Rediscovering the power of listening in medicine can help high-need patients across the nation, according to research compiled by Harvard Business Review.
Here are three ways healthcare providers can improve patient satisfaction through listening:
1. Tune into your patients. Listen more deeply to patients and treat them as active participants in their care. Apply this concept to designing health systems and care models based on full-time, dedicated clinicians and staff committed to knowing all the clinic's patients.
2. Listen to other organizations. Care for high-need patients by addressing concerns beyond their physical ailments. Consider the behavioral and social services they need in their neighborhoods.
3. Listen to colleagues. Focus on culture in the hiring and training process, use nontraditional care team members to integrate behavioral health, and deploy home-based care services creatively.