“Did your provider know the important information in your medical history?” This is one of the questions in the Press Ganey survey that our patients receive after they see us in clinic. According the response data from the returned surveys, most of us have the greatest opportunity to improve our score for this question.

Initially, I was puzzled by the drop in this score across the Clinic Network as I was witnessing our clinicians consistently reviewing charts prior to seeing their patients. Moreover, as I went to more clinics, where some clinicians made notes of the salient information from the patient’s history the night before the visit, I witnessed these clinicians also receiving lower marks from their patients for this aspect of their communication.

You might ask, how could this be possible? Why are patients giving a low score for this survey question for our clinicians? Well, when we shadowed some clinicians we found that two things were missing in their interactions with patients:

1.They were asking patients for the reason they were there for the clinic visit.

2.They were not actually telling the patients that they had already reviewed their chart.

Many of us learned in our training to ask the patient to tell you their story as “therein lies the diagnosis, 75% of the time.” The problem with this approach, however, is that the patient expects that we know their problem before we walk into the room. They have already told the MA why they are there, and/or they were referred to us from another clinician. They want to know that we are already familiar with their current condition, recent medical history, and any important test results.

Rather than asking leading questions that may cause the patient to think you aren’t familiar with their history or current concerns, such as “What brings you in today?” or “ How can we help you today?”, you can provide a superior experience by beginning the medical portion of the interaction with a statement like, “I have reviewed your medical record and current concerns that you shared with our intake staff.” This informs your patient that you have taken the time to be prepared for their clinic visit. Following this, you can ask for an update in their own words or ask: “Have I missed anything?” or “Is there anything else that you’re concerned about?”

By making the above changes, we clinicians can enhance our patients’ experience (and our own satisfaction) through a small but significant adjustment in our approach to the patient interaction.

What is Clinician Coaching here at VMC?