| RE: The hopes and needs
of new patients If you're
reading this, one of your new patients came away from your office wanting
to entrust you with their care, but having misgivings. The purpose of this
letter is in no way meant to be critical. It's an attempt to offer some
observations that can help you and our mutual patient have a successful
ongoing doctor/patient relationship.
Most of my patients arrive in a physician's
office better educated about their condition than the average patient.
They have realized that you can't "make them better" or help them achieve
better health by yourself. They agree with the statement: "Optimal health
care is achieved only when doctor and patient work together as treatment
partners."
Based on very successful doctor/patient
relationships, I offer these observations for your consideration:
- The diagnoses, medications, tests,
procedures, etc., of your practice have become very familiar to you and
your staff. They may not be so to your patients, especially new
patients. New patients may very well be understandably nervous and
apprehensive, even frightened, about their health when they first come
to your office. Much of what has become very familiar and run of the
mill to you, is foreign to your new patients. If you and your staff keep
that in mind, you can make the first visit to your office far easier for
your patients.
- Taking a few seconds to establish a
bit of personal contact with your patients can make a tremendous
difference in the patient's comfort level. When you meet a new patient,
could you please make contact by looking them directly in the eye,
introducing yourself, and shaking their hand? That may seem a small
issue to you, but to a new and perhaps frightened patient, it's no small
issue at all. Please allow me to give you another example of why this
can be important. I once had a first appointment with a new neurologist.
After spending an hour with the nurse practitioner, the doctor came in,
made some comments, signed some prescriptions, and left again. It wasn't
until my second appointment, three months later, that I learned that
doctor wasn't even the doctor I had been there to see. My doctor had
been called away on an emergency. That incident demonstrated that the
doctors in that practice had no respect for the patient and resulted in
my seeking care elsewhere.
- If you were running behind schedule,
simply saying something such as, "Sorry we're a bit behind today. Thanks
for your patience," indicates to the patient that you place as much
importance on their time as your own.
- We all understand that doctors are
busy and have limited time to spend with each patient. However, asking
your patient if they have any last questions for you can be critical to
the doctor/patient relationship. Especially if you are turning the
patient over to a nurse practitioner or another member of your staff and
will not speak with them again before they leave your office, please
take a minute to do that and tell them good-bye. Otherwise, they often
think they'll see you again before they leave your office.
- If my patient has told you they want
to be able to ask you questions about their condition and their care
and/or that they want to be a partner in their treatment, and that is
not acceptable to you, please tell them that right away so they don't
waste your time or theirs, but have the opportunity to seek care
elsewhere. Their wanting to ask questions and be a treatment partner in
no way questions your expertise. It merely indicates a responsible
patient. Such patients, generally are very compliant patients because
they understand more about their care and the reasons behind your
treatment plan.
All of the suggestions above are quite
simple and take very little time. Thank you for taking the time to read
this letter and give consideration to these suggestions.
If you have any questions or need more
information, please email me at one of the addresses at the top of this
letter. Sincerely,
Teri Robert |
