Conducting Patient Satisfaction Surveys

If used correctly, patient satisfaction surveys can help you keep your patients happy and your dental practice successful and profitable. However, if done incorrectly, dental surveys will simply be a waste of your time and that of your patients.

Conducting Productive Patient Surveys

Below are a few tips on how to make sure your dental surveys are informative and effective:

• Short and simple – If your survey is too long or if the questions become too detailed, your patients will lose interest and be less likely to participate.
• Constructive questions – Don’t ask questions with obvious answers. For example, if you ask a patient how it makes them feel when you’re running behind, the answer is clear. Only ask questions that allow you to make changes or improvements based on the answers.
• Take suggestions – Offer a space for your patients to make suggestions. This can be the most valuable part of your patient surveys. Make sure to ask what they enjoyed about their visit and what they felt could have used improvement.
• Follow through – Lastly, the information in these patient surveys is pointless unless you follow through with changes. Some will be simple, such as more up-to-date reading material or a better-stocked restroom. Others may take some extra work, like putting together more flexible payment plans or using simpler language when discussing dental problems or procedures.

Unless used correctly, dental surveys will offer little information or change. However, if you put together an effective patient survey and make sure to read and understand the concerns and suggestions of your patients, you’ll see a rise in patient satisfaction and perhaps even patient referrals.

If you’d like help putting together a patient survey, please don’t hesitate to contact CTC Associates. Our dental consultants are here for whatever you need.