KEEPING THE DOCTOR HAPPY

There are a lot of books and articles on practice management for doctors, teaching them how to keep their patients happy. This is obviously important because if the patients are happy, the doctor’s practice is likely to do well. However, a doctor has lots of patients and an occasional unhappy patient is not likely to affect him too much. However, most patients have just one doctor and therefore learning how to keep the doctor happy should be far more important for patients.

A doctor’s time is precious and he only has a few minutes to spend with each patient. The patient needs to make sure that he can make the most of these few minutes. It helps if the patient is considerate and learns to look at life through the doctor’s viewpoint.

Doctors are busy people and appreciate thoughtful patients who have prepared for their visit. The more the time and energy a patient is willing to put into preparing for his visit, the more the doctor appreciates these efforts and reciprocates.

A person should do his homework so that he is well prepared for the consultation. This can be hard to do when one is ill. So it is a good idea to do this on a proactive basis. The medical records should be updated and arranged in order with a one-page summary, so the doctor can quickly review the salient features.

A list of questions to be asked should be made. However, the list should not be very long, expecting the doctor to answer all the questions. Ideally, one should do his own research, answering the easy ones himself. It is always helpful to show the doctor that one has done his homework, and is well prepared. Not only will this would create a respect in the doctor’s mind, also the level of conversation can be taken one grade higher.

Doctors understand that medicine is not a perfect science, that outcomes are always uncertain and that the more the patient is engaged in his care, the better the outcome is going to be, both for the patient and the doctor.

Doctors like being productive. Efficient and effective, as well as well informed patients can help them to achieve these goals. Doctors will naturally have a soft corner for these patients, who then get treated like VIPs. Doctors are much more likely to respect patients who know what's happening to them, rather than someone who's completely clueless.

Some people expect doctors to do all the work for them. While doctors are hard-working, they appreciate patients who are willing to put in some effort on their own. Patients need to know that they need to contribute as partners, rather than be passive recipients and expect the doctor to put in all the effort.

It's actually not very difficult to keep the doctor happy because most doctors are fairly simple creatures who take pleasure and pride in their professional work and making sure that their patients get well. Most patients have got so used to complaining when they go to their doctor that they often forget to say simple things like a simple appreciation for helping them to get better. The patient who does remember to be complimentary to the doctor is actually likely to have a much happier doctor, making a world of difference in the quality of care which one gets from the doctor.

It’s equally important be courteous to the doctor’s staff as well. After all, they are the ones who are responsible for controlling access to the doctor. If the doctor’s staff remembers a particular patient as a person who smiles and is thoughtful about their needs and requirements, he is likely to have a much happier and kinder doctor. Patients who are smart & learn to keep their doctors and the staff happy are much likelier to be happy patients.

There is a lot of talk on how doctors need to be empathetic, and the need to spend time and energy in understanding the patient's expectations. It is equally important that the patient is equally empathetic, so that he can see things from the doctor’s perspective. Doctors are humans too, and patients who care about fulfilling their doctors’ needs (respect and gratitude) find that the doctors would tend to care much more about them as well. After all, a person wants a doctor to treat him as a person, and not just as another number.

As with any other relationship, this involves a bit of give-and-take, and the more one invests in it, the more one receives. And the rewards of these efforts can be huge.

Both the patients as well as the doctor have different concerns and priorities, and the trick is to get the doctor on one’s side, making him see things from one’s point of view. In order to do this, one needs to understand what makes the doctor tick.

When a person is sick, he wants the doctor to drop everything else and focus all his time and energy on him. This is a tall order. A doctor is a busy professional, with lots of other patients to see. However, if the doctor comes across a pleasant person in the patient, who is reasonable and understanding and can see things from the doctor’s perspective, he is much more likely to go out of his way to meet the patient’s needs. After all, it’s not just about understanding the disease, but also about understanding the doctor.