What’s great about Google My Business is it helps your practice’s online visibility so much. Make sure that critical information such as your address, website, operating hours, and services are specified and up-to-date in the business listing.

Read On: How to Claim Your Google My Business Listing

Key Strategies for Effective Client Communication

Personalized Communication for Client Retention

Personalized messages through email marketing and social media, such as specific reminders based on pet health history, can encourage more clients to be more proactive in taking care of their pets. When more pet owners actively communicate with you on social media, other potential clients might also be enticed to trust you with their pets.

Pro Tip: Personalization is integral in improving outcomes. Providing tailored health reminders or follow-up instructions increases clients’ likelihood of complying with recommended treatments or preventive care. Hence, you can help them lower the chances of further complications.

Pro Tip: Personalization should be used in appointment reminders, post-visit communications, newsletters, and direct client interactions. Inject some personalization whenever possible to provide clients with a better overall experience.

Building Trust with Transparency

You’d return to a medicine expert you trust, right? The same applies to a veterinary practice. Like you’d trust information that comes directly from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), pet owners would only entrust their pets to teams they can rely on.

Let’s face it: Visiting a veterinary practice can be stressful for pet parents. Booking an appointment at your clinic means there is a reason they can’t communicate work themselves at home. Clear communication about what clients can expect medically and financially helps reduce anxiety and builds confidence in the practice. Providing some much-needed reassurance can help them feel infinitely better about the situation.

Pro Tip: Being transparent can help minimize the risk of conflicts over billing, treatment plans, or health outcomes. Being upfront can help you manage your client’s expectations and avoid unwanted surprises. Transparency should be maintained throughout every stage of the client relationship, but it is particularly critical during consultations about treatment options, surgical procedures, and cost estimates.

Use Telemedicine for Client Convenience

The pandemic has demonstrated how effective virtual consultations can be in managing mild cases. By providing advice remotely, you can educate clients on the best steps they can take at home and reach clients who aren’t currently in your area.

All you need to jumpstart telemedicine for veterinary practices is a computer or mobile device and a fast internet connection. Ideally, each call should be taken in a quiet and clean space so you can give each patient your full attention. There should be no distractions, and a sound and video check should be done to ensure the call will go smoothly.

It would also be ideal to subscribe to a premium plan. While you can try free plans, they’re not ideal for lengthy calls. Moreover, you can use these platforms for internal communication and practice active listening.

Timely Follow-Ups and Reminders

Establishing automated systems can optimize your practice operations, so you provide better care for pet parents. An automated system can make it easier for clients to schedule appointments even after clinic hours. Some patients may be too busy to call your clinic while they’re at work or school. Allowing them to book an appointment at any time would make it easier for them to book an appointment with you. 

An automated system can also help send text or email reminders to ensure your patient arrives on time. If they don’t make it to your clinic at their prescheduled slot, you can allow other patients to book an appointment and lessen your team time. 

Providing a stellar patient experience doesn’t once the checkup or procedure is done. You should ensure clients schedule routine checkups to avoid complications and ensure the pets are healthy. There’s a chance your team might forget to remind your clients, so having an automated system can help you remind them.

The Role of Technology

Fortunately, technology has made it easier for veterinary professionals to improve communication skills and provide clients with a better experience. You don’t have to figure things out alone or go through mountains of paperwork to learn more about your patients. We’ll delve into how technology can work to your advantage. 

Seamless Client Access and Omnichannel Communication

Gone are the days when clients were limited to in-person visits and phone calls to learn more about your practice and book appointments. You can now use various communication channels, like email, social media, and phone, to engage clients where they are. 

The more options you provide patients, the easier it will be for them to contact you. Moreover, you can consolidate all communication through technology. Hence, everyone in the team is in the loop, and there is no confusion. Through the crafty use of technology, you can avoid double booking and other misunderstandings. 

Automated Appointment Systems and Reminder Strategies

An automated booking system can spare your team plenty of stress. With so many communication channels available, if you don’t consolidate everything, there might be overlaps or confusion.

It can also make it more convenient for clients to book appointments with you anytime, anywhere. You can also send reminders to ensure they don’t miss their appointments. If something happens and they can’t show up on time, you can give other patients who need immediate care a chance to get an earlier slot at your clinic. 

Telemedicine for Routine and Crisis Communication

The pandemic demonstrated how effective virtual consultations can be for basic care and emergencies. Sometimes, a patient doesn’t need to visit your clinic physically, and the pet parent might not have the time to visit your practice. Telemedicine allows them to consult with you through their laptop or mobile device. 

Investing in a stellar platform allows you to take calls with patients whenever needed. While you can opt for free packages, you might not have enough time for lengthy client calls. Hence, exploring business packages for everyone’s convenience would be ideal. 

Telemedicine platforms aren’t limited to client communication. Your team can also use these platforms to communicate with each other. You should maximize these platforms to get your money’s worth.

Using Data to Personalize Client Communication

One of the most significant advantages of technology is how it helps you maximize the data you have on hand. You can use existing data to improve communication accuracy and provide each patient with a personalized experience. 

For example, a patient sheet makes it easier for you to send birthday reminders or relevant messages. If you know a particular patient is a cat owner, you can even send them a cat-related holiday greeting to get their attention and entice them to return to your practice. 

Technology can also make it easier for your team to collect client data. While you should provide the option for manual sign-up forms, a virtual one can be helpful in data analysis. If the document is completed manually, you should digitize it as soon as possible to include the data in your database.

Streamlining Responses to Online Reviews

Let’s say someone leaves a review on Google or sends you a message on Instagram. With everything you have on your plate, monitoring these platforms and ensuring you’re constantly engaged might be challenging. 

Fortunately, technology can help you manage your online reputation through automated alerts and prompt responses. Every time a patient leaves a review about your clinic, your team is automatically notified so you can take action if needed. 

You can also prepare prompt responses to ensure every review is acknowledged. Whether the review is kind or not-so-flattering, you must pay attention to each and use them as lessons to improve your practice—there is room for improvement. 

Time is of the essence in reputation management. You should respond to each comment promptly to show how proactive you are in communicating with your patients. If you take too long to respond, some people might think you don’t value your customers. Keep in mind that these public comments are free for all.

Other Aspects of Effective Communication

Communication is more than appointment booking and reputation management. We’ll talk about other aspects of effective communication that veterinary clinics should familiarize themselves with to provide the best care possible. 

Crisis Communication

Maintaining open and timely communication during emergencies ensures clients are informed and reassured. Giving clients options to reach your team in emergencies can help them provide the best care. Sharing a phone number they can call if needed can save a life.

Crisis communication is not limited to emergencies. A work-related crisis or bad weather might affect business operations. Effective communication can help you manage these situations and keep everyone informed of what they need to know. Some clients might get upset if they visit your clinic and learn that your office is closed only once they try to open your front door. 

Educational Communication

Demonstrating your expertise in the industry is a stellar way to establish your clinic as a pet care provider they can rely on. You should proactively send newsletters, share social media posts, and improve in-person communication during client visits. 

If you have a website, you should share informative blog posts to help pet parents provide better care for their pets. These posts can drive current and potential clients to your clinic. If you’re working towards establishing your blog page, you can share trustworthy educational resources about pet care and treatments to increase understanding and engagement.

You can also explore leading your patients to your social media or other platforms. Simply sharing a helpful infographic posted on your Instagram can gain another follower.

Compliance and Legal Aspects

At the end of the day, you should ensure that you follow the law. While you should maximize the data you possess, you should ensure you comply with current regulations and privacy laws. The data you have should be treated with utmost confidentiality. You should not disclose information that might upset a client or get your clinic sued. 

Moreover, you’re not permitted to share client information with business partners. If you have another business, you shouldn’t share client details with your other team without the client’s permission.

At the same time, you should inform patients of their rights. Pet parents should know what they’re entitled to and the limitations they have under the law. If you think a pet’s story is enough to be shared through your platforms, you should be given consent before sharing their story. 

Partnering With iMatrix for Optimizing Your Communications Initiatives

Effective communication can enhance client satisfaction and improve pet care outcomes. Investing in your communication skills can elevate your business and keep everybody happy. Fortunately, technology has made it accessible even for small practices to enhance their veterinary communication. You don’t have to be a vast veterinary chain to have automated bookings.

Are you ready to improve clients through communication? iMatrix offers tailored packages so you can focus on delivering effective pet care. Call us at (888)792-8384 or click this link today to learn more.

The post Veterinary Client Communication – Benefits, Effective Strategies, and Other Aspects appeared first on iMatrix.

As a chiropractor, when you can’t make physical contact with your patients, what’s the next best thing? The answer is telemedicine. Telemedicine for chiropractors can provide an alternative to servicing your patients from the comfort of their own homes. 

 According to First Stop Health, 40% of millennials said a telemedicine option was extremely important and the vast majority of older adults were open to care through telemedicine. 

In order to fully understand how you can service your patients with telemedicine, it’s important that you know what telemedicine is and how it would be useful for your practice. Let’s begin. 

What is Telemedicine for Chiropractors?

Telemedicine visits within the healthcare industry have surged since COVID-19 began to spread across the globe. Patients continue to need safe and easy access to professional care. With telemedicine, they can communicate with you through video conferencing, email, texts, and live chat. 

Telemedicine services give you and your staff a secure way to help patients while practicing social distancing. They can use their smartphones, tablets, desktops, or laptops to have a video call with you and exchange information, give medical advice, monitor their condition, and more. 

Learn More: Sending Follow Up Emails to Build Patient Loyalty

3 Telemedicine Use Cases for Chiropractors 

As a chiropractor, you’re probably wondering how you could possibly use telemedicine when your work involves having physical contact with your patients. We’re here to tell you that it’s still possible for you to give your patients the help they need to manage their conditions. Here are the top telemedicine use cases for chiropractors. 

Read More: How to Utilize Telemedicine Services at Your Practice

1. Evaluation and Diagnosis 

If you have a patient that is experiencing symptoms from an unknown condition, this is one situation where you would have a video conference with them and inquire more about their condition. 

You can ask the same questions that you would ask if you were having an in-person meeting in order to figure out what is causing them pain. From there, you can assess their symptoms and consider the best course of action for their treatment plan. 

2. Follow-Up Consultations to Monitor Patients’ Progress

Your most loyal patients have probably been frequenting your practice for years now and you’re well-versed on their condition and what they need from you. With telemedicine, you can have follow-up consultations with them to see how their treatment plan is coming along. 

These virtual consultations can help gold your patients accountable and make sure they are staying on track with their treatment when they cannot go into your practice. 

3. Advice for At-Home Chronic Pain Management 

When a patient is experiencing chronic pain, their main priority is to find relief, and quickly so they can return to their daily lives without pain hindering them. Telemedicine is a quick way for patients to receive your professional advice about how to improve their condition at home. 

They can practice movements, certain sleeping positions, better posture, and exercises that will help with pain management. 

Conditions That Can Be Helped With Telemedicine

Although patients may not be able to receive a spinal adjustment without coming to your office, if they have a musculoskeletal disorder or other conditions that cause chronic pain, you can provide them with at-home remedies or exercises that offer them relief. 

If someone has chronic neck pain, you can discuss some stretches or exercises that they can perform at home or ones that they have done in your office that have worked in managing their pain. Some common conditions that you can help with through the use of telemedicine are: 

• Back or neck pain
• Migraines
• Sports injuries
• MS
• Joint pain
• Herniated disk
• Posture
• Vertigo

The Pros of Telemedicine For Your Practice  

Whether you are extremely familiar with the use of telemedicine or not, using it at your practice can be beneficial. Some of the most important benefits it can have for your business are: 

• You’ll see a decrease in missed appointments. 
• You’ll see an increase in staff productivity.
• You can monitor your patient’s treatment completion. 
• Your practice will maximize revenue because you can have virtual visits with more patients. 
• You can give care to patients in remote locations that generally don’t have access to healthcare specialists in their area. 

Why Your Practice Needs Telemedicine Services

Utilizing telemedicine services isn’t just helpful for your practice to continue to see patients, it offers some pros for your patients as well. Some of the positives for your patients are: 

• Patients do not have to travel to your office for their appointment. 
• Scheduling for virtual visits meets the needs of your patients. 
• Patients are more comfortable at home. 
• Your patients won’t be exposed to anyone who could potentially have COVID-19

Changing Your Approach to Chiropractic Care During COVID-19 

Making adjustments to be able to remotely service your patients is not a problem that you see every day. But telemedicine can offer a simple solution to still help your patients when they need your medical expertise the most. 

Telemedicine is a supplement to helping your patients heal or manage their chronic condition from their home, but when life begins to normalize again, it’s important that you’re prepared for what comes next. Read our ebook to find out how to navigate your practice management strategy after COVID-19. 

Do you want to get started with telemedicine? 

Let us help you meet all your patients’ needs by getting started with your first month of telemedicine for free. Give us a call at 800.792.8384 or click here to get started with telemedicine.

The post How to Leverage Telemedicine for Your Chiropractic Practice appeared first on iMatrix.

According to First Stop Health, 79% of Americans believe scheduling a telemedicine appointment is more convenient than arranging an in-person follow-up. 

Your practice can gain new patients easily by providing virtual care. Telemedicine reduces no shows, increases revenue, and improves patient engagement. You’ll be able to securely communicate with your patients in real-time using telecommunication technology. Before we dive into the use cases for telemedicine at your practice, let’s first understand the technical aspects of telemedicine for ophthalmologists.

What is Telemedicine?

Ophthalmologists use telemedicine to deliver high-quality eye care through digital medical equipment. The majority of the current telemedicine services focus on patient screenings using software for diagnosing diseases and reporting results.

You and your patients will need certain tools to use telemedicine. These tools include a laptop, smartphone, tablet, or any wireless device equipped with a camera. In order to securely connect, you and your patients will also need to install a telemedicine app or software into your wireless device.
Now that you know what telemedicine is and the equipment you may need, let’s dive into the used cases.  

Learn More: How to Utilize Telemedicine Services at Your Practice

4 Telemedicine Use Cases for Ophthalmologists

• Retinal Screenings 
• Comprehensive Eye Exam 
• Anterior Segment Disease
• Macular Degeneration  

 1. Retinal Screenings

You can remotely assess for diabetic retinopathy using camera sensors and portable fundus cameras. According to Retina Today, by the year 2030 telemedicine will be used for approximately 45 million patients with diabetes in the United States. 

The rapid growth of new camera and scanning technologies, allows you to easily obtain and read eye images faster using telemedicine communication tools in a remote area. As a result, you’ll be able to provide early detection preventing blindness and increasing patient outcomes virtually. 

2. Comprehensive Eye Exam

You can easily conduct an eye exam anytime and anywhere for your patients. You’ll virtually meet using video-conferencing tools to evaluate and diagnose your patient’s eye condition. During and after the exam, your patients can conveniently ask questions regarding any eye problems they may have using a patient portal. 

 3. Anterior Segment Disease

Take a quick anterior segment photo for your patient’s record easily with telemedicine. During a live-streamed consultation, you can evaluate their eyes using a portable digital slit-lamp for assessing anterior segment. To find out how you and your patients can set up your smartphones for slit-lamp photography click here. 

 4. Age-Related Macular Degeneration 

You can virtually assist your patients in detecting early signs of age-related macular degeneration. Patients can use a home-based tablet device, like an iPad, to monitor their retinal sensitivity for intermediate age-related macular degeneration. 

When to schedule a virtual appointment?

Virtual appointments are convenient for you and your patients. Sometimes your patient may be experiencing a problem with their eyes, but it is not considered an emergency so they are reluctant to travel to your practice. You can simply schedule a virtual visit and provide at-home treatment plans or optimal eye health advice. 

If your patients have questions regarding a new medication and how it may affect their eyes, a virtual visit can take place instead of a drive to your practice. Virtual visits are also beneficial for post-surgery patients and after initial visits as a follow-up. 

Outrank your ophthalmology competitors

With telemedicine, you can easily expand your specialties since you can deliver telemedicine consultations from any location. This sets you apart competitively, which, in turn, further increases your revenue. Are you ready to generate more patients and outrank your ophthalmology competitors? 

Get started with telemedicine 

Let us help you get started with telemedicine with your first month free so your ophthalmology practice can keep caring for your patients virtually. Give us a call at 800.792.8384 or click here to discover our digital marketing solutions.

The post How to Leverage Telemedicine for Your Ophthalmology Practice appeared first on iMatrix.

What is VCPR? 

Before you begin with telemedicine, it’s important to know what you’re dealing with in every patient. A term that describes this is Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship, or VCPR. In short, this term means that you know the animal well enough to diagnose and come up with a proper treatment plan because you’ve had the chance to physically examine the pet at your vet clinic.
Learn More: How to Utilize Telemedicine Services at Your Practice
If the pet has been to your office on more than one occasion, then you have established a relationship with it, along with its owner and already have medical records on file. This means you’re aware of the needs of the pet and can provide care.
VCPR is required by law in many states in the U.S. because it makes a significant difference when you are familiar with the patient and their history. If you have established a VCPR with a pet, you can work remotely with the use of technology to continue to deliver treatment. 

Telemedicine for Veterinarians

The methods in which you deliver treatment to your patients can also be done in more than one way. You can communicate with your clients via: 

• Video conference
• Email
• Telephone
• Live chats
• Text messages

You and your client can decide which method of communication is the best based on their circumstances. If you need to examine their pet, then video conferencing would be the best option. If they just have a quick question or need general advice, then a telephone call, email or live chat should suffice. 
Read More: Sending Follow Up Emails to Build Patient Loyalty

6 Use Cases for Veterinary Telemedicine 

With telemedicine, you can still work to provide your clients and their pets with the care they need. Here are some ways to do this at your practice. 

1. Triage

You’ll be able to assess an animal’s health via video consultation and determine whether they need emergency care or not. You determine how urgent the situation is and whether the owner needs to bring their pet in to see you, a veterinary professional, or another specialist. 

2. Hospice Care

Watching a pet’s health decline is never easy for a pet owner. If an owner chooses hospice care, it can make the process a little less gut-wrenching because they see your veterinary staff as a support system. 
If a patient is in your care, effective communication with the family can be extremely helpful in assisting them through the grieving process. 
Weekly or daily check-ins can be positive for the pet and its owners. You can send them photographs, emails with updates, or videos about their pet’s condition.

3. Post-Operative Care

Has a pet recently undergone a surgical procedure? If so, you understand that they must be monitored in order to make sure their recovery is going according to plan. Whether that’s monitoring if the pet is getting too much physical activity to properly heal, taking its medication, or observing the incision for infection, they need to be examined via video. 
You can perform a follow-up and see how the pet has been doing since they had the surgery. Every procedure is different for every pet and their recovery depends on their age and condition so it will vary, but telemedicine gives you the chance to check on them while they go through this process. 

4. Dermatologic Conditions

If a pet has any sort of skin disorder that needs to be looked at in order to accurately determine their condition, you can use telemedicine to do so. 
For example, a client may have a pet that has a common skin condition like dry, flaky skin, allergic dermatitis, yeast dermatitis, mange, hair loss, etc., and needs your medical advice on how to care for it. In this case, look at the pet’s condition and diagnose them with the correct medication using a video call.

5. Electronic Prescriptions

Instead of using the traditional method of medical prescriptions, like receiving the information on a piece of paper, with telemedicine, you can digitally fill a prescription. You should first check your state’s requirements to make sure you follow the proper guidelines to provide your patients with a prescription for their condition. 

6. Behavior Issues or Training

Whether it’s non-stop barking, destroying furniture, digging, pulling on the leash, or chewing up things around the house, some owners have difficulties training their pet to behave. 
Although they may not be able to physically come into your office, you can help them virtually get to the root of the problem and stop their pet from behaving that way. They’ll have access to expert advice and tips from you on the best way to improve their pet’s behavior. 

Veterinary Telemedicine Benefits 

Adopting telemedicine at your veterinary practice can be cost-effective, reduce canceled appointments, keep you in contact with patients, and decrease exposure to potentially contagious individuals. So, what are you waiting for? Now is the perfect opportunity to begin utilizing these services to give care to your pet patients. 

Do you want to get started with telemedicine? 

Learn how you can get your first month of telemedicine services for free and continue helping your pet patients remotely when you click here to get started or give us a call at 800.792.8384.

The post How to Leverage Telemedicine for Your Veterinary Practice appeared first on iMatrix.

With Patient Portal, your patients can check in on their health information all within a secure portal account accessible through your website.

In this secure portal account, patients can easily access and manage all communication about their health. Patients can request a future appointment, view upcoming scheduled appointments, and complete online forms, saving you time and resources.

4 Ways to Drive Engagement With Your Patient Portal

By allowing patients to manage some of their information without calling your practice, you have another way to engage your current patient base. Take advantage of this by utilizing each feature to nurture the relationships you have with patients.

Digital Sign Up

Easily invite patients to their personal portal via email. Utilize this opportunity by including reasons why the patient portal is a key way to keep up with their health information and have access to your office over a secure messaging platform.

When patients receive their email, it’ll include a registration link that expires to keep their information secure. By letting patients know that the link does expire, you can create a sense of urgency for them to sign up and start using their portal right away.

Appointment Dashboard

Patient recall is important for any small or medium-size medical practice. Did you know that a 5% increase in customer retention can boost a company’s profitability by 75%? Give patients access to their past and upcoming appointments.

Enhance their experience with the option to request or confirm an appointment. This added ability to book an appointment and check on it later will ensure a higher patient recall rate in addition to text messaging and email reminders.

Plus, by checking in on their appointments or requesting their next appointment, you are continuing to build engagement with your patients.

Secure Messaging

You can be confident that all your sensitive patient communications, including messages sent to your patients directly, will remain secure in Patient Portal.

This is a great way to share results with a patient who would prefer to communicate via messaging or is unavailable for phone calls. You have the added safety of a security system to ensure that your patient’s information will get to them and only them.

Patient Forms

Sometimes patient forms in the office can be a hassle for both your office staff and the patient. Streamline the process by sending your patients digital forms for new patient intake, prescription refills, and more. Let patients follow the status of forms they’ve submitted.

Consider setting up messaging that highlights what a new patient will experience during their first visit. Include information about when to arrive at the office, where to check-in, and what to expect during their first exam. Then share what steps they can do before coming into the office.

Add Patient Portal Access to Your Website Today

Interested in adding a patient portal with access to health information to your website? Give your patients direct access to manage their health 24/7 with Patient Portal.

Check out these other helpful resources…

4 Content Tips to Boost Engagement
5 Benefits of Using Social Media for Healthcare Practices
How to Turn Website Visits Into Office Visit

The post Increase Engagement with Patients Through Patient Portal appeared first on iMatrix.

With Pet Nexus, now available from VetMatrix and Demandforce, your clients will be able to check in on their pet health information all within a secure pet portal account accessible through your website. Interested in learning more? Read on!

1. Secure Pet Health Information at Your Clients’ Fingertips

In this secure pet portal account, pet owners can easily access and manage all communication about their pets to and from their veterinarian. Pet owners can request a future appointment, view upcoming scheduled appointments, and complete online forms requested by their veterinarian.

The Pet Nexus pet portal has the following six components, which can be accessed from the left navigation bar: Home, Pet Profile, Appointments, Messaging, Online Forms, and Account Settings.

2. View Information at a Glance

To set up their pet portal account, clients will be sent an email from the veterinary staff to log into their portal for the first time. When your clients log in to their pet portal account they will be greeted with a home page that will direct them to where they need to go.

From the Home page, pet owners can view the following at a glance:

1. Summary for each pet
2. Secure messages received
3. Forms recently submitted
4. Most recent upcoming and/or past appointments

3. Tailored Pet Profiles

With a customized experience, your clients will feel even more connected to you as their pet health provider. Within the pet portal, they’ll have the ability to view each pet individually with information pertaining to the patient.

The Pet Profile page contains the following details for each pet:

1. Pet demographics, including name, age, type, birthday, weight, and gender.
2. Details and status of the pet’s next appointment.
3. Details and status of the pet’s last appointment.
4. Recommendations with upcoming due dates and request an appointment button.
5. Recent activity and status of upcoming and past appointments.

It’s easy to switch between multiple pet profiles when a client is logged in. So taking care of a multiple pet household can be done with ease. To swap between multiple pet profiles, click the arrow next to the pet’s name at the top of the page to choose a different one.

4. Request and View Appointments

By default, the Appointments tab will display a timeline of Upcoming Appointments for all pets. Pet owners can review appointment details and status, confirm the appointment, and add it to their calendar. Click Past Appointments to switch to that view. Click All Pets on the top left in either view to filter the list for only one pet.

To request an appointment, clients will:

1. Click the Request Appointment button on the top right of any page
2. Choose up to three preferred Dates and one Time.
3. Select the Service and Pet for the appointment.
4. Add optional Comments and Questions.
5. Click Submit.

5. Message Back & Forth with Clients

Making communication a number one priority, pet owners can message back and forth with their veterinarian from the Messaging page.
Options include:

• View and respond to messages
• Compose messages
• Save drafts
• Add attachments to messages Note: Video files are not permitted.
• View sent messages
• Delete messages

Pet owners can also complete Online Forms requested by their veterinarian and review previously submitted forms. Veterinarians and staff will have the ability to display up to six forms. Within the portal, there will be a section that lists a summary of the forms the pet owner has recently submitted.

Veterinary staff will have the ability to send emails to pet owners requesting that they log in to their portal to fill out any online forms needed prior to a visit or procedure. The client will need to follow the instructions on that email to set up and access their portal. If they cannot locate the email, an invitation can be resent.

Get Started with Pet Nexus Today

Interested in adding a pet portal with access to pet health information to your website? Give your clients direct access to manage their pets’ health 24/7 with Pet Nexus. Click here to learn more.

The post Top 5 Benefits of Adding a Secure Pet Portal Account to Your Vet Website appeared first on iMatrix.

Patient recall not only helps you provide your patients with the care they need, it also increases revenue at your business. Existing customers typically account for 65% of a company’s overall business. Plus, patient retention is less costly than acquiring new patients.

Looking to improve patient retention and recall rates at your practice? Try these 4 tips to create a patient retention strategy that works for your business.

5 Customer Relationship Management Strategies to Improve Patient Recall

1. Create a professional website.

Your practice’s website serves as a representation of your business. If it is out of date and missing information, both current and potential patients may fear that your practice isn’t credible.

A thoughtfully designed, optimized website will allow patients to easily locate your information online so that they can call to make an appointment, access educational resources, check patient records, or otherwise interact with your business.

[Directory listing image or example. I’m sure we have one of these already created]

2. Standardize your business listings.

When a patient wants to make an appointment with you, they may stumble across your practice’s business directory listings before your website. That’s why it’s important to take ownership of your directory listings and standardize your NAP (name, address, and phone number) across the web.

A Google My Business Listing is especially important for your practice. This listing will populate on the right hand side of your Google search results page when accessed via desktop and as the top listing when accessed via mobile device. Many web users won’t scroll very far past this result, as 67% of clicks go to the first five search results on Google.

This listing also enables users to click-to-call or navigate to your practice directly from their smartphone. An old address or incorrect phone number could mean that you miss out on a recall appointment.

Not convinced your practice needs business directory listings? Check out this article.

3. Provide excellent customer service.

Have you ever been to a restaurant that served amazing food but had a rude or disinterested staff? That experience probably deterred you from visiting that restaurant again, right?

Even if you provide quality patient care, your clientele may be less likely to return to your office if you don’t prioritize great customer service. In fact, 53% of patients value exceptional customer service in a healthcare provider. Consumers are also willing to spend 17% more at a company that practices this essential business strategy.

Set yourself apart from your local competition by paying extra attention to your customer service and patient relationship management protocols. Take a peek at this blog post for inspiration.

4. Maintain communication with patients.

Take time to create a patient relationship management strategy that includes communication with your clientele. Patient communications, such as appointment reminders, educational resources, social posts, and email updates, can help keep you at the forefront of patients’ minds.

About ⅔ of patients like to receive appointment reminders from their healthcare providers, whether this be via phone, text, or email. These days, text by far outranks other methods of communication, with 79% of patients claiming they prefer texts from providers.

Regularly scheduled email content also allows you to update patients on your services, offer special discounts, and provide informational resources that will help them through their health journey.

Consider employing an automated patient relationship management system that saves your staff time on tasks like appointment reminders or confirmations.

5. Create a pleasant office environment.

Create a clean and comfortable environment so that both your patients and staff will enjoy their time at your office!

Healthcare offices can often be rigid and uninviting, but they don’t have to be. Try adding a splash of color to your walls or place decorations throughout the office. In the waiting room, offer conveniences for your patients, like charging stations, water, and refreshments so that they feel more at ease. These little luxuries can go a long way.

Download our free tip sheet for more helpful patient recall tactics

To learn more ways you can improve patient recall at your practice, download our free tip sheet! We will list four more methods that will help you bring more patients back into your office. Each tip is easily actionable, meaning you can put them into play at your practice starting today.

Get your copy by clicking the image above.

Take control of your practice’s marketing plan with these helpful articles.

Why Your Local Business Needs a Professional Website
Tips to Convert Website Visits Into Clients
How to Maximize the Efficiency of Your Local Directory Listings

The post 5 Ways to Improve Patient Recall at Your Practice appeared first on iMatrix.

But what if we told you that the secret to improving patient retention is more simple than you might think?

One of the most important, but often overlooked, factors to increasing patient retention is… drumroll please… an integrated patient relationship management strategy!

Patient relationship management refers to a system that is implemented to ensure that patients are receiving the highest quality care at each stage of their healthcare journey. From their first phone call to their tenth appointment with you, your PRM strategy should inform how your patients are treated and cared for at your office.

In addition to boosting patient retention, an effective patient relationship management system can also reduce no-shows, increase patient recall, streamline your office efficiencies, and create a positive reputation for your practice.

Wondering how you can get started? Follow these 3 easy steps to developing a patient relationship management strategy for your practice.

1. Provide Excellent Customer Service

While this one may seem obvious, exceptional customer service is a cornerstone of any great PRM strategy, even in the healthcare industry. In fact, 53% of patients list customer service as an important value in a healthcare provider.

Failure to deliver good customer service could be catastrophic for patient retention. Companies will lose about 71% of consumers due to poor customer service. Don’t worry, though. Your practice won’t become a part of that statistic if you take measures to provide consistent quality customer service.

How to make a great first impression

The first place to start with great customer service is at a patient’s first interaction with you. Research suggests that you and your practice have about 7 seconds to make a good first impression on a potential client. We know this sounds a little intimidating, but there are steps you can take to make sure you are putting your best foot forward.

1. Create a professional website.

A well-designed professional website signals to both current and potential patients that your practice is a credible. Make sure your website is mobile-responsive, user-friendly, and easy to navigate so that your patients can learn everything they need to know about your practice and services. Bonus points if they can contact you or request appointments directly through your site!

2. Wow patients on the first phone call.

Have you ever called a business only to reach an unenthusiastic, unhelpful service representative? This can instantly impact your judgement about the business, maybe even causing you to hang up and call another company.

Train your staff members on how you would like them to talk with your patients, both on and off the phone. If there are certain greetings you prefer or language you would like them to use, let them know. You may also want to create print outs for new employees that are learning the ropes.

Don’t forget, cheerfulness and politeness go a long way!

2. Manage Your Online Reputation

Business directory listing sites often have a feature that allows consumers to leave ratings and reviews about businesses on the platform.

When current patients go online to find your phone number or address, they may stumble across these business directory listings. Do you know what kind of feedback is your practice receiving online? Considering 90% of people are influenced by online reviews, you want to make sure it’s positive!

To learn more about generating reviews for your practice, click here.

3. Maintain Patient Communication

Communication is a fundamental aspect of any successful patient relationship management strategy. It allows you to truly create positive relationships between your patients and your practice, which in turn can increase your patient retention rate.

Between emails, social media, and traditional phone calls, there are countless ways you can maintain communication with your patients. It’s important that you distinguish which kinds of information should be translated in which medium. For example, educational resources and monthly offers should probably be sent through email or posted to your Facebook page. However, appointment reminders may have better visibility when sent through text message.

Text has surpassed email and phone calls as patients’ most preferred method of communication, with 79% of people agreeing that they like text messages from their provider. To find out which medium is best for your patients, just ask! You can do this by either including this question on an intake form or your staff can simply take note of their preferences.

Short on time? You may want to consider an automated patient relationship management system that will save your staff valuable time on administrative tasks.

Implement a PRM Strategy at Your Practice

The three simple methods we covered in this article will help you create an effective patient relationship management strategy designed to inspire patient retention at your practice.

Want to take things a step further? We can help you with goals like increasing your website’s ranking on Google, building your social media following, and targeting local patients with paid advertising. Contact us to learn how we can help you reach your business goals.

For more information on how to foster healthy patient relationships, check out these resources

How to Encourage Clients to Leave Feedback
Top 6 Ways to Engage With Your Patients
7 Tips to Build Patient Loyalty

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The post The Secret to Improving Patient Retention appeared first on iMatrix.

Creating and retaining great patient relationship management for your clientele every time they come to your office should be an objective at each and every appointment. To make sure they have the best patient experience and are satisfied with your services, there are a few key principles you should follow.

Here are 7 tips for you and your staff to provide great customer service for your chiropractic patients.

7 Customer Service Tips for Chiropractors

1. Keep your word.

This goes without saying, but when you tell your patients that you are going to do something, you need to keep your word. Often times patients are promised things that they may never receive.

For example, if you are working with a patient that has recently been in an auto accident and you tell them, “we’ll have you fixed up in six short weeks,” they are expecting that their injuries to be healed in that amount of time that you’ve given them.

But, when that six weeks is over and they haven’t made as much progress as you told them they would, that can affect your credibility. Your patient may feel like you’re not trustworthy because you didn’t keep your word. Be mindful when speaking to patients and include disclaimers when going over what can be expected from their treatments.

Instead of telling them, “you’ll be healed in six weeks,” tell them, “you’ve suffered quite a few injuries, but my staff and I are here to help you heal as fast as we can. Typically, this can take anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks.”

2. Listen to your patients.

When your patient tells you a complaint they have, whether it’s about pain they’re experiencing or a critique on your services, you should take that into account. This is your opportunity to build patient loyalty.

Listening to whatever grievance they have proves to them that you value their input and care about their experience with your practice. It’s then your job to take those complaints into account and do something about it. Take action to solve the problem so that your patient will be satisfied with the results.

If they tell you that the receptionist at the front desk was impolite when they checked in for their appointment, what action can you take to make sure that their experience is better on their next visit? Be sure to investigate the claim before making any decisions on how to rectify the situation and listen to your staff’s accounts as well.

3. Be honest when you make mistakes.

Did your staff member tell a patient that they would email them a confirmation about their next appointment and forget to do so? When your team realizes the mistake, reach out to your patient to extend an apology and fix the problem. Also, figure out what you can do the next time around to avoid making that same mistake.

Try an automated patient relationship management system that can help you maintain consistent communication with clients and improve your patient retention rates.

4. Respect their time.

As a healthcare provider, your schedule is often very busy. We get it! But, so is your patient’s. They may have other things going on in their day and this was the only time they could fit an appointment with you. Which means that you should always be on time.

If you’re running a little behind because you’re speaking with the patient before them, notify the next patient so they can adjust for the time change. Try your best to avoid leaving them in the dark. If they are in your waiting room, have your staff give them updates and offer refreshments so that your patient knows they haven’t been forgotten.

5. Thank your patients.

It’s important that you remember to thank your patients for their business. They chose your clinic above others and they love to know that you appreciate them.
Tell them thank you every so often. You could even extend an offer to them, such as a discount on their next visit, to show that you value them as a loyal customer.

6. Be respectful.

Your staff should always treat each and every patient that comes in with courtesy and respect. Respect is an important aspect of any business, but especially for patients and healthcare providers.

Being respectful creates a healthy environment for everyone to work together and get the best results for your patients.

7. Make a good impression every time.

Whether it’s their first appointment or tenth, your patients should always be extended a warm welcome. Whenever they come in for a visit, treat them the way that you would want to be treated. Say hello, greet them with a smile, and establish eye content. You want their appointment to be as pleasant as possible so that they will continue to come see you.

Patient Relationship Management

Maintaining a healthy and positive relationship with your patients is of the utmost importance to healthcare providers. Your patients should be able to completely trust you and know when they walk into your office that they’ll receive the best services you can provide.

You and your staff must work hard every day to give each patient the proper time and care needed. Incorporating these easy customer service tips will help you inspire patient loyalty for life!

For more information on how to foster healthy patient relationships, check out these other resources

3 Tips For Customer Service Success
Top 6 Ways to Engage With Your Patients and Take Your Relationship To The Next Level
7 Tips to Build Patient Loyalty

The post 7 Tips to Provide Great Customer Service For Your Chiropractic Patients appeared first on iMatrix.

Examining a young patient that is anxious can be very difficult and make the process even more challenging. There’s a possibility that the situation may become emotionally stressful for the child when you are providing care, and sometimes even the parents of the child are not sure how to calm them. The whole situation can become a little… chaotic.

It’s important to remain level headed and make the child feel as comfortable as possible in your office. In order to make your appointments with children go smoothly, check out these tips for how to ease anxiety at their first eye care appointment.

Tip #1: Remain calm (even when things get tense)

Children are very observant and many times they will feed off of your energy. When someone is anxious, you can often sense it through their body language or how they speak.

When you are giving an eye exam to a younger patient that is acting out because they are scared, it can be easy to become agitated. But, if the child sees that you are becoming irritable, it may escalate the situation. The parents may also become frazzled and become problematic as well.

When you are feeling frustrated, keep your composure and remember the child is behaving this way because they are frightened. As an eye care professional, you should be completely calm and speak confidently to the patient and their parent.

This way, you are able to complete the examination or therapy session and gain the trust of both the child and their guardian.

Tip #2: Give a tour of the office and talk through the process

When your first-time patient arrives, even if you can’t tell that they’re nervous, offer a tour of your office before you begin your examination. This will help the child get familiar with the environment along with the process of checking their eyes.

Allow them to also get familiar with the tools you use as well. What exactly will you be using during the appointment and what does each thing do? Don’t just talk to the parent, make sure you acknowledge the child because they are the ones feeling anxious. And don’t hesitate to use the technical terms for each tool. Kids do not need made-up words for different tools and may actually be more interested in hearing exactly what the tool is called versus a nickname. 

You can also create a checklist of everything you will be using for each of you and as you go through the process, check those things off the list together. The checklist will create a more interactive experience and create a game out of their appointment.

Communicate with the child and clearly state that everything will be okay and that there’s nothing to be afraid of. This will help them to become more comfortable with you and the new space.

Tip #3: Practice Empathy

When you were a child, did you ever feel scared you were to be in a strange place with strange people? Who were they anyway? Why did they have to pat your head so much? That’s how many children may feel coming into a new doctor’s office.

It’s imperative that you empathize with them and understand the fear they’re experiencing. Don’t just disregard their feelings and try to rush through the appointment to get it over with.

If this is their first time at the eye doctor, then you want to create a good experience for them so that they don’t feel nearly as anxious at their next appointment.

Tip #4: Distract Them

Ah, the power of distraction. Here, hold onto this toy for good luck! Whoa, is that Superman on your shirt? He’s my favorite! Did you know each kid who completes their exam gets a toy from the treasure chest?
Sometimes all you have to do to calm your little patient’s nerves is talk to them about things that are a bit more fun than their appointment might be. Ask them about their favorite cartoon, toy, or subject in school. Tell a silly joke that makes them laugh or promise them a treat at the end of their appointment.

Engage with them and encourage conversationto take their minds off of what you’re actually doing. The more they talk to you, the less they’ll focus on how fearful they are about the appointment. And honestly, this tactic can be great for anxious adults, too!

Tip #5: Offer a Treat

After you’ve completed everything, offer up a treat to the child for being so brave and making it through the entire appointment. This is your opportunity to get creative. If you’re not sure what to do, you could:

• Have a treasure chest full of toys to choose from
• Give a lollipop (with permission from the parent beforehand)
• Let them choose from a sticker book

Think of other things that children may enjoy receiving as a reward. They’ll be so happy they received a treat after their eye care appointment that they’ll be excited for the next time they see you.

After the parents see how well you handled dealing with their anxious child, they’ll be inclined to come back to your office.

Patient Retention

Learning how to ease child anxiety at your practice is important because you will almost certainly work with a young patient at some point in your career. You should be prepared to keep the situation under control so you, the child, and the parent will be satisfied with the visit.

When the parent is satisfied, this encourages them to book a second appointment with you and in turn, increase your patient retention.
As long as you remember to put yourselves in the child’s shoes and try to understand their emotions, it will make the experience much more pleasant for everyone involved.

Learn more about patient retention with these articles…

Client Retention Strategies That Work
Top 6 Ways to Engage With Your Patients and Take Your Relationship To The Next Level
7 Tips to Build Patient Loyalty
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The post How to Ease Children's Anxiety at Their First Appointment appeared first on iMatrix.