Nowadays, Loyalty Programs are a common practice for many businesses. The effectiveness and awesome advantages of the solution play a pivotal role in advanced marketing strategies. No matter what kind of business you are running – a patient loyalty solution has become an integral part that must be incorporated into the healthcare ecosystem.

Similarly, Healthcare and Ambulatory services must have a Patient Loyalty Solution to boost customer rewards and drive high-quality referrals. It is always a good idea to reward your patients for their loyalty to your brand. In order to keep your customers engaged, and to be ahead of your competitors, implementing a patient loyalty program is a must.

It’s not buttering bread to win consumer loyalty for the healthcare services in 2018 and beyond.  A gamut of new technologies and innovations in features are coming up every day. Along with it, the competitors always remain on toes to go the extra mile in terms of benefitting the patients.

This has increased the expectation of the patients. A survey denotes that nearly one in 10 patients say they will switch providers if the service is poor. The number is only going to increase as alternatives continue to proliferate.

With the help of these core strategies, a healthcare business can earn patient loyalty in 2018 and beyond.

Convenience and Flexibility

• Easy access to the loyalty program is what the patients want. Even, they are willing to pay more to get a convenient service from the providers.  The features of the Patient Loyalty Program must-have functionality that is easy to use. This will enable the patients to avail the benefits and rewards without many hazards.

• Convenience acts as the foundation for earning patient loyalty. It is a functional benefit that needs to be implemented prior to deeper loyalty can be earned. Building convenience should be treated as an important part of your customer retention strategies.

• Convenience is not only important for the patients, but it’s also necessary for the frontline staff working for healthcare organizations. You must ensure that the staff can operate the program with confidence and smoothly. This is because; they can play a significant role in determining the success of the loyalty program. The employees will promote and market, advertise, signup patients, and engage them in the patient loyalty program.

• The Patient Loyalty Program must be scalable for any future integration of features and functionality. Business trends and strategies change with time. Maybe you have adopted a certain strategy in 2018 but wants to bring in advanced innovations next year to attract more customers and retain them. For that, the patient loyalty program needs to be revamped. Thus, flexibility is important, so that any modification can be done as and when required.

Patient Experience and Customer Service

• Satisfying patient experience is considered supreme for retaining customers. Better service, good treatments, and proper care of your patients will determine their retention. It has been noticed that investments in these programs are increasing gradually, as healthcare units want to improve the experience to prevent patient attrition.

• 50% of healthcare consumers say they would switch providers for great customer service. You will lose lots of patients if you provide inferior service to them. On the contrary, you are bound to get more new patients and retain existing ones if you enhance the service experience. Improving the patient experience positively impacts patient satisfaction, and thereby increasing the overall revenue and business growth.

• 24×7 patient service is also mandatory to be on your toes all the time. For any inquiry or issues raised by the patients, the healthcare units must react immediately without much delay. This will build trust and ensure a good experience.

Think Differently

• Healthcare systems need to move beyond the standard to build patient engagement and loyalty. Always think from the customer’s end and formulate a strategy that best suited them. Try to focus on the patient’s quality of life and engage them in a more powerful way.

• Promote and market your patient loyalty program on each and every channel. It helps to develop trust and build strong relationships between the provider and consumers. Effective marketing strategy enhances patient retention and also helps you get referrals.

• Be open to customer feedback always. It is an important resource that denotes what your patients likes and dislikes about the loyalty program. Based on the feedback you can re-engineer and formulate patient loyalty strategies. Also, let your clients know what you are doing for them. Patients look to doctors to provide help with their individual health issues.  It is necessary to explain how healthcare practice can help meet future needs.

To build a great patient loyalty program, put emphasis on patients’ interest for true health and wellness. Anything from a brand campaign to service line marketing must be built through the consumer empowerment lens.

These are some innovations healthcare practice can develop to retain customers and improve engagement. Of course, the strategic priorities will differ from organizations to organizations. But the bottom line will remain the same and that is to constantly improve patient loyalty and bring innovations into it.