April 2002

Bob Levoy’s success file
Could Your Practice Benefit From ‘Mystery Patients’?

In the context of professional practice, the business world’s “mystery shoppers” would be called “mystery patients”: Anonymous evaluators who provide insights into how well everyone in the practice, from receptionist to doctor, is serving patients.

Here’s how one ophthalmology practice did it. Suzanne Bruno, administrator of Horizon Eye Care in Margate, N.J., recruited mystery patients to visit their five offices and surgery center. All were members of a local civic association, but only she knew who they were. The practice made a charitable donation to the civic group and provided complimentary exams and 50% discounts on eyeglasses to all participants in exchange for their feedback.

A few of the mystery shoppers, including two who needed cataract surgery, were already patients in the practice. The rest were new patients, most of whom ended up staying with the practice after the completion of the study. The mystery patients paid for their visits initially and were reimbursed on the receipts. It took a huge effort on Bruno’s part to communicate secretly with these patients, process all their refunds, and compile evaluations. But the feedback has been extremely valuable to the practice.

For example, being “child-friendly” was a practice goal, so some of the volunteers were asked to bring their children in for exams. “We discovered,” Bruno says, “that our staff and our doctors were good with children, but our office wasn’t. That’s one thing we changed as a direct result of the program. All our offices now have toy boxes with books, toys, and even video games for older children.”

Some sample mystery patient questions might include:
• Was the phone answered on three rings?

• How long did you have to wait for an appointment?

• Were you greeted promptly when you entered the office?

• How long did you wait before being taken into a room?

• Was the facility clean?

• Were exam procedures explained clearly?

• Were you given an opportunity to ask the doctor questions?

Action step: Consider adapting this market research strategy to your practice. Trying to achieve practice improvement without feedback is like trying to learn target shooting with a blindfold. It can’t be done.

Mr. Levoy, a management consultant based in Roslyn, N.Y., has conducted more than 2,500 seminars for health-care professionals. Those seminars have included programs for the American and Canadian chiropractic associations and numerous state and provincial chiropractic associations.