Lack of clear communication can play havoc in healthcare

From the Crucibles of

Justplainandsimple Consulting Pvt.Ltd.

….. Helping Create Customer Value

To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide for our communication with others.

A few months back, my mother had to be hospitalized due to severe breathing problems. What started, apparently as a sore throat and chest congestion, got worse in three days. The attending physician advised shifting her to a hospital so that she could get better care and in this case oxygen and ventilator support as well.

She was kept in the pulmonary care ICU. When she was not fully responding to the treatment even after two days, the pulmonary specialist told me that they suspected a cardiac problem. Accordingly they will ask a cardiac surgeon to also examine her. This was the second day evening.

Next morning I inquired if the cardiac surgeon had visited/seen her/will be visiting. I was told by the attending nurses and attending floor doctor that he had been informed and that he will visit soon. This went on till about 1.00 PM. Since it was an ICU, we had to just wait outside and keep inquiring. At 1.00 PM I decided to call the cardiac surgeon myself from the hospital internal line and ask him when he would be visiting. His response, to my surprise “I have no information about this case.”

In any case, he came immediately with his team, examined my mother and advised shifting her to the cardiac ICU immediately, with a clear notation on the papers ….. all in my presence.

The next series of miscommunication started now. Almost three hours after the cardiac surgeon had left, on further inquiring, I got the following responses :

1)another pulmonary test has to be done

2)the cardiac surgeon has not given instructions to shift ….. ??

3)she will be shifted after the pulmonary test report comes

4)the pulmonary test report will come next morning, said the pulmonary technician

5)We will check with pulmonary surgeon after the reports come in

There was obviously something wrong here. But this time around I did not waste time and immediately called up the pulmonary and cardiac surgeons, seeking clarity. While immediate action was taken, I must say that this intervention from my side led to a lot of irritation in every ones minds ….. I was tense, the nurses snapped, the technician shouted, the pulmonary consultant rudely tried to protect and justify the technician’s behaviour …..

Was it a process flow issue ? Was it a discipline issue ? Whatever it was, there was obviously a communication breakdown. Needless to say, in an emergency situation in a hospital environment, the last thing you want or expect is tense patients and attendants and bitter and rude technicians and doctors. But a proper consciousness and process on communication flow, closing the loop and everyone taking responsibility could have made so much difference.

It starts with a firm belief that “Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there.”

And everyone to take responsibility and ask “I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that, then I realized I was somebody.”

Be an effective communicator and you’ll :

• Minimize misunderstandings, assumptions, and mistakes
• Reduce the time you’ll need to spend solving problems
• Increase trust, cooperation, loyalty, and commitment

Website : www.justplainandsimple.com

Twitter : @jpsingh55

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