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 Gem #6Making Every Patient Feel Like a Million Dollars Your patient’s perception of his or her time spent with you is directly related to the energy that you direct toward them during the visit. Using simple techniques, you can pack an hour of medical and emotional care into a fifteen-minute visit. The assistant-physician team can control the patient’s perceptions by knowing, meeting and then exceeding their every expectation. As you cross the doorway to enter the exam room, begin each patient encounter with eye contact and a friendly smile. Follow up with a handshake, even if it is a patient that you have greeted several times before. Be sure to give them your name if it’s a new patient. These gestures impart your trust, warmth and caring, and often help to reduce any anxieties that the patient might be experiencing. In showing that you are friendly and can relate to the patient, you have opened their minds and ears to what you will say with regards to their condition. As you begin to speak with them, place both hands on their feet. Studies have consistently shown that human touch conveys compassion. Begin your conversation with a question relating to their overall well being, such as “How have you been?”. As this could lead to an extensive discussion, you must be able to direct the focus of the conversation to their particular podiatric problem. This is achieved through more specific questions, such as “So how’s the heel feeling?”. At this point, let them speak freely about their condition and/or concerns. The typical patient will do this fairly quickly. However, if you interrupt them early in the encounter, the patient will feel rushed. Once they have spoken their piece, the rest of the visit is under your control. More to come................
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