Making sure we get it right

It's always a challenge to make sure our clients are getting the best service available, from best practice physiotherapy to effective and friendly reception. One way we do this is to ask our clients how we are doing, and how we could do better. The responses to our patient satisfaction survey are illuminating.

Results

50% of our patients ranked us 10/10 in satisfaction with our service.

88% of our patients rated us at 8/10 or higher.

Qualities our patients particularly liked were our professionalism (9 mentions), friendliness (12), care and attention (7), and the

physiotherapists' experience and effectiveness for their condition (14). Comments included:

"Physios experienced, patient and provided advice consistent with condition, overall professional & friendly staff"

"Good advice, expertise, good tips, always supportive"

"Friendly staff who understand brain injury, punctuality, availability - no waiting for weeks"

"Personal care & interest in people, expert treatment for individual problems"

"Advice & expertise worthy of recomendation"

"Friendly, respectful & approachable, clients individual needs recognised"

What to improve?

We are pleased that our clients identified factors we can improve upon, including: sharing information more effectively, providing more flexible length of appointment time, making physio available on Saturday mornings, continuing to extend depth of knowledge, providing appointment reminders, promoting teamwork for patient's outcomes, looking at fee structure, and ensuring availability of different treatment areas at Mount Waverley.

What next?

We have addressed some of the issues raised:

• Sms messages can be sent to your mobile if you would like a reminder of your upcoming appointment. If you do not already receive this service, just ask Michelle or Amy at reception.
• Saturday morning physiotherapy is now available at our Mount Waverley rooms. Please mention this to your physio or to reception when booking if you would like to access this time slot.
• The depth of knowledge of our physios underpins our ability to provide best practice physiotherapy. Over the past 12 months we have taken steps to formalise our inhouse clinical training program, and work will carry on in this area. In addition, we encourage our therapists to continue expanding their knowledge base, and are proud to report that 2 of our therapists have extended their study into Neurological Physiotherapy this year, and 2 more of our therapists have applied for postgraduate courses next year.
• We are aware that new patients enquiring about our physiotherapy will be able to find lower fees elsewhere. We offer a premium physiotherapy service, with physiotherapists who are extremely knowledgeable in their field, committed to providing the best outcomes for patients, and always seeking improvement in themselves. We will always help as much as we can when fees are a barrier to our practice, but recognise that at times this means assisting some to find an alternate service.

The other topics touched on will form part of our 2012 planning meeting this week. We bring together all our staff to clarify our focus for the coming 12 months and help develop strategies to improve our service