"To observe without evaluation is the highest form of human intelligence."
- J. Krishnamurti
But we are all not non violent communicators.We are all very busy people & are very good at evaluation,labeling & commenting.We mix evaluations with observations & if someone does not come up to our expectations - we are upset.
Some examples of patient feed backs -'The doctor seemed uninterested in my illness"
'The doctor is rude" "The doctors is not fit to practice"
If you go through the above survey sites even the most respectable doctors with whom I have worked & personally know that will do no harm-get such remarks!
My immediate impulsive reply to the person who brought above feedback can be -'The patients illness probably was really not interesting.What I mean is the patient may have some common cold or viral fever."
I have all empathy for any one who is sick however when I am seeing opd in an tertiary care hospital-there are so many serious things happening around.
There should be an issue if a doctor has not treated the patient properly or poor bedside manners.
In the era of "Patient is always right" -doctors opinion or feedback are never taken.
In order to please patients doctors may be overacting or reacting i.e. to satisfy patient they may over test or over-prescribe.
Customer satisfaction has been applied to anything & everything nowadays,but can it be applied to the practice of medicine just like in supermarkets?
In Medical practice-there are various factors to be taken into consideration.
Following applies to most of the doctors who are seeing outpatients
1.May be having a sick patient in ward/ ICU
2.May have operated early morning & the patients relatives are wanting to see. (In spite of meeting a close relative post surgery).
3.Ward patients may be in a hurry to go home & the nurse is constantly ringing to give orders
4.Phone calls either about appointment or drug or a new symptom.
5.Emergency department calls to attend a patient
6.Reports to be followed up or collected
.....so on & so forth.....Not to forget ....doctor also needs a coffee break or food.
The patients should know that the doctor needs them as well.The doctors concentrate on keeping them healthy & not "satisfied" as most of the feedback ask.
Eventually the system i.e. feedback form is designed to keep them satisfied first & healthy next.
What makes a patient most “satisfied”.. isn’t what is best for their health.
The reasons for a patient being dissatisfied with a particular healthcare encounter can be very complex. It’s not so simple as to just include a line in a survey such as, “Were you satisfied with your doctor?
I see children & some mothers are excessively worried..sometimes I do tell them to find other ways of occupying themselves than just their child.Its for their childs wellbeing-It cannot be rude.
Some Google educated patients ask irrelevant questions-I can answer only so much in 10 minutes & sometimes stop entertaining their queries.
Not to mention just like I have many things to handle even the patient may have work stress ,an ill relative or various physical/ mental causes for being anxious or "a bad experience at a previous hospital"
There is so much going on in media that everyone comes influenced & charged.
The feedback form should be designed to take above patient factor in to consideration.
For good patient care & doctor patient relationship-not just patient satisfaction but doctors satisfaction should also be considered.
Make your observations free from your judgments, criticism and interpretations.
- J. Krishnamurti
But we are all not non violent communicators.We are all very busy people & are very good at evaluation,labeling & commenting.We mix evaluations with observations & if someone does not come up to our expectations - we are upset.
Some examples of patient feed backs -'The doctor seemed uninterested in my illness"
'The doctor is rude" "The doctors is not fit to practice"
If you go through the above survey sites even the most respectable doctors with whom I have worked & personally know that will do no harm-get such remarks!
My immediate impulsive reply to the person who brought above feedback can be -'The patients illness probably was really not interesting.What I mean is the patient may have some common cold or viral fever."
I have all empathy for any one who is sick however when I am seeing opd in an tertiary care hospital-there are so many serious things happening around.
There should be an issue if a doctor has not treated the patient properly or poor bedside manners.
In the era of "Patient is always right" -doctors opinion or feedback are never taken.
In order to please patients doctors may be overacting or reacting i.e. to satisfy patient they may over test or over-prescribe.
Customer satisfaction has been applied to anything & everything nowadays,but can it be applied to the practice of medicine just like in supermarkets?
In Medical practice-there are various factors to be taken into consideration.
Following applies to most of the doctors who are seeing outpatients
1.May be having a sick patient in ward/ ICU
2.May have operated early morning & the patients relatives are wanting to see. (In spite of meeting a close relative post surgery).
3.Ward patients may be in a hurry to go home & the nurse is constantly ringing to give orders
4.Phone calls either about appointment or drug or a new symptom.
5.Emergency department calls to attend a patient
6.Reports to be followed up or collected
.....so on & so forth.....Not to forget ....doctor also needs a coffee break or food.
The patients should know that the doctor needs them as well.The doctors concentrate on keeping them healthy & not "satisfied" as most of the feedback ask.
Eventually the system i.e. feedback form is designed to keep them satisfied first & healthy next.
What makes a patient most “satisfied”.. isn’t what is best for their health.
The reasons for a patient being dissatisfied with a particular healthcare encounter can be very complex. It’s not so simple as to just include a line in a survey such as, “Were you satisfied with your doctor?
I see children & some mothers are excessively worried..sometimes I do tell them to find other ways of occupying themselves than just their child.Its for their childs wellbeing-It cannot be rude.
Some Google educated patients ask irrelevant questions-I can answer only so much in 10 minutes & sometimes stop entertaining their queries.
Not to mention just like I have many things to handle even the patient may have work stress ,an ill relative or various physical/ mental causes for being anxious or "a bad experience at a previous hospital"
There is so much going on in media that everyone comes influenced & charged.
The feedback form should be designed to take above patient factor in to consideration.
For good patient care & doctor patient relationship-not just patient satisfaction but doctors satisfaction should also be considered.
But giving patients
exactly what they want, versus what the doctor thinks is right, can be very bad
medicine.
To summarize -I personally am not against feed back.However encourage patients to describe the situation by just what they saw or heard not what they think should be.
