Glenn Beck's recent hemorrhoid operation gone wrong is an unfortunate sign of the medical times these days. Beck's experience is a prime example of how vulnerable a patient's emotional well-being is during a visit to a medical facility. The clip below is a bit long, but it gives incredible insight to the emotional despair that Beck felt during his visit to the hospital he received treatment from.
As a consulting practice with a primary emphasis on customer experience creation and business strategy, we have worked with medical organizations to help them better understand their current customer experience and how to build better systems and hire the right people.
Seven Contributing Factors to Poor Patient Experiences:
- Medical staffers think they are there for the wrong reason. Ask a staffer in a medical facility what they do there. Their answer is almost always tied to the technical elements of their job – "I draw blood, I take X-rays, I deliver babies, I register patients, I administer anesthesia etc." – not the emotion-creating elements. It's rare to hear someone say something like, "I'm here to make a difference in the lives of those I serve." If the medical staff was there to make a difference in the lives of patients, they wouldn't walk past a patient without acknowledging them, avoid eye-contact, or do anything that might harm the customer emotionally.
- Technical over emotional. Medical professionals are a special breed. They go to college for many years. They finely tune their craft. They focus on the technical elements of their career – not the human elements. To be good at something technically means that there is a high likelihood that the emotionally-engaging aspects of the patient experience are seriously lacking. It's almost like saying, "If you want the best medical care possible, you have to put up with being treated like garbage." What causes this to be the case? People literally see the world differently based on their behavioral style. The reality is only about 25 percent of the population will enjoy the "typical" patient experience that is devoid of emotional engagement.
- Technical systems abound – customer experience systems are lacking. Medical organizations have elaborate technical processes for everything. It's rare to see a medical facility with a Patient Experience Touch Point Map laying out how the patient is to be treated every step of their visit. Rarely do we see an established process regarding how to treat a patient emotionally. One can easily measure technical systems results. It's difficult to measure the "warm fuzzies" generated from emotion based systems.
- There is an emotional oasis in every medical facility. Be it a doctor or nurse or tray carrier or custodian – there are people who really care in every organization. The key is hiring more people like them. These people have something in common. That something is a people-oriented behavioral style and/or a high "social value." People who like people treat them emotionally better than people who are highly systematic and/or have a low "social value."
- Likeability factor has power. The more likeable a doctor is, the more likely it is that a patient will look past their faults or errors. There is very good statistical evidence proving this. I have yet to see a medical organization attempt to really capitalize on likeability as a primary patient experience agenda.
- Patient experiences aren't rewarded in most medical organizations. Most medical organizations reward only technical results, leaving little incentive for those not people-orientated or lacking a high social value to go above and beyond the technical requirements of their position. This is representative of an organizational culture that values the technical treatment of the patient over the patient's emotional well-being.
- The wrong people work in medical facilities. It's an unfortunate reality. There are incredibly talented individuals working in hospitals and medical organizations who are focused only on the technical requirements of their position and lack a high "social value". In English… There are a lot of medical staffers who are really good at what they do, but lack the people skills necessary to take care of patients on an emotional level.
Unfortunately when a medical facility is facing a staffing shortage they are likely to hire any candidate who possesses the skills necessary to perform the technical aspects of the position. Instead of this approach, medical facilities should focus on a candidate's values as well as their technical abilities when making a hiring decision.
A key question that must be considered when hiring in a medical facility: "Does this candidate love people?" This isn't an interview question – the answer will always be a resounding "yes." This is a personality question that can only be answered with a scientifically based and statistically validated personality assessment.
Bottom line… if you hire people who love people, the results will shine through in the patient's experience.
Additional Resources:
- Effective Employee Hiring and Selection
- Personality Assessments for Improved Hiring and Talent Management
- Medical Customer Service Consulting
- Employee Values and Motivators
Additional Medical Customer Service Articles:
- What Kind of Doctors Get Sued the Most???
- Medical Customer Service has LONG way to go
- Customer Service in the ER
If you are a hospital or medical facility administrator, isn't it time that you started taking a look the emotional side of your patient's treatment in your organization? At The Rainmaker Group we have helped numerous organizations dramatically improve their patients' experiences by focusing on the emotional as well as the technical aspects of treating a patient. Give us a call today, we'd love to chat about how we can make your patients' experience one they won't soon forget - for all the right reasons!
Now go maximize possibility!
Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention. Bring Chris in today!
