New year, new you! Make 2021 a better experience (like that will be hard). From personalization to leveraging technology, your physical therapy clinic can improve your patient engagement in a way that benefits both your clinic and patients.
Make Initial Contact Memorable
Personalize, personalize, personalize.
Personalizing initial contact makes for a memorable experience. Physical therapy is a very personal and intimate experience for patients. Often you and your patient get to know each other pretty well over the course of treatment. You can make initial contact memorable by personalizing things like emails, text reminders, and even phone calls.
Virtually Establish Your Clinic
While we were all headed to a nearly digital-first world, 2020 has sling shot us into a seemingly further off future. Updating your webpage, Google page, and social media platforms to reflect your current hours, locations, etc. can help current and future patients find you in-person and online easier. This is especially important as hours and rules surrounding CoVid-19 continue to rapidly change.
Leverage Tech to Stay Connected
Thanks to tools like Google Hangout, Zoom, Skype, and other video messaging platforms, many physical therapy providers were able to continue care even during shutdowns. The best part about leveraging technology to stay connected and treat patients is that you are no longer confined to your local area. You can now provide treatment and direction regionally, nationally or even internationally.
Stay in Contact
Staying in contact with past patients assists in maintaining an ongoing relationship. With so many choices out there for physical therapy, it is likely that your past patients may forget they even went to you at one point. You can curtail this by sending out email newsletters, staying active on social, and even sending direct mail. You should want to maintain relationships with your patients to ensure that the progress they successfully achieved is still going strong.
Educate Past and Present Patients
Giving patients tips and tricks via newsletters or social media to utilize at home can help build trust. When you give out bits and pieces of free information you are letting patients know that it’s not just about profit for your physical therapy clinic; you genuinely care about their overall health and wellbeing.