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Patient Care -- Make Great Patient Care Contagious
Choose the correct response: "Let me connect you with Patient Care" really means...- "Sir, I have no idea what you're talking about."
- "Look, lady, it's not my problem."
- "I really don't have time for this."
- All of the above.
What is practical and what does work is a repositioning of how the patient is treated from a "Department" responsibility to a "My part meant..." responsibility, where everyone in the organization recognizes that they are part of the caring-for-the-patient function. They are very much aware that the medical staff charged with treating the patient is but the tip of the patient care iceberg. Everyone knows that their part is a vital part of the patient's perception of their care.
How is such a "My part meant..." attitude instilled, nurtured and made contagious throughout an organization? Not coincidentally, the word "PRAISE" serves as an acronym for how this can be accomplished. In this era of "Hi-tech" in health care, liberal use of P-R-A-I-S-E will insure that "Hi-touch" is not forgotten in our office. The old concept of a good bed-side manner translates very nicely into a good computer-side manner as well.
Praise. In what is still regarded as a classic book on workplace success, Tom Peters and Bob Waterman said the simple, easy-to-do act of paying positive attention to people has a huge impact on productivity. Dale Carnegie said it best, "Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise." In other words, tell 'em they 'done good'! "Tell who they 'done good'?" Tell everybody! And praise is no more exclusively the job of the boss than patient care is the job of a "Department". "My part meant..." employees know it's o.k. to praise co-workers, other departments, vendors, bosses, because they recognize that everybody is a part of their success.
Responsibility. Of all the killer phrases uttered in health care, "That's not my job" is perhaps the most lethal to a patient's perception of how they are being treated. That phrase, more than any other, totally relinquishes responsibility. "My part meant..." people know that it is their job, whatever the job is. It's not that everyone in the organization needs to be able to suture a cut or supervise a rehab; that's obviously impossible. However, everyone does need to know how to get the patients in touch with the information they are seeking. Isn't it interesting how much responsibility looks like respond-abilty? "My part meant..." employees know that they have the responsibility -- and privilege -- to be part of solutions.
Attitude. Most people would rather be somewhere else than in your office! Health care, probably more than any other discipline, requires an empathetic and caring staff attitude. We've already discussed that serving the patient is an attitude, and not a department. And attitude is best defined as "how we choose to respond" to situations. "My part meant..." people recognize that they cannot control everything that happens -- new government regs, co-worker absenteeism, angry patients, policy changes - but they can control their response. Liberal application of the P-R-A-I-S-E technique can infuse your office with the right attitude.
Involvement. In our seminars I'll frequently write "TEAIMWORK" on the flipchart and wait for the obvious response (and corresponding groans!) -- there is no "I" in teamwork. Trite? Yes, but true! You'll never hear a "My part meant..." employee say "them" or "they" when referring to the organization -- you'll always hear "we" or "us." You'll hear, "'I'm sorry we let you down", not "those people in x-ray". Why? Because in this kind of organization everybody is in patient care.
Self-esteem. It's impossible to recount the times the expression, "I'm just the receptionist" is heard in health care offices. Though I've learned to suppress a pained facial expression upon hearing those words, there's no suppressing the grimace in my heart! Those words, "I'm just the...", whether heard from a receptionist, a custodian, a clerk, anybody - shout that total patient care is not valued very highly in the organization, that it is probably perceived as a necessary evil. Nobody is just an anything. Excellence requires that everyone recognize their importance in projecting the image of the organization, no matter their role. Self-esteem can be defined as "How much I like myself." Nobody can be any more effective in working with others than the degree to which they feel good about themselves. You have to love those receptionists who proudly proclaim themselves to be the "Director of First Impressions!" Let people know -- tell and show - that they matter in the organization, and they will understand that their part does mean a lot.
Empowerment. "I'll have to check with..." is rarely heard from a "My part meant..." employee. Their goal, and the goal of their organization, is for them to be able to handle it. In those situations where they can't -- when it is necessary to check with someone else -- they'll say something like, "I'll be happy to check with...", rather than "I'll have to check with..."; a small, but significant difference.
It has been said that the best way (indeed, Dale Carnegie said the only way) to get somebody to do something is by making the other person want to do it. In other words, give them a motive for action. See how much that resembles motivation? My many years in service in the health care field have made it abundantly clear that you can't motivate anybody to do anything. But you can create the kind of environment in which an employee wants to do something -- in other words, true motivation comes from within. The motivation that "My part meant..." employees have comes from their knowledge that they play a meaningful role in the organization's success -- that their contributions matter.
Roy Lantz is a speaker, seminar leader and author of Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes... and The Care and Keeping of Customers.
