<h2>CHAPTER 1</h2><p><b>Perfect Phrases for Patients Upset About Their Care</b></p><br><p>People have many different motivations for entering the field of healthcare.These motivations might range from an altruistic drive to help others to adesire to work in a job that is intellectually challenging. Still, we mustremember that we are in a service industry—we get paid because we provideservices to our patients, and they have a right to expect quality care from us.</p><p>There are myriad reasons that patients become upset about their care. More oftenthan not, we have provided good care for our patients but factors beyond ourcontrol, such as insurance issues, wait times, or unrealistic patientexpectations, obscure our hard work.</p><br><p><b>Perfect Phrases for Patients Upset About Wait Times</b></p><p>There are many steps in a medical encounter that force patients to wait forthings to happen. In a typical outpatient office visit, patients can show up ontime for an appointment but not see their provider for over an hour.Furthermore, wait times can vary widely, depending on the location of the office(urban versus suburban, academic medicine versus community medicine) and eventhe day of the week.</p><p>Patients can become quickly frustrated if they feel that they are waiting for nogood reason. Whenever possible, let patients know upfront how long they shouldexpect to wait and why they are waiting. This communication can be accomplishedby something as simple as placing a sign in a waiting area or treatment roomwith expected wait times for office visits or procedures. If something does gowrong, such as a lab test being misplaced, explain this to the patient,apologize, and do your best to rectify the situation as quickly as possible.</p><p>Patients can also become angered when they see staff joking with each other,checking e-mail, or making personal phone calls. Patients seeing these behaviorsmay feel that they are being ignored and being made to wait unnecessarily. Ifyou are on break or need to take care of some personal business, do it away frompatient care areas so as to not appear indifferent to patient needs.</p><p><b>Mr. Smith is a patient who has come to the Emergency Department (ED) withankle pain after a fall. He is upset and complaining to the nurses and doctorsbecause he has waited three hours to be seen.</b></p><p>When you enter a room to interview or examine a patient, be sure to introduceyourself and to explain your role in the patient's care. If the patient hasother people in the room with him or her, be sure to identify theirrelationships to the patient.</p><p>-> Hello. I'm Dr. Gordon. I'm a doctor in the Emergency Department and I'll beresponsible for your care here today. [To a woman sitting with the patient.] Areyou here with Mr. Smith?</p><p>Apologize for their wait. If you were the patient, you wouldn't want to waiteither.</p><p>-> I'm very sorry that you had to wait so long to be seen. We have not forgottenabout you, but we are very busy today. We always make sure that each patient'sproblems are fully evaluated, and some problems take longer than others.</p><p>Acknowledge that you understand that the patient is upset, and then try toaddress his or her concerns. In addition, if your exam room allows it, sit downwhen you speak to patients. Studies have shown that when physicians interviewtheir patients while sitting down and at eye level, patients overestimate theamount of time the physician was in the room with them.</p><p>-> I can see that you are upset about having to wait to be seen. You are right toexpect to be treated quickly when you come to our hospital. Here is what I cantry to do to get your x-rays done as soon as possible.</p><p>Emphasize to patients that you will do what is needed to take care of theirmedical problem.</p><p>-> I'm here to help you now and I'll spend as much time with you as you need.</p><p>Try to give patients periodic updates on the status of their care.</p><p>-> I just spoke with the radiology technician, and she is sending your films tothe radiologist right now. We will try to get you out of here as soon aspossible.</p><p><b>Mrs. Lee is waiting to see her dermatologist in the exam room of anoutpatient office. She is having a follow-up visit after a skin biopsy. She ismad that her dermatologist hasn't been in to see her yet.</b></p><p>Letting patients know why they are waiting can often calm them down. If theyrealize that there are reasonable, or sometimes unavoidable, delays in theircare, they may be more accepting of a wait.</p><p>-> I'm sorry that you have hhad to wait, but let me tell you the things we havebeen doing while you were waiting. I have reviewed your chart and the bloodtests you had since our last visit. We also had too call the pathology labbecause they had not sent over your results yet. In addition, my office staffhad to contact your insurance company to verify your coveeeerage. We have gottenall those things squared away, so now I'm here to focus on you.</p><p><b>Mr. Ford recently had a cardiac catheterization for chest pain. Hiscardiologist sent him to the ED because he has swelling and pain in his groinwhere the catheter had been inserted into his femoral artery. He needs to havean ultrasound of his groin to make sure that he doesn't have an abscess orpseudoaneurysm. Unfortunately, it's a weekend night, and there is no ultrasoundtechnician available until the morning.</b></p><p>If there is going to be a delay in some part of the patient's diagnostic ortreatment plan, let him or her know about it up front, and explain the reason.</p><p>-> I just want you to know up front that we won't have an...