A Chief Medical Officer (CMO) from a large hospital asked me to speak with a hospitalist physician who had received a patient complaint from a hospital administrator. Interestingly, the administrator had recently been a patient in the hospital and felt that this same hospitalist was rushed and preoccupied when making rounds. Furthermore, the patient administrator felt the physician did not fully answer his questions. In the past, similar complaints had been received about this same physician, resulting in lower than average patient satisfaction scores. For simplicity, let’s call this physician Dr. A.
The CMO provided the following limited background on the physician: she was a Hispanic female in her late 30’s, a foreign medical graduate from South America, this was her first employment since residency and she was a full time employee on the hospitalist team. The CMO felt that Dr. A was a very good physician and my transcultural coaching program would be beneficial for her.
I introduced myself and the reason for our meeting at our first appointment, which was arranged by the medical staff office. Initially, Dr. A was taken aback and very cautious. I reassured her that her job was not in jeopardy and to the contrary, the hospital viewed her as a valuable employee, as evidenced by hiring me to be her coach. By the end of our first conversation she was relaxed, smiling and willing to partner with me as her coach.
Over the next three months of coaching, which included my joining Dr. A on rounds, I found her to be sincerely concerned about her patients. By drawing on her experiences as both a patient and as a physician in South America, we explored how her native culture differed from that of the US; particularly regarding the patient-physician relationship. Two of the more distinct differences were the more formal hierarchal and communication structures in her native country.
Once the differences were fully flushed out, we discussed the various patient scenarios that she came across during her busy days in the American hospital. Specifically, we focused on the message she was sending her patients with her formal and stiff manner. In other words, how did American patients interpret her South American physician’s behavior? As a coach, I could see the light bulb in her head light up the instance she realized her “walk did not match her talk!” Unknowingly, Dr. A’s “walk” was silently communicating to her patients that she did not care about them. She could not wait to work on her nonverbal communication skills. Our subsequent discussions centered on nonverbal cues that would signal to patients in her “newly adopted culture” how much their well being truly meant to Dr. A.
I am happy to report, with a determined conscious effort to improve her cultural intelligence, Dr. A now receives glowing patient satisfaction scores and hugs from her patients. And she is much happier in her career.
Studies have shown that body language accounts for 55% of what is communicated during a conversation, tone of voice 38%, and the actual words, just a paltry 7%. Not surprisingly, researchers have recently discovered patients often rate their encounter with a physician based on nonverbal cues more than what is actually said. Make sure your “walk matches your talk” with your patients!
