We talk to people all day, every day – to our family, colleagues, friends, suppliers and specialists. But how often do we really engage?
For those of us who are parents, how many times have our kids told us about schoolyard ‘dramas’ that are enormous issues to them, but seem so insignificant to us against issues on the world stage? And yet, we look into their eyes, nod wisely then turn back to what we were doing, hoping they believe we’ve soaked up every word. And, yet, we barely heard one.
But woven into the childish chatter, sometimes there are clues to issues that are really troubling them; issues we can help them manage.
How many times have you been to see a general practitioner, or better still a specialist, for a check-up and the best form of communication you get is a grunt? They usher, or march, you into their rooms without so much as a greeting, tell you to strip off, then, after a cursory glance over your body, and without asking any questions, they mutter some inaudible sound which sounds to you like “you’re ok”, then disappeared to write their report.
We talk to people all day, every day… But how often do we really engage?
Of course, it doesn’t need to be this way – but more often than not it is.
And, what if you did the same with your patients? Would they even hear you if you blurted out, in the middle of a consultation, “you need to wear glasses when you drive” or “looks like you’ve got early signs of macular degeneration”? What would they actually hear?
It’s easy as a specialist in any field to assume your patient / customer / client knows what you’re talking about and that you’re dealing with their concerns. But what they need is a look in the eye, a reassuring smile and a little light-hearted conversation on the way to the rooms to set them at ease. A careful explanation of the procedure as it’s underway would help, followed by gentle reinforcement of the medical facts, which after all, are entirely familiar to you as their eye care specialist but are like a foreign language to your patient.
Maybe a note (no, not the bill) as they walk out the door would be useful too, a summary of the diagnosis and any instructions to be followed (written legibly of course). Are we asking for too much here?
Is it too much for a patient to go home with clarity of mind, with better information in their hands than what they’d find on Google? (yes, that
can be dangerous but you know they will).
The person who walks into your practice is only a patient when they’re sitting in front of you in the consulting room. There are 8,760 hours in the year. They see you for about half an hour to an hour every two years. That’s less than 0.005 per cent of their life in that time. When they leave your practice, for the other 99.995 per cent of the time, they’re not a patient or a customer; they’re a person, just like you.
