Cosmetic Medicine = Patient Complaints

In 2010, a Customer Experience Report showed that poor quality and rude customer service is the main reason why a customer leaves a businss. I'ts the same deal for your clinic. It is not about price, instead it all boils down to proper customer service.

Everyone's who's worked in any cosmetic practice has dealt with the overly-demanding, never happy patient, many of whom are particularly hard and abusive of your staff. The way you deal with these patients can have a pretty dramatic effect on how many headaches you have to deal with, and how productive your team is. (You'll also lighten the potential downside of any potential medical liabilities since patients who like their physicians are much less likely to sue.)

Here are some tips in dealing with irate patients and complaints in general:

Compose yourself. As Forbes puts it, Remember, the customer is not angry with you, they are displeased with the performance of your treatment or (most commonly) the quality of the service you provide. Your personal feelings are beside the point.Think about the situation positively.

Listen well. Give your complete focus to your customer, and make sure they know it. Allow your client to tell her side of the story. Do not interrupt her while he narrates his side of the story. Be an active listener.

Be emphatic. Your body language should communicate that you understand why your patient is upset. Empathize with her. Respect and understanding go a long way toward smoothing things over.

Apologize. The legitimacy of the customer's complaint does not matter. If you want to keep your patient and difuse the situation,  you will need to apologize for the problem that they have or perceive to be having. A simple and straightforward "I'm sorry" can do miracles in diffusing a customer's emotional rant.

Present a Solution. When you have the solution to the client's problem, tell her that you would correct the situation immediately. If you can't take care of it immediately, ask for your patients opinion on how she wants to address the situation. Allow her to identify what will make her happy. Work a solution together. Explain the steps that you are going to do to fix your patient's problem.

Take Action. It is important that you do what you have promised your client. This is crucial in fixing your relationship with unhappy patients. 

You can always go beyond expectations. You may also give out gift certificates or coupons to "compensate" for your client's inconvenience. You can make a follow-up call a few days later to your client to make sure that she is happy with the resolution.

Of course, experience is the best teacher. Every encounter with a client is a unique one but every experience is a great chance to improve your relationship.

Each complaint is an insight for you to improve your business better. Proper resolution of complaints will surely increase client loyalty.

Read more on:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/thesba/2013/08/02/7-steps-for-dealing-with-angry-customers/

http://www.restaurantdoctor.com/articles/complaint.html#ixzz3YqYaWMQZ

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/unhappy-customers.htm

Managing Patient Expectations

Are you making patients more attractive, or just making them think that they are?

In a recent small study, 50 people were asked to rate the appearance of people who had undergone facial surgery. The bottom-line: Surgical intervention shaved a few years off perceived age but did almost nothing to boost patients’ overall attractiveness.  

What’s at issue is patients’ expectations, said study lead author Dr. Joshua Zimm, an attending surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital and Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Institute of North Shore-LIJ Health System in New York City.

“When we’re doing this kind of surgery I’m telling patients that they’ll look fresher, more energetic and less tired, and we have some data in the literature that indicates you will look younger, as we found,” Zimm said. “But clearly I cannot say that they will look more attractive.”

Clarifying why someone elects to have cosmetic surgery is as important for the physician as it is for the patient. “The best motivation for cosmetic surgery is a healthy sense of vanity—emphasis on the word healthy,” says Timothy A. Miller, M.D., chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at UCLA. “There is nothing wrong with vanity, but when it becomes obsessive or the patient sees it as an avenue to changing the direction of his or her life, it can be a problem.” 

What patient doesn’t want to look their best? Most patients have very realistic expectations. But some patient expectations can stretch beyond reason. “If you expect cosmetic surgery to turn you into a movie star, you’re bound to be disappointed,” Dr. Miller says. “Also don’t count on surgery to save a rocky relationship, gain a promotion or improve your social life.” 

Maybe physicians in this space should refer to the hairstylists adage, “We use scissors, not magic wands.”

Dealing With Pain As A Physician

I admit it! I was channel surfing between CSPAN and the Lehrer News Hour...

...and not so accidentally, stumbled upon one of the Kardashian sisters getting some sort of "minimally-invasive" facial rejuvenation procedure in a posh Miami medical office. The procedure was fairly routine, but what really caught my eye was the incredible amount of pain this young lady was willing to endure. I reflected back to my training in Plastic Surgery and General Surgery, and realized how little attention we paid, as a community, to pain.

I often find myself bringing up to my patients a "Postop Pain Plan", only to find them caught in a moment of bewilderment. "I thought I'm not gonna feel anything", I hear sometimes. In recent years, the increasing dumbing down of medicine and plastic surgery in pop culture media, has some people denying the existence of pain after surgery. Furthermore, of the ones that do expect some postop pain, few expect to define a specific plan for managing that pain. Albeit, they come to me with much greater concerns about their appearances, but nonetheless, the change in appearance comes at a price.

As plastic surgeons, we need to address the issue of pain in a more sincere and serious manner. We need to stop painting rosy pictures and admit to our patients that surgery is painful, that what they are asking us to do is, unfortunately and necessarily, inflict pain. We need to implement a Pain Plan. A simple, lay-term, and effective protocol addressing individual patients' postop pain control needs. We also need to document the plan and incorporate it into our informed consent plan.

As patients, we need to inquire within. Ask our surgeons about the nature of the pain, the duration, the severity. We need to request a specific plan, and decide preoperatively how to manage the pain. But most importantly, we need to stop believing everything we see and read in the lay media. We need to realize that elective surgery is surgery nonetheless. It hurts, and we ask for it. So let's treat it like the serious business it is.

Keeping Your Aesthetic Patients Happy Is Good Business

Keeping patients happy makes sense, both to avoid problems and build your reputation and referral base.

Not all patients that state they had a poor experience from another provider are signaling the proverbial red flag. Most of these patients HAVE had an experience of poor treatment outcome.

And to add salt to their wound,the previous treating provider could care less!

We must keep in mind that for most of our patients, coming in for Medical Aesthetic treatments is an exciting and much anticipated experience.

The number one reason patients state they no longer go to their previous provider is, "He was a jerk!" Oddly enough, the number one complaint I hear regarding a female provider is "I had to wait too long." This is not to say there are no female jerks or that patients don’t have to wait too long to see a male provider. These statements are simply the most common that I hear from (from) my patients.

No one is perfect. I don’t care how good you are at fillers, Botox, lasers, and surgery. We’re human, and we have bad days too. Bottom line: If you did achieve a less than desirable outcome, fix it for heaven's sake! With a smile on your face. If you're running more than 15 minutes behind, be prepared to apologize profusely and don't let it happen again. At both our clinics over 50% of our new patients are by referral. The most common reason for these referrals: “They're so nice!” Patients in general have a sense of helplessness when it comes to being treated by a provider. Do not tell a patient what they have to do. This is not life or death nor a dictatorship. Our patients know that we truly love what we do and we care. You don’t have to be all hugs and kisses, but, you'd better have a smile and a few jokes up your sleeve. You must keep in mind that this is the grown up version of a trip to Disneyland. It’s an E ticket ride with a high price tag. This is not an area of medicine of need.

This is completely a "WANT" this treatment situation. We encourage our patients to tell us what they are looking to have done and then offer safe, sane treatment options for them. This gives the patient a greater sense of control, and a decreased sense of possibly being pressured. If they can't afford all of the treatments at one time, what ever you do, never pressure a patient! If they like the one treatment you do and you personally, they’ll be back. And that’s how you keep your patients.

Dealing With Anonymous Patient Reviews As A Physician

The internet is a double edged sword to the Plastic Surgeon.

Patients from near and far can read about and research our skill and services but at the same time a handful of malicious people can significantly tarnish a great reputation which we have strived to achieve and maintain.

As a surgeon and as a human I have always strived to maintain the highest ethical and moral pathway. Most of us went into medicine to help people. What we do as cosmetic surgeons may not save lives but it does save quality of life and that is evident in our patients' smiles and behavior after successful cosmetic surgery. As doctors we strive to achieve and maintain a pristine reputation but as in anything else in life, it is impossible to please all the people all the time.

The internet has given a voice to everyone but it seems like angry, bitter, malicious people take advantage of this soap box and platform much more often than normal happy folks. You can see this on comments on YouTube or blogs or chat rooms of all kinds - not just medical or plastic surgery related.

But in our field, we depend on our reputation and while you may have thousands of happy patients, a small handful of unhappy ones can affect your reputation. Personally I have seen that the vast majority of my negative online anonymous patient reviews or ratings are from people who I have either never seen in my office or have seen but refused to operate on as patients. I recently had a "1 star negative review" on YELP from a person who has never even come to my office nor met me but decided that she did not want to pay $100 for an hour of my time for a consult and felt obligated to give me a negative rating for not offering free consults! We have all had such occurrences. But how do you deal with it?

My method has always been dealing straight forward with any and all comments.  If it is out there then it begs clarification and a reply from my staff or office managers or even myself.  There has to be accountability.  In the restaurant industry, restaurants can actually review and rate their patrons, not just vice versa! As physicians, we have to respect patient confidentiality and HIPAA but that does not mean we must be silent and let any anonymous person's comments go without a reply or clarification especially when most of us work so hard to do the right thing and practice with skill, ethics and integrity.

Resources for physicians:

• Read: Reputation Management Part 1: Understanding what not to do online.
• Podium Special Offer for Members