The difference between great to extraordinary care of others is the ability to relate and understand your patients as a trusted source based on shared core values. The truth to creating an extraordinary experience comes down to not “what you do” but “why you do what you do” from core values to them. They may not know this consciously but they do at a subconscious level. It’s what is compelling to them and not what makes your care unit unique. People relate to others based upon similar values. They are more likely to be engaged at this time doing their part and inspire others to do more with their situations being the example. This exemplifies the role of a Trusted Source in your space and leads to a more sustainable connection with your patients.
So, how does your care unit set up a process to create an extraordinary experience when caring for your patients? Let’s dive into it below.
Creating an extraordinary patient experience starts from your people and the culture leadership creates within your care unit. This process starts with building a strong foundation to engage each other that fosters active listening, effective communication, and leading by example to each of their designated role and duties within the care unit. Building a care unit culture where doctors and their staff learn to think differently takes time but so with investment to the potential long term results it can yield with service ratings along with higher collection opportunities through treatment. It’s the ability to shift away from expectations tied to outcomes toward being intentional instead where the focus is only on what your staff can control within each of their role and duties in the moment. Therefore the foundation consists of doctors and staff building a culture from the following methodology:
- Growth mindset through mental toughness
- Shared core values to build better rapport and bring people together
How we each think individually and together in the moment to “be” and “become” first gets the wheel rolling to do things differently, that leads to creating better experiences with patients’ long term. This is because your way of thinking and together as a team with “being and “becoming” impacts your care unit’s communication, behavior, attitude, emotions, and level of action as a team to create better experiences for patients. So many people are caught up in the “do” and “have” without “being” or “becoming” first that solidifies the first layer of a strong foundation.
Mental toughness is the ability to embrace challenges and see them as opportunities to grow and expand our strengths. It helps people to focus only on what they control in the moment each day. You can only control your communication to yourself and others, behavior, attitude, emotions to situations happening for and not you, and taking consistent self-action. You cannot control the same five things in other people. Stress, anxiety, frustration, and feeling overwhelmed are byproduct of a fixed mindset that operates in the past and future from fear. It’s tied to expectations to outcomes and to the control in others including situations that in reality that one has no control over. This leads to disengagement with others, communication based on assumption and speculation, and a lack of focus on the priorities that matter. All these things beyond our control and tied to expectations do not lead to creating an extraordinary work culture and experience with patients.
Confidence grows when each staff member including leadership applies thinking from mental toughness in the moment through consistency with daily habits that serve each person through one another’s example and resourcefulness. Habits such as waking up consistently at a certain time, daily meditation and journaling, and working out lead to higher levels of confidence. When your team’s confidence increases from each team member’s level of increase, this creates a massive shift to be more specific , clear and concise with communication, to behave in a professional way, to choose a positive attitude, to see situations happening for and not you by choosing to respond from positive emotions, and taking consistent action.
The ability to think differently as a team coupled with connecting on shared value builds rapport with one another. We understand our individual and each other’s role and duties while being accountable to further enhance an interdependent work environment that reflects outward to patients. Your team is more valuable and compelling to your patients to create an extraordinary experience based on shared values. Patients do their part with your team to create this valuable experience. They see you as not just care givers but as a trusted source that understands and relates to what is really important to them.
Here are the potential areas to create a more valuable experience for patients from this foundation:
- Empowers patients at every touch point with their level of care
Your values and communication reflect positively to them at every touch point. The experience begins before they see you from your website across other touch points to their level of care with your care unit
- Personalize service and experience in alignment to patient’s shared values
Patients value care givers that relate and understand them. They respect assertive versus passive or aggressive communication that is specific, clear, and concise. They also value whether they know it or not when care givers are compelling to them through sharing versus telling through empathy and kindness.
Always note that patient service is not the same as experience. The experiences you help create for patient and the ability to grow your care unit is limitless when merging service and experience together from a strong foundation.
To your health & prosperity,
Christopher Salem