One Thursday, Emma visited a chiropractor, Dr. Jacob, for getting treatment for her back and neck pain. After her appointment, Jacob personally made a follow-up phone call to Emma on Friday to see if everything met her expectations on the first visit.

Dr. Jacob asked her if there was anything else he could do to help. He also answered her questions and provided additional information on exercises that can help Emma relieve her back pain.

Emma was impressed by his follow-up and appreciated the extra care and attention he gave her. As a result, she told at least five people about her positive experience with Dr. Jacob. It was a gold star move by the doctor. His patients appreciated the extra effort he put into their care and felt valued and heard. With word-of-mouth referrals, Dr. Jacob increased his business by three-fold within a few months.

Just like Dr. Jacob, chiropractors who follow up with their patients are sure to see success in their practice and make a positive impact on the lives of those they treat.

Establishing an effective patient follow-up protocol is crucial for building trustworthy relationships with your patients. By regularly following up with patients, you can improve patient engagement and ensure that they stay on track with their treatment plans. Here are some tips for establishing an effective patient follow-up protocol using chiropractic software:

Why and When to Follow up with Patients 

Chiropractic clinics must reach out to patients following an appointment or in between appointments to:

• Monitor patients’ symptoms
• Reinforce care knowledge
• Provide relevant patient education
• Schedule follow-up visits
• Share educational resources
• Get patients back to the clinic

Choose the Ways Your Office Will Follow up 

a. Automated reminders

Automated reminders could be sent for appointments, follow-up visits, or educational material. Reminders help to ensure that patients receive regular updates about their health and stay connected before and after the visit.

 How chiropractic EHR software can help

Use your chiropractic software to send automated appointment reminders and follow-up messages. This can help reduce missed appointments and keep patients on track with their treatment plans. Automated messages can be customized to include specific information such as appointment dates and times, location, and any necessary instructions.

b. Texting

For patients who use text messaging, this approach can be effective for sending reminders and answering quick questions. Be sure that patients have opted for text communications.

How Chiropractic Software Can Help

Use your chiropractic software to send 2-way text messages. You don’t need to use your personal phone or any other software. With a 2-way texting solution integrated into the chiropractic practice management system, you can send secure messages right from your desktop, laptop, or PC. Texting allows you to easily tailor your messages to individual patients, while still maintaining a professional tone.

c. Secure emails

Email can be an effective way to communicate with patients. Here is how.

• After the visit, send an email or text message that thanks the patient and provides a secure link for real-time feedback.
• Send an email or text reminder regarding the patient’s next appointment.
• Create an email, newsletter, or blog including educational information on improving health and answering common health questions.
• Send an email with educational resources, such as diet tips, exercises, and precautions to prevent back/neck/musculoskeletal pain.

How chiropractic software can help

Use your chiropractic practice management software to send emails to patients with the click of a button. The software can help you automate the process of sending review emails/messages and recall reminders. In zHealth chiropractic EHR system, you can send educational resources to a specific patient by clicking one button in the patient chart.

d. Telehealth

Good aftercare communication is essential to successful treatment and establishing strong patient relationships. Telehealth and remote visits are rapidly becoming a larger percentage of patient experiences.

Identify Who will Follow up With Patients 

Who follows up depends on the purpose of the communication:

• Front desk staff.If the follow-up is a simple reminder or you need to schedule appointments and send recall reminders to patients, the front desk staff may need to follow up.
• Chiropractic Assistants and Providers.If the patients want to clarify treatment-related things or have specific queries, sent chiropractic assistants and providers should follow up.
• Office managers and providers. If you manage your billing yourself or have a biller to take care of it, all payment, invoice, and billing-related follow-ups can be done by office managers and providers.

Measure and Evaluate the Success of Your Follow-up Protocol

Carefully coordinated follow-up interactions with patients, you’re able to achieve the following:

• Reduce missed appointments
• Foster stronger relationships with your patients
• Gain operational efficiencies
• Increase patient recall appointments
• Maintain positive outcomes

To measure and evaluate the success of your follow-up protocol, track patient satisfaction, appointment attendance, frequency of text messages, and the number of patients who return for follow-up visits.

Conclusion

In today’s consumer-driven healthcare sector, following up with patients is not only critical to compliance and outcomes, but it is also becoming the key factor in both retaining and building healthier patient relationships.

Using chiropractic software to establish a patient follow-up protocol can be a game-changer for chiropractic practices. By automating reminders, sending text messages and emails, and tracking the success of the protocol, chiropractors can ensure that their patients receive the care and attention they need to improve their health and well-being.

With zHealth, it’s so easy to facilitate patient follow-ups. We invite you to schedule a free demo or discussion with our experts.

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