When it comes to operating a practice, patient experience is everything—perhaps in more ways than you might expect.
It is not enough to just treat a foot or ankle condition and move on. People are not appliances in need of repair; they are individuals with specific duties, goals, and situations in life. Providing the best care means getting to the root of the problem, but it also means discovering the best course of treatment for a patient’s life.
If you want to go even further, proper care for a patient doesn’t begin with treatment, or even with the initial physical examination. It begins as we start to know you and understand your specific needs.
At Massapequa Podiatry Associates, we are committed to providing the best and most thorough patient experience for everyone who schedules an appointment with us. What can you expect your first time—and every time—you come to see us, and what do we promise to you?
For First-time Patients
We know that finding a new doctor or physician is never that fun of an experience. You might wade through tons of reviews online to try and get an idea of how the practice operates, and then you have to see if they are even accepting new patients at the time (which we almost always do).
So when anyone decides to schedule an appointment for the first time, we know a good deal of thought may have gone into that, and we greatly appreciate it. We do not want to disappoint you!
The first visit to a doctor can always cause some unease, and we want the process to be as smooth and effortless for you as possible. We unfortunately can’t waive all the registration paperwork that comes with a new patient, but we can provide you the opportunity to get it over with before you even come in.
You can print out and fill out our New Patient Form in the comfort of your own home before coming in, saving you time filling it out in the waiting room. It gets us to the important part of diagnosing and treating your problem all that much faster, too.
Other Things You Can Expect from a Long Island Podiatry Appointment
As we mentioned earlier, getting the full story on your condition and needs is essential for determining the best form of treatment for you. That means we’ll likely be asking questions.
Many times, it can be easy to forget everything you wanted to tell us about your foot or ankle problems, or we might ask a question you weren’t quite prepared for. That’s all right, of course, but some patients find it helpful to take down a list of information to bring in to their appointment. Such items might include:
- A list of symptoms. Be descriptive, if possible. If you are feeling pain, is it more of an ache, a burning, a stabbing sort of pain, etc.)
- How long you have been experiencing symptoms?
- When you first noticed symptoms (or if you can’t define a real point when they started).
- A list of medicines you currently take.
- Whether other members of your family have similar problems (such as nerve pain, diabetes, bunions, etc.).
- Any questions you may wish to ask us. These can be easiest to forget by the end of an examination!
- If you have happened to have any previous tests conducted elsewhere regarding the condition you are seeing us for, please bring them along if possible. These might include x-rays and other test results, which might be able to save us from having to order these tests again.
Another useful tool to have on hand when you have foot or ankle pain? A pair of shoes you have worn for a few months or so. Why is that, you might ask? We can take a look at the treads and how they have worn down over time to get a good general gauge of your gait and foot structure. This can be a significant sign in the right direction if the source of your pain is the result of an imbalance of weight spread across the feet.
We Take Pride in Your Patient Experience
Our commitment is to provide the best, most comfortable, and most helpful patient experience possible to anyone who has put their trust in us. Helping people feel better is what we spent years in podiatry school to achieve, after all.
To say our motives aren’t at least somewhat fueled by business would of course be misleading. Good patient service is good business, and we depend on word of mouth and feedback from our patients to help bring in others who need treatment as well. If you had a pleasant experience with us and would like others to get the same type of spectacular help for similar problems, telling your friends and family about us helps a lot! (Inquire about our care-to-share program – you might just get a Dunkin Donuts gift card!) Leaving online reviews on Google, Yelp, and other review sites is also a huge boost in helping others find us.
