How to build a great patient-provider relationship
Does your relationship with your healthcare provider feel like a partnership? It should, according to Elizabeth Dunton, NP, vice president of physician enterprise for Cape Cod Healthcare.
“We are the experts in medicine, but you are the expert in you,” she said. “The patient deserves as much of a voice in their care as the clinician, and they should feel that they can advocate and speak up regarding what matters most to them or with what questions they have.”
There are several things patients should experience during a visit with their healthcare provider, according to Dunton.
- Well-cared for. “Our mission is the delivery of the highest quality of care,” she said.
- Welcomed. “They should feel that they were treated with dignity and respect and kindness.”
- Heard. “Did we listen well to what matters most to you.”
Dunton has some advice about how patients can best advocate for themselves.
“As clinicians, our number one job is to take great care of you,” she said. “We’re going to do our own assessment and make a plan for your health. But the patient is the other person in the provider-patient this relationship. Of course we want to know what is bothering you and what you are looking to get from the visit.”
It should be a relationship of mutual respect, she added.
The expectation for the clinician is that the patient will get more out of a visit if they are prepared to express what their needs are, because it’s our job to address them.”
A Two-Way Conversation
Some people get intimidated when talking with a healthcare provider, but Dunton said it’s important for patients to approach a visit as a two-way conversation.
“As a nurse practitioner, the patient will say ‘I need your expertise here,’” she said. “When a patient walks through the door or when a patient calls, we’re here to take care of you. We apply our expertise, and use experience and knowledge to see what you perhaps can’t see. You might be concerned about your knee pain, while I’m concerned about your blood pressure. But both of these are valid.
“As a clinician, how do I help get your blood pressure under control and explain why that’s important for your health, and how can I also learn about your knee pain? If you can’t get out there and play with your grandkids, that might be more important to you than your blood pressure. Both are equally important for different reasons. So, two experts enter the room, the patient and the clinician. How do we come together for the best plan of care for that patient?”
Part of the conversation includes advocating for any special needs you have. “It’s okay to speak up and ask the clinician to explain something,” she said. “If you don’t understand something, ask us to say it in a different way, or speak up if you’re looking for other options for treatment. If the physician recommends starting a medication, it’s okay to let them know if you’re concerned about that. (Ask) are there any other options for treatment? If you have language needs, let the provider know. It helps us take better care of you when we know these things.”
Other Suggestions
Bringing a relative or friend to an appointment is perfectly acceptable, Dunton said. “You can absolutely bring someone with you to take notes or be a second set of ears,” she said.
Dunton encourages people to take their own notes, whether it’s with pen and paper or on a smartphone.
“But remember, all of it is captured in (the CCHC online portal) MyChart, so that information is in your hands already,” she said. “There’s no better type of empowerment than being able to go back and reread the notes. There’s even a to-do list. You can print it out at home and study it. You can ask questions right there in MyChart if there’s something that you don’t understand that you think of later.”
