|
Veterinary Practice News Editorial Blog:
Thursday, March 6, 2008
What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate
Marilyn Iturri
Editor of Vetpracticenews.com and Veterinary Practice News
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We like to think we have decent communication skills, but when it comes right down to it, do we?
I worked in newspapers for 25 years and was regularly amazed at how bad we professional communicators can be at communicating with each other.
Look at Sam Zell, the real estate gazillionaire who recently bought the Tribune Co., parent of the Chicago Cubs, The Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers of note. At a meeting with his staff at the Orlando Sentinel, after a photographer asked a question about content, he stepped back from the microphone--but not far enough back--and muttered, “F--- you.”
Few of us could get away with that in today’s workplace.
The subject comes to mind because Los Angeles television station KNBC recently aired a hidden-camera investigation in which a reporter took a puppy to a number of clinics and got varying diagnoses, care instructions and bills.
Jeff Werber, DVM, had examined the dog and found nothing wrong with it before the investigation began. The reporter went to clinics reporting the dog had occasional vomiting, and the veterinarians took it from there.
Costs of the visit, treatment and estimates of recommended treatments ranged from $48 to $586 and higher, for conditions Dr. Werber had said the pup didn’t have.
As scary as that sounds, comments to the story posted online were scarier still.
Many who commented accused their own vets of overcharging. Some seemed to think they shouldn’t have to pay anything for medical care. But reading through these complaints, it became clear to me that many clients either hadn’t been told what their pets were treated for or didn’t ask the simple questions that would have explained their bills.
A number of veterinarians and veterinary staff commented as well, explaining why veterinarians do what they do and that most aren’t obscenely rich, which of course was implied in many of the posts.
Maybe it’s time to take a quick look at what we regard as basic communication skills. At the end of a visit, the practitioner or a technician could simply ask what my own doctor has added to his routine at the end of an appointment: Do you have any questions?
That would have helped avert a minor misunderstanding I once had at a clinic when I took my cocker spaniel in for a visit.
Before we could get inside, the dog pooped outside the front door. I pulled out a plastic bag, cleaned up the indiscretion, went inside and apologetically handed it to the only person behind the counter, asking him to take care of it. After all, there were no trash cans outside the office.
Turns out he was the clinic manager and was loathe to miss any charges.
At the end of my bill was a $19 charge for fecal testing.
« All Blogs
 Give us your opinion on
What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate
Industry Professional Site: Comments from non-industry professionals will be removed.
|