5 ways to make a connection with previously unreachable patients

I sometimes joke that hospitalists are the medicine version of the mullet haircut; you know, all business in “the front” (i.e., the patient care area) and all party in “the back” (i.e., the work room). In “the back,” the usual scenario is to complain and moan about our frequent flyers, our drug seekers, our many unsaveable patients, the incredible situations (“He put a nail where?”), with good-natured but somewhat bitter truculence about sharing duties with house staff and general whining about hospital leadership. Generally, as long as these semi-inappropriate conversations and remarks were kept “backstage,” and our demeanor was professional “onstage,” I felt it was harmless. You know, gallows humor. A coping mechanism. And often entertaining. But there was always a part of me that wondered if these backstage conversations were having a more corrosive impact on communication with our patients. Does it normalize a negative judgment about patients if you complain about it in this public way? Then, recently I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Aziz Ansari speak at the Chicago SHM chapter event about a new resource that SHM and the Practice Management Committee developed to address cultural humility. And though this was developed to learn to be aware of our own many innate biases as providers, which is important, I really walked away with a slightly different impact. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Hospitalist Source Type: blogs