Introduction

ADCS Background

Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery (ADCS) is the nation’s largest network of dermatology experts, dedicated to treating the unique medical and aesthetic needs of each patient, using the safest and most effective methods available, while leveraging the vast knowledge, resources, and technology of its local and national teams.

Following the completion of his dermatology residency, Dr. Matt L. Leavitt founded ADCS, establishing a solo dermatology practice in Orlando, FL. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Leavitt expanded his footprint with three more locations in Florida, and ADCS has since grown to over 150 locations nationwide. 

As ADCS continued to grow, Dr. Leavitt, who is Chief Executive Officer as well as Founder, understood that having a firm structure when it comes to the customer experience is critical to the continued success of any business, especially when it comes to the healthcare industry.

ADCS Begins Trial Program with XAmplifier

The Pain Points

Looking to build on the organization’s commitment to providing an excellent experience for all patients, Lisa French-Hackney, Director of Patient Experience at ADCS, was tasked with finding a partner that could measure the company’s efforts while also helping to solidify the elements of patient experience firmly into the company culture on an organization-wide level. 

During her search, French came across XAmplifier and was intrigued with its cloud-based software. Using proprietary algorithms, the software is designed to help businesses build their online reputation, optimize the customer experience, grow digital audiences, and drive marketing insights, making it a perfect match for the needs of ADCS. 

The two companies quickly initiated a trial program that would help to measure patient experience using Net Promoter Score. From the viewpoint of ADCS, their goals for the trial were to understand how the software works, to test what the organization could do with the software, and to determine where exactly it would help the company improve. The trial became the initial footprint for creating patient-centric culture. 

XAmplifier Trial Program: Details and Results

ADCS chose 17 locations to participate in the trial, a diverse group varying in factors such as size, geographic location, revenue, and so on. Over the course of its trial period with XAmplifier, ADCS gained comfort with the software, and eventually was able to develop initial benchmarks across its trial locations based on their NPS scores ranging from 46 to 87.

Additionally, the ADCS team saw how XAmplifier would support their efforts to drive the patient experience culture, so they were eager to expand the program to all of their 150-plus locations.

One example was the dramatic improvements for the online reputations of the 17 trial locations.

Transforming Corporate Culture Through Patient Experience

In competitive industries, a business's success and growth are often heavily tied to the customer experience of its patrons. This was a major driver for ADCS in seeking out a partner that could help them emphasize and implement a company-wide transformation through exceptional patient experience. 

From her years of experience (CX) in the hospitality industry, French understood that ADCS had a unique opportunity to be a part of the patient experience evolution in healthcare, and further, to drive the organization’s growth with a differentiating patient experience culture becoming a competitive advantage.

“At ADCS, we want every patient’s experience to be a memorable and meaningful experience,” said French in an interview with XAmplifier. “We fully believe our patients shouldn’t experience any dissatisfaction throughout their journey with ADCS.”

How ADCS Measures the Patient Experience

While there are several ways in which a company can measure its patient experience, XAmplifier uses Net Promoter Score (NPS) in conjunction with additional proprietary measures to help their clients quantify the quality of experience they are providing customers. 

It’s likely that you’ve seen or perhaps even taken a Net Promoter Score-based survey from a business you frequent. While it may seem simple on the surface, NPS provides invaluable information to companies that use it.

What is Net Promoter Score?

Net Promoter Score gauges the likelihood of customers proactively recommending a business to their friends, family, and colleagues. Rather than measuring the perception of a company on random anecdotal feedback in a non-analytical model, two types of NPS-based surveys provide a more rigorous, analytical model. The Relationship NPS measures a customer's loyalty to a company or brand. The Transactional NPS measures the experience a customer had during a specific engagement with this customer.

The score is obtained through a survey asking the likelihood of a customer recommending a company’s services to friends, family, and colleagues. While there are many methods in which this survey can be passed along to customers, recent data suggests that consumers prefer email above all other communication channels. 

With NPS scores above 80 over the last two years, ADCS has proven that this physician network exceeds expectations in every way when it comes to the patient experience. 

ADCS Patient Experience Initiatives

Throughout its partnership with XAmplifier, ADCS has taken the insights from customer data and implemented several innovative patient experience initiatives that are producing remarkable results and turning the heads of their customers.

The Patient Experience Playbook

As ADCS began its organization-wide implementation of XAmplifier’s software, it was critical that the company institute specific communication processes and documents, both internally and externally. Among these protocols, the leadership team at ADCS created a Patient Experience Playbook which includes 20 key standards pertaining to patient experience. 

ADCS has numerous uses for the playbook, from employee onboarding to daily “Huddles.” With the staff of ADCS locations discussing the CX playbook on a daily basis, it ingrains the content and the importance of these practices on a daily basis. Additionally, it ensures that their patient experience strategies remain relevant and applicable. The playbook also serves as a training resource for all team members and providers on a daily basis.   

Dr. Steven Grekin, Chief Growth Officer, believes in the importance of these conversations: “The biggest thing is that we are reminding everyone that our approach should always be one patient visit at a time. It has literally changed the narrative, in terms of our focus on patient experience.”

The 48-Hour Gold Standard

For the first step in helping ADCS measure its patient experience, XA distributes different survey invitations to patients, depending on which patient event is the trigger. If an NPS question is answered, and the patient indicates a satisfaction level of eight or below, then the ADCS location manager has a 48-hour window to respond to the customer. 

Similarly, ADCS also encourages patients to provide feedback via social media and public online review websites, and monitors feedback via those platforms, too.

XAmplifier makes it easy for clients to engage with their customers directly through its software platform. 

Rather than mining through each social media platform and review site for new online reviews, the ADCS staff can easily monitor feedback seamlessly via the XAmplifier dashboards and reply to patients who’ve reported anything less than an excellent experience. 

Acting proactively helps address potential problems early on, which leads to less stress for all parties, and it also results in tangible "save" situations. In ADCS's competitive industry, loyal patients, including every patient that is "saved," are critical to the bottom line.

Concierge Service for Mohs Surgery

When it comes to Mohs surgery, a precise surgical technique used to treat skin cancer, the ADCS physician network does everything they can to ease the minds of patients during a difficult time. 

For patients who are receiving Mohs surgery, ADCS has created a concierge-like service that ensures the patients and their loved ones are cared for prior to, during, and following the procedure. The results of this specific patient experience initiative are staggering as patients clearly recognize the extra care ADCS is providing.

The Power of Online Reputation

While having great customer experience is absolutely essential in today’s business landscape, it’s only part of the equation. A corresponding element -- online reputation -- is also vitally important for any business and is rapidly becoming more and more critical for medical practices.

For most businesses, this is an area of critical need and online reputation growth has proven to result in significant revenue increases when given the appropriate attention. According to a recent survey, at least 50% of businesses said a lack of time was the biggest reason for their lack of effort when it comes to online reputation. Additionally, 27% of companies are not focused on their online reputation due to budgetary restraints. 

At first glance, these seem to be fair and logical reasons. However, it's becoming too important to ignore. Online reputation is quickly becoming a leading referral source for many companies, including healthcare providers, and it’s a trend that several doctors at ADCS are recognizing.

Not only do these stories highlight the impact that online reputation has on businesses, but they also prove that people are both reliant on, and trusting of, recommendations that they read online. Finally, they help illustrate that online reputation is applicable and significant for every business in every industry, including the healthcare industry.

The stories also reinforce the fact that people from all walks of life are turning to the Internet for information and guidance. If a 90-year-old is using Google on the Internet to find a doctor, it’s safe to say that people of all ages are doing the same for any product or service they require.

"SIRI TOLD ME TO COME SEE YOU."

At XAmplifier, we've heard several fascinating stories from our clients about how online reputation and the attention to patient experience has helped their businesses. Dr. Grekin shared one particular story that was new, even to our team.

At the conclusion of each appointment, he asks his patients how they discovered his practice. This patient responded, “Siri told me to come to see you.” He then showed Dr. Grekin the “proof” after conducting a voice search on his iPhone.

A similar story involved a 90-year-old patient who came into Dr. Grekin’s office for an examination. Her response to his favorite closing question:

ADCS patient showing how she found Dr. Grekin's office

Leveraging Online Reputation to Expedite Growth

As ADCS continues to grow, the organization has leveraged its partnership with XAmplifier in support of attracting new physicians and existing practices under the ADCS umbrella.

"Every physician at ADCS understands the significance of delivering an exceptional patient experience and its correlation to becoming an exceptional practice. Our partnership with XAmplifier also instills confidence in prospective practices as it demonstrates ADCS's commitment to its patients."

Dr. Matt Leavitt
Chief Executive Officer & Founder | ADCS

ADCS’s nationally-recognized presence, people, processes, and technology, in combination with XAmplifier's tools for measuring patient experience and optimizing online reputation, makes for a compelling pitch to any physician or medical practice considering the benefits of joining the organization.

How Review Generation Affects Google Ranking

Consider this: 86% of consumers actively seek out and read business reviews. Additionally, 89% of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews. This demonstrates the fact that online reviews are rapidly evolving into today’s version of word-of-mouth marketing. 

According to the Google My Business knowledge base, managing and responding to online reviews is essential when it comes to ranking higher on Google search results.

With an average of over 500 reviews generated each month ADCS has greatly enhanced its online presence. In a year-over-year comparison between 2017 (program start) and 2019, the company experienced a 155% increase of branded searches along with a 234% increase in non-branded searches.

New, recent, frequent, and consistent positive reviews volume and related activity is a huge boon not only for impressions -- from both branded and non-branded searches -- but for driving the kinds of actions that result in lead growth. 

A year-over-year comparison of Google My Business (GMB) data between 2017 and 2019 shows that ADCS experienced a 284% increase in web actions, a 299% increase in phone actions, and a 104% increase in drive actions.

That kind of growth in the GMB actions is an indication of spectacular lead growth, consistent with analysis indicating a growth in new leads from GMB actions of 278% from 2017 to 2019. 

Conclusion

From the perspective of our team at XAmplifier, ADCS's immense dedication to patient experience -- from the very top of the organization all the way through to every single employee -- demonstrates the company's empathy for each and every one of their patients, and an understanding of what it takes to be a nationally-renowned healthcare provider.

Lisa French recognizes that ADCS’s commitment to the patient experience culture on an organization-wide level is a huge effort, and that it is already paying dividends: “This entire process has been an evolution, not a revolution.”

XAmplifier provides tools that help the organization better understand their patients, as well as every aspect of the patient experience across each of the 150-plus ADCS locations.

Even better for ADCS, its patient experience culture is supported across the organization, as the physician network as a whole has also united under the common goal of delivering not just exceptional outcomes, but also exceptional patient experience.

Since its inception, ADCS has always been an organization focused on delivering memorable experiences for its patients. XAmplifier has helped tremendously in amplifying this sentiment throughout the entire ADCS organization. Their services, which are utilized by all affiliates in the ADCS network, ensure our teams provide best-in-class care during every patient interaction.

Lisa French
Patient Experience, ADCS

With robust tools in hand, effective processes developed and practiced on a daily basis, and buy-in from all key stakeholders, the results in terms of patient satisfaction and return on investment have already been profound.