Use those appointment confirmation calls for patient education, too

You probably remind your patients of their upcoming appointments. Maybe your calls are automated, or maybe they’re made my someone in your office. Or perhaps you just send a postcard.

So why not use that contact as an opportunity to encourage your patients to come in with a list of questions? That can serve many purposes, all of which can increase patient satisfaction:
— the patient comes prepared
— you find out quickly what the patient is concerned about
— you can efficiently address the patient’s most pressing needs

Many patients don’t know what they want to know, or don’t know how to ask for it, or get anxious and forget what they meant to ask. You might want to refer them to the Question Builder on the AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) website. This Question Builder asks them what sort of appointment they have, (To talk about a health problem, To get or change a medicine, To get medical tests, or To talk about surgery), then walks them through the steps of formulating their questions.

Send them to this website:

http://www.ahrq.gov/questions/qb