Early in his journalism career, a professional colleague worked as a field reporter for a top-rated radio station. On any given day, his assignments could range from (boring) City Council sessions to catastrophic five-alarm fires. Some of the most interesting and challenging journalism sprang from the opportunity to report on issues and candidates in the […]
Topics: communications Skills
Improving the Forgotten Half of Doctor-Patient Communications
The doctor’s comment was a bit startling, but it was entirely believable. A physician-friend tells us that 75 percent of doctors forget to introduce themselves properly when meeting patients. OK…it’s a hectic day in the office. Behind schedule…again. The usual stuff. But without a proper introduction—quick, simple, sincere—everything that follows in the encounter is slightly off-center […]
Doctors, Magic and Lessons in Patient Communications
Editor Note: Our guest post today is by Dr. Neil Baum, MD, and is adapted and condensed from his article titled, Doctors and Magicians: What We Can Learn from Wizards, and used with permission. One of my hobbies is magic and I have found that there are principles in performing magic that apply to […]
6 Secrets: Making Your Hospital Storytelling Great
Every contemporary textbook about hospital and healthcare marketing deserves a robust chapter about the art of storytelling. Nearly everything that professional communicators do involves telling a compelling story, usually with the goal of engaging an audience and inspiring an action. From a one-to-one conversation between doctor and patient, to the focused interests of a social […]
7 Critical Skills of Highly Effective Communicators
Mastery of effective communications skills in a busy medical practice is not limited to doctor-patient interaction. After all, only a fraction of the patient’s time in a typical office visit is with the provider. And the majority of their time is with…everyone else. Verbal communications skills are particularly vital to every face-to-face encounter. Virtually everyone in […]