by Dr. Trina E. Dorrah
Have you ever noticed the reaction you get when you mention
the patient experience? Undoubtedly, you’re met with a few providers who demonstrate
frustration, anger, and disgust. You may even hear them say that it doesn’t
matter how well the doctor treats a patient as long as he or she is competent. These
beliefs confuse me, especially when these same providers face their own health
crises, then complain about the lack of empathy they, their partner, or child
received. Do you notice the irony? When asked to focus on the patient
experience, these providers dismiss it. Yet, when their doctors don’t communicate
with them or show compassion, they are frustrated.
The truth is, doctors and other health care providers really
do care about the patient experience. I think the frustration arises from the connotation
associated with the phrase. For some
reason, many providers think of the patient experience as catering to
unreasonable demands or ignoring the importance of clinical competence. That’s
simply not true. When I think about what the patient experience is and is not,
the following list comes to mind.
The patient experience is about…
- · Listening
- · Showing compassion
- · Treating patients as we ourselves would want to be treated
- · Explaining so our patients understand
- · Spending time with our patients
- · Asking for and answering questions
- · Helping to facilitate care
- · Working with our staff to streamline processes
- · Continuing our commitment to maintain clinical competence
- · Practicing according to evidence based standards
- · Taking time to explore patient fears
- · Engaging in collaborative goal setting
- · Discussing difficult issues in a compassionate way
The patient experience is NOT about…
- · Catering to every whim and desire
- · Turning physicians into concierges
- · Choosing treatment options that go against evidence based medicine
- · Buying patients’ loyalty through rewards and perks
- · Refusing to discuss difficult issues
- · Only making recommendations that are pleasing to hear
- · Prescribing unnecessary medications
- · Subjecting ourselves to verbal abuse
- · Devising treatment plans that completely exclude patients/families from the decision making process
- · Creating an environment where one must work within our health care system or know someone who does to have a good patient experience
In the end, I believe if providers
have a better understanding of what the patient experience truly is (and what
it is not), they’ll be more willing to embrace it. If everyone in health care commits
to this goal, doctors, nurses, and providers won’t feel the need to name
drop/intervene/call in favors for our loved ones simply to ensure they have a
good patient experience.
