As a healthcare practice, building solid patient-provider relationships is the foundation of offering quality, personalized care. Communicating with your patients with empathy, compassion, and assertiveness can make all the difference in your providers’ relationships with them. Understanding also goes a long way in building any trusted, valued relationships.
So, what are four steps you can take to start building strong patient-provider relationships?
1. Give your patients active involvement in decision-making.
Keep your patients involved in decisions you make about their care. Trusting your patients with the knowledge about their conditions and giving them complete discretion over the different treatment options is integral to building trust as a provider. There’s nothing quite as isolating as feeling like your opinion isn’t valid or unheard as a patient. Keeping your patients informed as well as looping in the rest of your healthcare team so that your patient is appropriately cared for and feels seen is a crucial building block for a solid patient-provider relationship.
2. Show empathy and compassion to your patients.
As a healthcare provider, you will inevitably see a patient or multiple patients in challenging health situations. Showing empathy and compassion to them makes you seem more human. Genuinely expressing care and concern while working to make your patients feel comfortable and at ease, while caring for them will make your patients feel safe in your care. Understanding and sharing your patients’ fears and concerns throughout their medical journeys are additional factors in building trust within your relationships.
3. Be transparent with your patients.
Communicating complex information in digestible ways will make patients feel like you are transparent with them, looping them into whatever decisions and choices are being made so they receive the best care possible. Don’t sugarcoat the truth when your patients need to hear the severity of what is going on. Additionally, make sure that you explain things clearly and answer any questions to reassure them that they know exactly what is happening concerning their health.
4. Listen, engage in conversation, and make eye contact.
No matter who your patients are and their ability to pay, make sure you carve time to listen to them, engage in conversation, and make eye contact. Body language is crucial when it comes to fostering trust and building relationships. This remains true when it comes to patient-provider relationships. Show respect, listen with empathy, and ask with genuine curiosity about how they’re holding up.
Want to learn even more ways to build strong relationships with your patients? Contact Frost-Arnett at (615) 259-6271 to learn how providing your patients with the experience of a personalized collection will improve your relationships with them.