Why Add a Health Coach to Your Practice
You want to see patients following your recommendations and getting better outcomes.
But as your health care practice grows, you have less time to support patients outside of scheduled appointments.
Adding a health coach to your practice can help patients get better results — and support your practice.
Health Coaches Help Patients Get Better Outcomes
Engaging patients in behavior changes can improve their overall health and reduce the amount of medical care they need. But physicians don’t typically have the bandwidth to also provide health coaching support.
Instead, you can bring a trained health coach into your practice to provide patients with support around making lifestyle changes.
With the extra accountability, your patients are more likely to make diet, exercise, sleep, mindfulness, and other lifestyle changes to improve their health.
Health Coaches Can Support Patient Retention
Patients leave a physician’s practice for a number of different reasons. It could be that they’ve moved out of the area. Sometimes it’s because the practitioner is no longer included as an in-network provider in the patient’s health insurance policy. But many patients just leave because they feel like they’re not being heard.
Some patients say that their doctor doesn’t listen to their concerns. Others say they’re frustrated by long wait times for appointments compared with the little time they get to spend with their doctor.
You can eliminate these common complaints by adding a health coach to your practice.
Trained health coaches understand how to guide patients to make lifestyle changes that last. Health coaches also have the extra time to encourage patients to make lifestyle changes that will support the care plan you put together for them.
With that extra support, your patients will feel that they are heard and understood — and will more likely want to follow your recommendations.
Health Coaches Can Increase Patient Satisfaction
More people are turning to social media and physician review websites to find new practitioners. But even so, word-of-mouth referrals are essential to growing your practice.
In fact, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that more than 33% of participants rated referrals from doctors, as well as friends and family, as very important to choosing new healthcare providers.
Adding a Health Coach to provide extra support can make patients feel more satisfied with the treatment they receive from your practice.
Happy patients can help you grow your practice. Your best patients can become your greatest advocates.
When patients are able to get better outcomes and improve their overall health, many will want to share their newfound well-being with everyone. Those personal referrals can result in more patients that stick with you over the long term.
Where to Find a Trained Health Coach
While there are many programs that train health coaches, some of the most highly-regarded and accredited programs include:
Functional Medicine Coaching Academy — Health coaches are cross-trained in functional medicine in collaboration with the Institute of Functional Medicine. Coaches are fully approved by the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaches (NBHWC).
Health Coach Institute — This program offers a 6-month health coaching option as well as a 12-month health coaching mastery, and it is approved by the NBHWC.
Institute for Integrative Nutrition — The pioneering health coaching school offers a 6-month and 12-month coaching option. It is recognized by the NBHWC as well as internationally through the International Coaching Federation (ICF), The Health Coach Alliance, and Health Coaches Australia and New Zealand Association (HCANZA).
How Well World and a Health Coach Can Support Your Practice
Your Well World practice can make it easier for your practice’s health coach to monitor your patients.
You can assign a Well World plan and supplements to your patient. You can also assign each patient a health coach through your Well World practitioner portal.
Once your patient is set up in Well World, they will receive an email prompting them to download the app, and instructions to follow the plan and purchase supplements. Your patient can track their progress in the Well World app.
Your health coach can then be your patient’s primary point of contact between appointments and when they have questions about following their plan.
Your health coach can easily provide support and keep your patients accountable with check-ins between appointments. The coach can see what your patient is tracking through the Well World portal. And when necessary, your health coach can nudge patients in an easy text or video chat message right through Well World.
Adding a health coach is also an opportunity to offer new programs and generate revenue for your practice. Your health coach can support new group programs and DIY programs using the done-for-you nutrition plan templates within Well World.
You or your health coach can also assign a Designs for Health supplement template to the plan that you offer and recommend them to patients taking the new program. Offering new programs and products this way will help you scale your practice and earn more incremental, recurring revenue.
Adding a health coach to your practice can save you time, help patients succeed, and help your practice run smoothly. All of which allow you to serve more patients and have a positive impact on wellness in your community.