The incident below is one that happened in our office and by taking the steps in the “LEAD” method we were able to resolve the patient’s frustration and have a better line of communication with her and her understanding of the treatment protocol that the doctor had given her.
Mrs. Jones just finished her appointment with the doctor and heads to the front counter to checkout, when the front office assistant asks her “did you need to schedule another appointment?” Mrs. Jones curtly replies, “why should I, it doesn’t seem to do any good. I am leaving here with the same problem that I came in with 3 weeks ago and it is not any better.” Believe it or not, patients will complain to the physician’s staff and never mention that anything is wrong or bothering them to the physician. So, what should the staff member do if they hear these complaints? Your assistants should be trained to bring any complaint that a patient has aired directly to you and right away. They should NOT just let the patient leave the office and never inform the physician of the incident, it is not their judgment call to make, it is the physicians. An excellent office policy to have in place is if a patient airs a complaint at the checkout window, to a back office assistant, or to any staff member is to have that patient step back into the treatment room to take care of what is bothering them right away. Then inform the doctor what the patient has said or how they are feeling and let the physician go and talk to the patient to work things through. Patients are pleasantly surprised that the office staff and physician care enough to take care of any issues right away. One of the best solutions to taking care of patient complaint issues is the “LEAD” method. By taking the following steps you will not only be able to turn around “most” negative patient issues. You will be able to lead yourself into better relationships with your patients, which creates satisfied customers and a referral source stream that will continue to feed your practice for the future.
1. “L” Take the time to listen to what the patient is saying. Do not interrupt, wait until they are finished and then make your comments on how you can help them.
2. “E” Empathize with the patient and how they are feeling. You may not truly understand where they are coming from, but you can understand how they feel.
3. “A” Act on what they have told you. Whether they are unhappy because you made them feel rushed or because the treatment protocol has not produced the results that they would like, you need to act on this. Either explain in further detail what the treatment plan is and why it will take time for symptoms to subside, or change direction in the treatment plan and tell them what the new expectations are. For one reason or another they are feeling like “nothing is working and they might as well give up on what you have told them.” They need to be reassured and shown that you care for them. Far too many times we hear patients complain that their physicians do not take the time to really communicate with them and today’s medicine is done in the rush in, rush out method by the physicians. What if this was your mother or father, how would you want them treated?
4. “D” Document. Above all document, document, document. Each person’s conversation with the patient needs to be fully documented. Remember, if it wasn’t documented it didn’t happen. You never know when a patient/physician relationship will go sour. You need to document in your chart as if you were preparing to go to trial to defend yourself.
Have a brief office meeting this week to make sure that all of your staff understands the importance of resolving any patient dissatisfaction, right away. Our patients come to us because they need help. Let’s make sure we (physicians and staff personnel) are all ready to jump on-board to give our patients the best understanding and care for their healthcare problems possible.
