3 Things Patients Need From Their Primary Care Providers

In the era of COVID-19, primary care providers have been faced with the challenge of helping patients with chronic conditions and other healthcare needs as well as maintaining routine care. Although practices have been working hard to adapt to safety recommendations and keep their practices afloat, the dynamics of the pandemic have had major health and economic ramifications.

Surveying Patient Needs in the Era of COVID-19

At AMG, we understand there are many mixed messages in the marketplace, and knew healthcare providers would benefit from deeper insights into what patients want and need to take care of themselves and their families during these challenging times.

That’s why we recently conducted a survey in which we asked 415 Alabama patients about their current sentiments, beliefs and behaviors related to primary and specialty care. We included several categories of questions, such as:

• Personal awareness and behavior related to COVID-19
• Routine care and appointments
• Patient information and preferred methods of communication
• Deciding when to restart doctor visits
• Making appointments and telemedicine

Critical Insights

By conducting this survey, AMG Healthcare Marketing obtained critical insights and discovered key takeaways that primary care providers can apply right away—including the following three:

• Help your patients feel safe. Approximately 1/3 of the respondents indicated they’re still not ready to resume their routine healthcare appointments—and the top reason cited was that they didn’t feel safe enough to do so.
• Provide the information patients want. Along the same lines, participants indicated that the information they most want to receive relates to what they can expect when they do make office visits.
• Maintain a human touch. Overwhelmingly, respondents said that when making an appointment, they wanted to talk to a real person on the phone.

Our recently published whitepaper provides additional key takeaways, detailed survey responses and specific recommendations that practice owners, managers and marketers can apply to their own practices. By doing so, patient concerns can be addressed in a way that optimizes patient care and supports sustained practice growth within this challenging environment.

Want deeper insights into what patients need from their primary care providers? Download our whitepaper to learn more.

At AMG Healthcare Marketing, we’re the experts when it comes to understanding patient needs and helping you effectively communicate how your practice can meet them. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help your practice, let’s talk.