7:59 P.M.
I was taught to confront a bad situation by someone who made me cringe at the thought of the possibility of �A confrontation.�
I would squirm when he�d walk into the room. When he approached me I would sweat profusely, and become very uneasy.
To tell you the truth, this man was quite frightening. He was intimidating to say the least, but I secretly admired him because no matter how CRAZY I THOUGHT he was, I respected the fact that he always appeared to have his ducks in a row.
He sent me to a class to learn marketing and management skills while I was the front office manager at his medical practice. After attending the class and after many employees had fallen off the roster, he promoted me to office manager.
This �promotion�, to most would be a good thing, but I dreaded it and wanted to run clear in the opposite direction.
I was comfortable just being the front desk manager.
I stuck to administrative duties, booking appointments and answering phones.
In my comfort zone, why the hell would I consider approaching �the unknown�, of medical terminology and client relations?
Before I was booking appointments, and now I would be responsible for cleaning up others messes when it came to miscommunications, or recovering cancelled treatments.
I would have to now explain patient treatment plans to people who were interested in maintaining good physical health, not just scheduling them in for procedures.
I was responsible for explaining every detail of the procedure and answering most questions that did not require a doctor�s analysis.
Once the patient was diagnosed, I broke the medical terminology down into laymen�s terms to get a commitment to come in for treatments from the patient who was seeking the help in the first place.
I never understood why it was so important to get a commitment from someone who clearly APPPEARED to want help from the get-go.
But the truth is, people often seek help but don�t want to take the medicine that the doctor prescribes or the suggestions the doctor may recommend because the patient doesn�t understand why the treatment is important.
For instance.
A guy comes into the dental office. He says, �My front tooth hurts like hell. Fix it.�
If he�s got a dead tooth, you can�t just go in and remove it.
You have to explain the procedure and have the patients agreement for the procedure.
If dentists went out removing dead teeth just because they were dead, we�d have an ass-load of lawsuits�
I remember taking this silly management class but the more time that has gone by, the more it seems to make a lot of sense.
It taught me that you could tell a lot about how a person is feeling by reading their tone.
If you tell a patient that the doctor is going to have to remove a tooth, most often they cry and go into a panic.
This is where you explain the benefits of the procedure.
�Your tooth may not be there, but the infection will leave with the tooth.�
You must also keep the patient, �In the NOW.�
Keep them in reality.
Ask questions.
�Does your tooth ache?�
Yes.
�Do you know why this happened?�
I think so?
�Why�
I don�t take very good care of my teeth.
�What do you want the doctor to do about it?�
Fix it
�Do you have any suggestions?�
No, just fix it.
�Do you think the tooth may need to be removed?�
I don�t know, I�m not a doctor. What did the doctor say?
�Well he thinks we�re going to have to pull it.�
Oh.
�Do you know what will happen if the doctor doesn�t remove the tooth?
no
�Do you see any benefit of removing the tooth?
if it makes the pain go away, take it out.
�well if we take this ONE out, what do you think will happen to the other teeth?�
I don�t know
�Do you plan on taking better care of the rest of them, or do you want this to keep happening?�
Um, I�ll take care of them.
�Ok, well just remember, you only have to floss the teeth that you WANT to keep.�
Right THERE!
You get your answer and the patient has come to his or her own conclusion. They have accepted responsibility for the situation and want to resolve it. They have committed to the resolution and there is little room to regret because they are in the NOW and have accepted the situation.
I remember one day where I had a discussion with the doctor. He asked me how I felt about the fact that he was disappointed in something that had taken place.
I felt responsible for the fact that a woman had cancelled a major appointment because I had lost control of the situation.
She called and said, �I�m not going to be able to come in today. I don�t understand why I need to pay to have a crown put on my teeth. I�m just going to go to another dentist to have a filling put on.�
I didn�t ask any questions. I just said Ok.
It was not ok with the doctor. He had agreed to work late to get this woman in.
He called her up and discussed the situation with her.
He said, �Hi. Do you know who this is? Yes, the doctor. I�m calling you because you cancelled your appointment. Kelly tells me that you are going to get a filling from another doctor.�
I listened as the doctor got quiet.
Then he continued, �Well the reason you need this crown is because the cavity is too deep and wide for a filling. I mean, we could put a filling in, but it would only be a waste of your money. The filling will not last more than a couple of months, whereas a crown will last for at LEAST 10 years. Can you see the benefit of the crown?�
They continued talking for just a few more minutes and then ten minutes later the lady showed for the appointment and had the procedure.
The doctor later confronted me and accused me of not CARING.
He explained why the crown was his decision instead of a filling and how much the woman had appreciated that he took the time to explain the reasoning behind his decision.
Ok, maybe he was RIGHT. Maybe I didn�t care enough.
He told me that if I couldn�t commit to the responsibility of �Caring� for our patients that I would need to find another job.
He thanked me for all of the things I had done right like, showing up on time, always being cheerful, and staying late when it was necessary, but he couldn�t keep me around if my heart was someplace else.
He asked me if I cared about the health of our patients and told me to think about it before answering right away.
I sat there for at least ten minutes and wanted to cry.
I DID care�
Right then I made up my mind.
I understood why it was important to care enough to fully explain things to patients.
*^*^*^*^*
I later used this situation to my advantage to find out how someone felt about me. I didn�t confront them to get a reaction and I was fully prepared for the fact that they might tell me that they couldn�t care less about me.
I said,
�I would like to know how you FEEL about the fact that I�m disappointed in you.
How does it feel to know that I�m upset with you.�
Then your opponent will say one of two things.
1. �I didn�t even know you were upset. Why are you upset.�
Or
2. �I could care less�
If the person you are talking to says that they could care less about making you feel like shit, you don�t need to be wasting your time on them.
