Practice Management
The April 8th issue of the Cleveland Plain Dealer had an article which caught my attention. The article was written by Diane Suchetka and was directed to us as patients communicating with “our doctors”. Ms. Suchetka told a story of her experiences however, her own internist “makes me feel as if I’m the only patient he has”. We, as patients, have a hard time focusing “on what a doctor is saying when we’re fuming over another 90-minute wait”. Isn’t it sad that very often what patients remember about their visit to the doctor’s office is negative? Ask a group of friends over coffee - have you ever had a “bad” experience in a doctor’s office? First, after they laugh and say “of course!” ask them for stories. Sometimes they will be about the physician (or other professional) and sometimes it will be about the billing problems, staff, office environment, and on and on.
HERE’S OUR CHALLENGE!!
Take the even the few issues the author noted, such as:
- Lack of eye contact…both by staff and physicians
- The glass window
- Unreturned phone calls
- Clipboards being "shoved" at patients
- Long waiting times
- Brash or rude front desk staff
How can we, working in the already stressed healthcare environment, assist others (physicians and staff) to reduce or eliminate these issues? For instance, how friendly is it to be greeted by a closed glass window for a patient, already stressed by being in a doctor’s office? How do we feel when we pay for gas at a gas station where there is a glass wall between us and the attendant? How would we feel if we showed up at our child’s school and the entire administrative staff was seated behind a glass window, working away, while ignoring us? That’s what happens in our offices. A possible solution to open up disussions, take one challenge per month (or per week) and work on creative alternatives. Always putting ourselves in the place of the patient. If we really think out of the box, we can improve upon the experience our patients have in our offices-no matter what! For suggestions on improving patients experiences in our offices email Pat O’Sullivan at patos@osullivanconsult.com. Pat does many site specific in-services and hospital sponsored seminars on this topic. The original article appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on April 8, 2008 by Diane Suchetka.
|
