Doctors do not actively care about the practice image

10.05.2010 13:06

Serious errors caused by discrepancies between self-image and external image

May 10, 2010

The IFABS In the “Practice Image” study, examined how patients evaluate the image-determining elements of a practice and how realistically the respective practice team assesses them. To this end, patients and practice teams from 640 medical practices (general practitioners, practitioners, general practitioners, internal medicine specialists) were surveyed about the practice image factors determined in a preliminary study.

The areas of atmosphere, organization, staff and doctor were rated on a five-point scale. The result revealed a number of image problem areas that were not recognized by the practice teams because they assessed the image of their practices too positively. This overestimation prevents the need for action and areas of action from even being noticed. Most of the deficits appeared in the areas of organization and practice atmosphere.

Initial situation
The term “practice image” refers to the “image” that patients have of a practice and describes what patients associate when they think of a practice. The image manifests the assessment of a practice, which is passed on to third parties. Unlike satisfaction, which can change depending on the situation, the practice image lasts longer
persistent and harder to change. The image thus positions a practice, differentiates it from other, comparable service providers and is an important tool for retaining and attracting patients. The points mentioned underline how important it is for practice owners to know and manage the image of their practice.

Problem definition
Practice analyzes repeatedly show that doctors have so far paid little active attention to the image of their practices and have neglected a systematic review and development of the relevant image dimensions. Rather, this area is opened up through subjective assumptions. In this context, the
Questions,
– which elements determine the image of medical practices and
– how realistic these image assessments by practice teams are, i.e. how well they reflect patients’ opinions.

Results

• In the preliminary study, a total of 33 characteristics were identified in four areas (“atmosphere”, “organization”, “staff” and “doctor”), which completely describe the image of a doctor's practice for patients
• In the main study, the image characteristics were assessed according to strengths and weaknesses on a five-point scale (“Totally agree” to “Strongly disagree”)
• For the four identified image areas, the balance sheets show how the patients rated the associated image dimensions and how the practice teams assessed the patients' opinions on their practice images. The characteristics for which clear differences of opinion were identified are highlighted in gray in the following tables

Image area “Atmosphere”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image area “Organization”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image area “Personnel”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image area “Doctor”

• The results show a whole range of image problem areas (weaknesses), which are largely not recognized by the practice teams because they assess the image of their practices too positively (self-image discrepancy). As a result, many opportunities for patient-friendly image positioning are wasted
• The more image areas with positive image dimensions there are, the more stable and differentiated the image of a doctor's practice is. For this purpose, the aggregated area satisfaction values were determined for each practice and it was checked how many areas scored positively overall. From this the following distribution could be determined:

 

 

The frequency distribution shows that only 18% of the practices currently have a broad, positive image profile, which helps them to clearly position and differentiate.

 

Conclusion

 

The image of medical practices has negative characteristics in a whole range of assessment dimensions. These are particularly common in the organizational sector. Further image deficits can be found in the practice atmosphere and in the assessment of staff and doctors.

 

Practice teams overestimate the image of their practice, resulting in a clear discrepancy between their own image and the image of others. This prevents the need for action and areas of action from even being recognized. As a result, many teams miss the opportunity

to establish a clear positioning and differentiation for your practice. If you compare medical practices that cultivate their image with others that don't, you can see, for example: B: a clear difference in patients' willingness to recommend the product.

 

In order to be able to use the possibilities of targeted design of their practice image, practice teams must first carry out an analysis of the current situation using adapted patient surveys. Based on the results, the identified strengths can then be expanded and the identified weaknesses eliminated. One

Annual repetition of the image survey ensures the stability of the practice's image over time.