Establishing and maintaining trust with patients and staff is a crucial aspect of business growth in the urgent care industry, significantly impacting the patient experience. Trust goes beyond surface-level goodwill and relies on credibility and reliability, directly influencing how patients perceive their care journey.
Internally at Solv, we often refer back to the Trust Equation—credibility + reliability + intimacy divided by self-orientation. The trust box equation highlights the essential components of trust, emphasizing constructive candor and the ability to receive feedback within the intended spirit, all of which are vital for enhancing the patient experience.
In a constantly changing healthcare landscape, trust enables patient feedback that can be genuinely considered and acted upon. For providers, fostering an atmosphere of trust empowers staff to openly communicate their needs and challenges, allowing leadership to support them better. Trust is necessary for feedback to become more effective and can be distorted by unknown motivations, leading to negative consequences in the long term.
Introducing the Trust Equation Checklist, a practical tool designed to bring this vital concept to life within the specific context of urgent care and the patient experience.
Reliability
- Do you honor your service commitments?
- Are you open during your advertised hours of operation?
- Do you accept advertised insurance?
- Do you provide the healthcare services that you have on your website?
Credibility
- Do you do what you say and say what you do?
- Do you provide high-quality medical services that are respected and highly reviewed?
- Is there anything that could be perceived as misleading by patients on any of your digital properties? For instance, do you advertise offering X-Ray and laceration services but are unable to provide them?
Intimacy
- Does your staff have adequate support, culture, and resources to, in turn, show up in an empathetic way to your patients? (When you take care of your people, they will take the best care of your patients.)
- Does your staff represent the community that they serve in race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation? (Your patients will feel greater intimacy and therefore trust when they see themselves reflected in your staff and providers.)
Self Orientation
- Again, does your team have adequate support, culture, and resources to show up to their patients with appropriate self-orientation?
- Is your staff projecting their own stress, burnout, and desire to get off of their shift onto patients? If so, it can cause low-fidelity patient visits that do not encourage long-lasting trust-based relationships.
Trust Equation Checklist is a pivotal resource for urgent care centers striving to cultivate a trustworthy environment. This tool aids in evaluating and improving the core aspects of trust - reliability, credibility, intimacy, and self-orientation - within your facility.
Discover more about how you can support your clinic with tools to increase visits, improve staff efficiency, and deliver a 5-star patient experience.
