Focus on the Patient - Without Them You're Nowhere

This is a fact…the patient is your boss. You are there to serve them. If they don’t come back, neither will you. It’s that simple. And it really is simple if you accept that serving the patient is not belittling. Serving the patient is a privilege. I say this because the patient trusts you. They are laying down their defenses and believing that you care about them.

Begin focusing on the patient the minute you pick up the phone. Actually, begin even before that. Be prepared to answer by the second ring. Smile when you speak, it comes across in your voice. Listen to what the patient is saying and ask questions that show you understand what they are calling about, or at least want to. Work with the patient to give them what they need. Begin to partner with them immediately. Many times I hear dentists say they will not let the patients run the practice. While it’s good to have appointment guidelines, don’t become so rigid that patients are treated like mass produced objects. A patient who always walks in without an appointment demanding a denture adjustment is different than a patient who walks in without an appointment, but in obvious distress. Patients in pain deserve priority. At that point it should not matter if they let a diagnosed condition persist to the point of pain. At that point all that matters is alleviating the pain. Build time into the schedule so that the unexpected doesn't become a schedule breaker.

Once the patient is in the office, how are they greeted? Focusing on the patient means standing and welcoming them. It means making comments or asking questions that let them know you remember something about them or want to know them better. Use their name often; it is music to their ears. When the assistant calls the patient to the operatory for treatment she should go to the patient in the reception area rather than propping the door with her foot and blandly calling their name. When the patient enters the operatory any special items that they appreciate should be ready and waiting for them. Headphones, with music that you know they like, or a neck pillow are small touches that show the patient you want them to be comfortable. Staying and talking to the patient is preferred to plopping them in the chair and handing them a magazine. Building a rapport benefits the patient and the practice. The time between the administration of anesthetic and the beginning of treatment is a great opportunity to educate the patient about their oral health and what treatments are available. It is also a good time to listen to their concerns and fears and help them to understand and deal with them better.

During treatment be alert for signs that the patient is experiencing discomfort, needs a break or a reassuring pat on the arm. The difference between indifferently getting the job done and caring treatment is vast and keenly felt by everyone. Let the patient know the progress of treatment. “This is the end of the noisy part”, “We only have 5 minutes to go till you can have a break”, let the patient know that you haven’t forgotten about the person around the mouth. When treatment is completed for the day, make sure you help the patient become as presentable leaving as they were when they arrived. Check their face for debris and give them a mirror. Escort the patient to the front desk and let the receptionist know what they need. Leave them with a warm good-by and a smile.

There are times that patients will seem unreasonable. It may be a misunderstood fee or any other matter that they feel was not handled properly. Well-meaning staff members may make the mistake of focusing on the patient’s mood or attitude. Even though this is well intentioned, it only makes matters worse. More than likely the patient knows they are not expressing themselves calmly. They may even be taking an aggressive stance because they think they have to if they want action. That’s OK; let them express their problem however they choose to. Focus on addressing the problem. Don’t give reasons or make excuses, it will only escalate the level of frustration. Aim to gain understanding of the problem and find a solution. As the patient sees that you are determined to help, they will begin to relax and work with you. You gain nothing by being right and showing the patient they are wrong. If they are wrong, they will realize it as you work to solve the problem. The desired outcome is a satisfied patient.

Most of this can be achieved by asking yourself why you choose to do what you do. It is easy to let your focus drift or devolve into self-serving or uncaring avenues. You will get more satisfaction from your job if you see a happy patient who sends new patients to your practice as your affirmative nod. Make it your goal to make everyone’s experience better than it would be somewhere else. Aim to please and make it nothing less than a pleasure. Remember that there are other practices that will do the extra things that count. Focus on the patient and they’ll stay right there with you.

Bio for Linda V. Zdanowicz, CDA, CDPMA Linda Zdanowicz has been a dental assistant for 16 years and a practice administrator for the last 2.5 years. Linda has worked in general dentistry, periodontics, endodontics, & orthodontics. Linda earned her CDA in 2000 and her CDPMA in 2004 She has worked for Dr. Jeffery Price for 7.5 years as his primary chairside assistant, practice administrator and patient care coordinator. She has been married for 27 years to her husband Mark and they have 3 children: Kim-25, Erik-22 and Nick-16. Linda has a weblog dedicated to enhancing the practice of dentistry for dentists, auxiliaries and patients and can be viewed at this link: http://dentalpracticemanagement.typepad.com Linda's first article was published in the January 2007 issue of Contemporary Dental Assisting. She has articles pending publication in Dental Economics and Dental Office magazine. Linda recently was a lecturer at the Holiday Dental Conference in Charlotte, NC. Linda lives and works in Hendersonville, NC.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Zdanowicz

Patient Rights - Top Ten List Of Most Violated

INTRODUCTION

Patient rights are under siege, as evidenced in a recent survey conducted by the National Institute for Patient Rights (NIPR). NIPR staff compiled the results based on responses from one-thousand randomly selected, former hospital patients who took part in the study. The results of the survey show that, despite billions spent on advances in medical technology, patients daily experience an erosion of their rights “at the hospital bedside.” Ironically, it may be a consequence of the success of science in medicine.

Among those responding to essay questions, the following was a typical scenario. A hospital admits a loved one with “complications” (a medical euphemism for “we really don’t know all that’s going on here, but there are several organs involved”). While the loved one rests stable in bed, a line of doctors and nurses seems to form at the door. One after another, doctors enter the room, make a few comments, then turn around and exit. Primary care physicians refer patients to specialists who rely on subspecialists. It seems like each separate organ has its own special doctor.

In the health care industry, this is commonly referred to as “component management,” which results from a focus on the treatment of individual organ systems in isolation from others. It suffers from two shortcomings: (1) specialists and subspecialists tend to segregate organ systems at the expense of the whole patient; and (2) it is inefficient, because it inevitably leads to “episodic intervention” where if something happens, you see one specialist for a particular organ system; if something else happens, then you see another specialist or subspecialist, and so on.

Episodic intervention leads unavoidably to uncoordinated care that lacks continuity for the patient and for the patient’s family. Many individual decisions in patient treatment by numerous specialists and subspecialists entail a fragmented delivery system. According to the findings of the NIPR study, this leads to the number one problem in contemporary healthcare delivery: a failure to communicate.

PIECING TOGETHER BITS OF INFORMATION

The study suggests health care suffers from a decided lack of coordination and cooperation among diverse healthcare professionals. Participants in the survey invariably stated that, with no one to treat the entire patient and coordinate care, patients and their families are left largely on their own to integrate their own care. According to one respondent, “We had to somehow piece together bits of information from different doctors to try to get a complete picture of our mom’s progress.”

This can be very difficult to do in a hospital setting and extremely frustrating. Participants in the study frequently stated that no one seemed willing to tell them exactly what was going on with the whole patient. Doctors were more than willing to share information about their specialty, about precisely what was happening with their particular organ system, but no one seemed especially willing to say anything about how the entire patient was doing.

THE TOP TEN MOST VIOLATED PATIENT RIGHTS

This failure to communicate is responsible for the #1 spot on the top ten list of most violated patient rights. A full 63% of participants felt that healthcare providers most often violated their right to informed consent. When prompted to explain, many complained about the inadequacy of multiple diagnoses coming from multiple providers. Without a single, complete diagnosis, respondents felt unable to make an informed choice about appropriate treatment options.

The #2 violation on the list is related to the same problem. Participants often complained about the way in which doctors presented them with treatment options. The following is a representative statement, “I felt as if I was in automobile show room and the salesman was presenting me with a list of options for a new car.”

The #2 most violated of patient rights was a lack of respect for personal, spiritual, and religious values and beliefs. Participants observed that many doctors do not seem to care about personal preferences. Consequently, they often failed to acknowledge the unique nature of personal lifestyles in their presentation of treatment options. To quote one respondent, “I would have liked my doctor to have recommended a treatment option tailored to my love of the outdoors. He never even asked.”

A failure to communicate was also the cause of the #3 violation of patient rights, a lack of respect for advance directives. Participants complained vociferously about the way in which advance directives are handled by most hospitals. Stated one respondent, “The only time any one every mentioned my living will was at admissions. No one ever asked me again about my personal wishes.”

Miscommunication was the cause of violation #4. Despite HIPAA, many participants observed that providers often showed no regard for the privacy and confidentiality of their personal health information. Cell phones were often cited as the main culprit. Said one respondent, “A nurse bent over me to straighten out a line with a cell phone in her other hand, blurting out sensitive information about a patient in the next room. It was embarrassing!”

CONFLICTS ABOUND

Conflict between “team” and patient/advocate was the cause of #5 on The List. Patients and their advocates have a right to know of realistic care alternatives when hospital care is no longer appropriate. Some participants observed that no one ever approached them about realistic care alternatives in the event that hospital care was no longer appropriate.

Not only was there no discussion of alternative care options, but many respondents complained about how they were made to feel when they disagreed with providers about the continued appropriateness of hospital care. One respondent noted, “They made us feel like we were immoral when we questioned their treatment recommendations!”

Conflict was also the cause of violations #6 and #7, violations of a right to know hospital rules on charges and payment methods, and a right to review the hospital bill, have information explained, and get a copy of the bill. Said one respondent, “It was like pulling teeth to try to get an explanation of certain charges. I still don’t know why I was charged for things I know we didn’t use.”

Under violation #8, some participants complained about their inability to identify hospital personnel who could help in resolving discrepancies over billing issues or in disagreement over treatment between “team” and patient/advocate. Patients and their advocates have a right to know of hospital resources, such as patient complaints and grievance processes, patient representatives or ethics committees. It was common in the survey results that respondents express the desire to have known about the hospital ethics committees and their members in the event of conflict over treatment options.

MEDICAL MISTAKES AND RECORD KEEPING

Although listed at #9, the violation of a patient/advocate’s right to know the identity and professional status of those who care for the patient contained some of the most poignant responses in our survey results. Some of the narrative statements were truly heartbreaking.

Many participants claimed to have suffered some harm as a result of medical error. Some even noted if they had had ready access to information about the identity and professional status of their providers, they would have had second thoughts about consenting to treatment. Said one respondent, “I am permanently disabled because of what a doctor did to me. I found out only much later and through my lawyer the hospital knew the doctor caused similar problems in the past with other patients. Why didn’t they just tell me?!”

Coming in at a close #10 was the violation of a right to review medical records and receive an accounting of disclosures regarding health information. Participants observed that they have moved frequently during their life times. Consequently, they have received medical care from various providers over time. Each provider keeps his or her records detailing visits and treatments. The same is true for hospitals, clinics, laboratories, pharmacies, and so on. One participant noted, “Like most people, I’ve moved around quite a bit. Over time, it’s easy to forget when you were treated, by whom and even for what!”

Respondents noted such problems as the wide variation among providers in the amount of time they retained records, paper records were misfiled or even destroyed, electronic records were lost, stolen, damaged or vulnerable to unauthorized access, and physicians sold their practices. Stated a respondent, “I was made to feel intimated in asking one of my doctors for a copy of my medical records. He acted like my medical record was his property and his only.”

CONCLUSION

Despite billions spent on advanced medical technologies such as drugs and devices, patients daily experience an erosion of their most fundamental rights. The rights of patient self-determination and informed consent suffer the most.

Ironically, the widespread violation of patient rights in hospital-based care may be a direct consequence of the success of medicine, specifically of the application of science to medicine. The scientific method lends itself to reductionism with researchers analyzing smaller and smaller parts. Likewise in medicine, doctors become specialist who confine their focus to individual organs; sub specialist focus even more narrowly on the parts of organs.

Component management leads to episodic intervention and the fragmentation of care. The lack of coordination causes anger and frustration among patients and their families by the breakdown in communications. A failure to communicate may not just cause anger and frustration but also unnecessary conflict. Conflict is costly! Mis-communications can also cause significant harm when patients suffer underuse, overuse or misuse as a result of medical error.

Until hospitals adjust to the success of science in medicine, patients and their families are likely to continue to experience one or more of the top ten violations of patient rights.

(Editor’s note: Dr. Mark E. Meaney is President and CEO of the National Institute for Patient Rights and author of the recent best seller, 3 Secrets Hospitals Don’t Want You to Know: How to Empower Patients.)

Article Source:: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Meaney

Next Source !!!