You have founded your hospital with the selfless and altruistic goal of helping and healing  people and touching lives. However, practically speaking, you have to keep your sights on your hospital’s bottom line too. Healthcare, even if the noblest business of them all, is an enterprise nonetheless and you will have to ensure that you stay ahead of your competition at all times so that you can garner profits.

How do you stay ahead of your competition? Here are six simple tips.

1. Create an amazing website

In today’s times, when web savvy patients browse the internet before selecting a hospital, your hospital’s identity is defined and highlighted by your website. This  is the first connect that your potential clients have with your hospital. Since the first impression should be the best impression, you should ensure  that your website makes a good impression on your potential patients by making it interesting, vibrant, interactive and informative.

Your future patients will get irritated if your website is not user-friendly and easily manoeuvrable and navigable. Hence, ensure that you develop your website well so that your potential patients get the confidence to choose your hospital over competitors.

2. Create an aura of comfort

Illness is a six-letter word that creates a lot of fear, anxiety and discomfort. Nobody likes to visit a hospital as they associate hospital visits with negative emotions like stress and pain. You should try to change this perception and enhance patient experience by adding a touch of comfort and class to your reception rooms, waiting rooms, patient rooms and common areas. This USP of comfortable environment  can give you an edge over competition.

Some ways to do this

1. Choose soothing colours like light pastels.
2. Bring a bit of nature to your interiors with fountains, landscape paintings, potted plants.
3. Ensure that the spaces are well-ventilated and well-lit.
4. Channel natural sunlight using air domes and large windows.
5. Play soothing meditative music in the waiting rooms.
6. Ensure that common areas like waiting rooms and passages are clutter-free.
7. Use convertible furniture to optimize space and utility.
8. Use signages to give directions.

3. Friendly team of experts

Your team is the true face of your hospital. A hospital stay can be a stressful time for a patient. He/ she will appreciate a team of professionals who can address their concerns with patience and understanding. Ensure that your team has the emotional bandwidth as well as the academic qualifications necessary to deal with tense patients, worried family members.. Train your staff to have the 4 C’s : Compassion, commitment, confidence  and consistency.

       A dedicated and empathetic workforce will definitely keep your hospital miles ahead of your     competitors.

4. Minimize hassles

Nobody likes to wait. Studies have shown that patients avoid hospitals where there is a lot of waiting. This is because in today’s hectic times, time is too priceless to be spent in endless queues. Patients are definitely inconvenienced by long delays in appointment taking,

waiting rooms, billing counters etc. Minimize this wastage of time by scheduling

appointments as per slots, using efficient hospital information systems to speed up the billing and insurance processes. Develop standard operating protocol for each of these processes. Reducing waiting times and hassles will optimize patient experience and help you stay ahead in the race.

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5. Advertise and promote

In today’s times of cut-throat competition, it is just not enough to be excellent, you have to proclaim and shout that you are excellent from the highest roof. You have to build your hospital’s perception index and create a shining brand persona so that your potential patients will select your hospital among a crowd of competitors. Make your brand visible and relatable so that you can strike a connect with prospective patients. You can do this by developing and implementing an efficient advertising and promotional campaign. A unique logo, an effective tag-line and an attention-grabbing campaign can help you snatch your clientele from your competitors’ reach.

6. Relationship construction

A hospital that goes into the trouble of personalizing the whole patient experience surely gets many brownie points and comes first in the race. Take care to give reminders to your patients about appointments, scheduled diagnostic tests, podcasts, workshops, free camps etc. Also have a system in place to wish them on their birthdays and anniversaries and festivals. This social or relationship marketing effort will help you stay ahead of your competitors. Thus, staying ahead of competition is of paramount importance if you wish to garner profits and attain your future goals; use these simple tips to win the contest so that you can fulfil your dreams. If you need any help in this sphere, be sure to consult Hospertz, a leading healthcare consultant firm of India.

Blog has been written by Dr. Vishal Jadhav, a veteran in the field of hospital consultancy with a rich experience of more than 20 years and founder of the Healthcare Consults Firm, Hospertz.

Dr. Vishal Jadhav, Director

hospertz@gmail.com
+91 9867712705/ 9820833149