If you understand the importance of communication and do your best to communicate well, it can be frustrating when co-workers don’t. But the truth is, you can only control your side of the equation.
In this world of abbreviations and emojis, I’ve noticed it’s much easier to say nothing than ever before. This may work fine in some situations. In fact, it can make you appear to be more of a team player than you actually are.
But saying nothing can also be deadly. If you are a pilot, communication with the tower or other aircraft can determine whether or not you make a safe landing. If you are a doctor, clear communication of instructions to your staff and patients can make the difference between complications or smooth recovery. And closing the communication loop builds trust with clients, patients, and colleagues.
Seems like internal communication would be an area of emphasis in policy and training in all industries. And yet, communication is often the most broken system in an organization.
In healthcare systems, this is unimaginable. And yet it is problem repeated day in and day out.
Developing good communication systems is not as complicated as setting criteria for transplant eligibility, developing infection control procedures, or reducing the number of opioid prescriptions. But it can make a huge difference in morbidity and mortality.
So why do health systems focus on external communication and image branding instead of the kind of internal communication that makes patients feel seen and cared for? This would build the brand in a more significant way and get better health outcomes. Better health outcomes will further a positive view of the brand.
This is a rhetorical question. I don’t know why it’s not a priority. I’ve served in multiple advisory positions in a hospital as well as a vendor that worked with hospital marketing departments. Overall communication procedures are something that just never get much traction and, in one instance, direct push back.
In that instance, I feel like there was a desire to avoid transparency. But that’s not always the case. Often, it’s just a lack of thinking the process all the way through and spending the time to write policies.
And there’s currently a weird belief that presenting facts is somehow being confrontational. A lot of people avoid anything that resembles, or that they can imagine might be, confrontation.
Other than quality managers, it’s possible that health system leadership simply doesn’t recognize the importance of communication. Their training may include bedside manner, but most of the focus is scientific.
A pilot study of the effects of more complete communication on medical outcomes in a specific group of patients and/or patients and families could be instructive. If it shows improved medical outcomes in a group that receives more communication, it could help the issue gain legitimacy within the industry.
And all of us can let our health providers know that communication is important to us. Highlight it on every quality survey you receive. Mention it during every doctor visit. Put it in the comments in your patient portal. And express appreciation when the system gets it right.
We can’t control what the system does, but all of us together are a lot of voices. If we keep communicating, at some point, they will hear us.
