Customer Service in

the Medical Field

By: Stacey Roberts
The number one factor that causes
doctors to be sued/malpractice claims?

Not communicating effectively with your patient

● Medical professionals should consider talking to patients more

● Be more upfront and honest with your patient
● Be more empathetic towards your patients
● Develop a relationship
● Be willing to go into detail with their situation
University of Michigan Study

● 15 years ago at the University of Michigan a program begun to improve

communication around medical errors.
● When an error occurred, the program encouraged physicians to tell patients
about them, how they happened, and what would be done to make them less
likely to occur in the future.
● Medical professionals were encouraged to apologize and offer compensation
for harm if it occurred.
Avoid ambiguity
● Is it a duck or a
rabbit?
Communication Tips
● Eye contact
● Inform the patient of bad news in the correct setting
○ i.e.-make sure its in a private place
● Spend more time educating your patients on their care
● Try to get your patients to talk and express their opinions
● Listen to your patient
● Understand your patient
○ Medical and psychosocial history
○ Set of beliefs and expectations
○ Past experiences
○ Obligations
Empathy within physical therapy

● Healthcare empathy
○ “a cognitive attribute that involves the ability to understand the patient’s inner experiences and
perspective and a capability to communicate this understanding,”
● A lack of empathy is more likely to contribute to burnout.
● There is a prevailing belief or assumption that provider detachment could lead to less burnout, the
thought that if i don't overly feel for my patients, I wont get consumed. In fact is likely the opposite.
● Medical providers who make more time for caring learn to love even their difficult patients, can actually
become better providers with more successful medical outcomes.
● You need to remember to treat every single patient like they are one of your loved ones.
 When retaining patients avoid these things

● Long wait times

● Avoid asking the patient to repeat information
over and over again
○ Causes frustration
● Lack of resources
○ Staffing levels
○ Treatment rooms
● Avoid inconveniencing them by using your
documentation and resources
Managing a challenging interaction
Prevent it

1. Plan your interaction in advance

2. Pay attention to nonverbal communication
3. Discuss with colleagues and do not hesitate to
seek additional training should this be required
4. Look for signs of anger or distress
5. Ensure safety and maintain control
6. Create bridges of communication and trust
7. Find common ground
8. Help your patient get emotional control
The importance of why?
● Trust between the patient and clinician
● Compliant patient and clinician satisfaction
● Accountable
● Avoid lawsuits
○ Become more profitable
○ Less claims
Take away
● How you communicate with the patient will make or break your practice
● Improving your interpersonal skills will benefit you immensely
● Showing empathy is a strength not a weakness
● Maintain good non-verbal communication
● Avoid inconveniencing them
● Avoid ambiguity
● Understand your patient better
References
1-Ford , G. (2013, 04 02). How doctors can spot patients likely to sue . Retrieved October 26, 2019, from
amednews.com/article/20130204/profession/130209992/4/

2-Aaron, C. (2015, 01 06). To Be Sued Less, Doctors Should Consider Talking to Patients More . Retrieved October 26,
2019, from nytimes.com/2015/06/02/upshot/to-be-sued-less-doctors-should-talk-to-patients-more.html

3-Larry , B. (2013, 14 06). Empathy-the Secret Sauce in #physical therapy? . Retrieved October 26, 2019, from
evidenceinmotion.com/blog/2013/07/14/empathy-the-secret-sauce-in-physicaltherapy/

4-Hardavella G, Aamli-Gaagnat A, Frille A, et al. Top tips to deal with challenging situations: doctor–patient interactions.
Breathe 2017; 13: 129–135. Retrieved October 26, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5467659/