Relational Medicine I
Relationship-Centered Care (RCC) was an area of exploration cultivated by the Fetzer Institute a few years ago (they also sponsored the seeds for the Collective Wisdom Initiative, and currently are devoted to "fostering awareness of the power of love and forgiveness"). The specific kinds of relationships mentioned were those between patient & practitioner, practitioner & practitioner, practitioner & community, and self-awareness.
Lately at our office we've been considering another aspect: the relationship between patient and medical office staff. Because we are unexpectedly short-staffed at the moment, Gail, one of our practitioners, has been alternating between being reception staff and doctoring. So far it's been eye-opening and appalling, what our long-suffering staff people have been putting up with uncomplainingly. Some of our patients, even some of those who have very warm and mutually respectful relationships with their practitioners, can be rude, and even mean, to our receptionists, billing staff, and medical assistants. How come? I'm reminded of the years I spent waiting tables while in college...sometimes we treat those who are working in service positions less like fellow human beings and more like vehicles to get what we want or need.
Our goal and intention is to cultivate an atmosphere and a culture where our support staffers feel themselves supported too, and where mutual respect is part of every relationship. Our current staff people deeply understand that their interactions with patients are opportunities, often the first opportunity our group has, to offer compassion, care and healing.
Lately at our office we've been considering another aspect: the relationship between patient and medical office staff. Because we are unexpectedly short-staffed at the moment, Gail, one of our practitioners, has been alternating between being reception staff and doctoring. So far it's been eye-opening and appalling, what our long-suffering staff people have been putting up with uncomplainingly. Some of our patients, even some of those who have very warm and mutually respectful relationships with their practitioners, can be rude, and even mean, to our receptionists, billing staff, and medical assistants. How come? I'm reminded of the years I spent waiting tables while in college...sometimes we treat those who are working in service positions less like fellow human beings and more like vehicles to get what we want or need.
Our goal and intention is to cultivate an atmosphere and a culture where our support staffers feel themselves supported too, and where mutual respect is part of every relationship. Our current staff people deeply understand that their interactions with patients are opportunities, often the first opportunity our group has, to offer compassion, care and healing.
posted by christy lee-engel at 8:24 PM
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