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December 19, 2007 NEWSLETTER
Doug Wojcieszak, Founder & Spokesperson
Contact phone/e-mail address: 618-559-8168; doug@sorryworks.net
THIS WEEK'S EDITION:
- Column on Defense Attorneys with a Different Twist
- Doctors Need to Treat Patients as Customers
- Have a Great Holiday, Thank You, and See You in 2008!
COLUMN ON DEFENSE ATTORNEYS WITH A DIFFERENT TWIST
One of the unique qualities about Sorry Works! - we think - is that this forum doesn't get caught up in the silly politics of med-mal and instead focuses on telling the truth and calling it straight. One of the ways we deliver on this objective is by telling or sharing all sides of a story or issue. Take, for example, defense attorneys. We've had some hard words and stories about defense attorneys this year. For example, earlier this year when reporting on the University of Illinois' disclosure program we shared the story of how 12 or 16 defense firms would counsel deny and defend after cutting off the wrong leg, and one firm even suggested altering the records to make it look like the other leg needed to be removed anyway. Indeed, some defense firms are reluctant to encourage disclosure because they think it may impact their fees. Defense attorneys need to realize disclosure done right can increase the amount of good evidence which can help them do their job. Also, transitioning from deny and defend to disclosure creates opportunities for defense counsel to become more proactive in risk and quality improvement issues with their clients - which can be a revenue generator. Defense attorneys - in general - have a long way to go with disclosure and apology, and much education is needed within law firms and law schools to change hearts and minds.
However, as providers, hospitals, and insurers work with defense counsel to change their hearts and minds, they need to look within as well. Consider the following Question and Answer column below written by James W. Saxton, defense attorney of Stevens & Lee. As many of you know, Sorry Works! has a partnership with Stevens & Lee, including a book entitled Sorry Works! To learn more about the book, visit this link: http://www.sorryworks.n et/booksoon.phtml.
In short, Saxton's column below suggests that providers need to better value the relationship with their defense counsel. When you find a good defense firm....one that will argue cases on damages only for your disclosure program, treat them as professionals and give them the tools and latitude to do their job. Don't short change them or make them feel under appreciated. Yes, watch your pennies, but don't be so focused on hording pennies you lose dollars...and valuable relationships! Read below and please forward to colleagues and friends.
Ways to keep a lasting relationship with your practice's law firm
Healthcare Risk Management Institute
Liability Reduction Connection
by James W. Saxton, Attorney at Law, Stevens & Lee
December 14, 2007
Dear Jim:
We received a letter from our defense firm indicating that the lawyers will now accept referrals on any plaintiff's medical malpractice cases. In other words, they are jumping to the other side. Is it unusual for this to happen? Is this anything we should be concerned about?
Leslie Stuart
Risk Manager
Tampa, FL
Dear Leslie:
This is a very unfortunate, reoccurring theme that is happening not only in your area, but across the country. There are certain legal protections that you and your counsel can follow. Send a strong letter to your prior counsel concerning the fact that they should not be using confidential information against you that they obtained from your representation.
The bigger issue, perhaps, is why this is happening. Some of the reasons lawyers choose to work on the plaintiffs' side may be economic and due to recruitment issues, among others. These lawyers feel that as hard as they work, ultimately the dividends do not match their efforts.
Several colleagues said they truly felt that their efforts were not appreciated. One described an episode where he was able to obtain a dismissal of a very significant case on a motion for summary judgment. The savings would be in the range of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet, he was very dismayed when the bill came back from the provider indicating that several of the researched areas for the case were deemed excessive, and a portion of the bill was going to be struck.
My colleague told me it was not the fact that the bill amount was reduced (it was less than a few hundred dollars), it was the fact that instead of the client showing appreciation for his creativity, hard work, and success, all he and his firm received was a metaphorical slap in the face.
The best results come from the entire team working together: the lawyer, insurer, and the insured. Best practice is to create a solid relationship and compensate appropriately the lawyers with the best track records.
I am sorry that you lost your counsel. But you need to protect your confidential information and make sure that this conflict does not arise again. Be sure the next law firm that represents you is committed and experienced, and do what is necessary to maintain a long-term relationship.
Sincerely,
James W. Saxton, Esq.
Stevens& Lee
Lancaster, PA
DOCTORS NEED TO TREAT PATIENTS AS CUSTOMERS
At Sorry Works! we often say that good customer service is the foundation for any successful disclosure and apology program. Good customer service makes disclosure possible...and credible to patients and families. If you treat people right throughout the process then when an adverse event happens and you have to say "I'm sorry" its more believable. In fact, disclosure and apology after an adverse event is the essence of good customer service. Pulling people closer, making them your best friends, and fixing problems in a pro-active fashion. However, if your customer service is lacking, your staff is not courteous and is rude to patients, and then an adverse event happens it will be much harder to pull off a credible apology with the patient (customer). You will look insincere and phony. Get ready for a lawsuit.
As you look to improve your customer service within your practice or hospital, consider the valuable column below.
Doctors Should See Patients as Customers
By Dale Dauten
THE CORPORATE CURMUDGEON
December 16, 2007
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
If you make a list of the World's Worst Places, somewhere below a public outhouse in Calcutta and somewhere above the DMV would come the doctor's waiting room. There you are, trapped - and despite the excess of fluorescent lighting, you're waiting in the dark.
The people in the know are hidden behind the frosted-glass panel, popping out like asynchronous cuckoos on the clock of eternity. Meanwhile, you're there with the crowd at the State Fair of Afflictions, trying not to wonder which ride your fellow customers in waiting are destined for - is it the Cough-a-Whirl, HemorrhRide, LoogieLand, the MonoDigitRail, Tunnel of Lumps or the Whack-a-(Does this look funny to you?)-Mole?
And, hey, that ain't lemonade in the little plastic cups on the special shelf. If you were especially observant, there's one word in that description of doctors' waiting rooms that did not ring true, that clanked even as I typed it. That word is "customer." For decades now, doctors have been urged to treat those who come to them not as their diseases, but as people.
It's time to do better. Let's face it, the one place you can count on being smiled at and being thought of as interesting and important is in a retail environment. The highest standard for human interaction is now at the mall.
Doctors seem to believe they are removed from such considerations. I once mentioned to a specialist that I'd waited two hours to see him. He said, shrugging: "Oh, I don't have anything to do with that front- office stuff. I just go where they tell me." I responded, "So, those front-office people hired you . . . or do they work for you?" At which point, the literal and figurative came together in a crescendo: He washed his hands.
Well, there's no longer any excuse for doctors not to be good businesspeople. Good business is good medicine. That fact has been proven by Dr. Joseph Golbus. I spoke with him after a stirring presentation at my favorite annual conference, the Compete Through Service Symposium in Phoenix.
Golbus took over the running of a large group of doctors in Chicago, and dared to leapfrog over "patient satisfaction" and began addressing customer "loyalty." (Specifically, he decided to ignore the traditional research measure of "satisfaction," and instead focused on a "would you refer friends and family" survey rating, paying attention to only those doctors at the highest rating - a five out of five.)
It doesn't sound like a big deal, and it wouldn't have been if it had stopped there. What made it work was Golbus convincing doctors that being nice wasn't just nice; it was lucrative. He reports that during one two-year span, "loyalty" rose by 20 percent while doctors' incomes rose an average of 15 percent. Such leaps are not achieved by cheerleading, but by changing the nature of the organization. And it started with one word and one number - "loyalty" and its score.
Once doctors are receiving scores and seeing themselves indexed against the other physicians in the group, pride and/or natural competitiveness kicks in. Plus, once you have one number that really matters, then other numbers become more relevant. (As a former market researcher, I can attest to the wisdom of that approach. It's hard to get people interested in 10 measures; however, if you get them concerned about one, then other numbers take on meaning.) In this case, once you get people to care about the "would you refer friends and family" measure, then they have to care about what's related to that measure.
Turns out, in the case of the doctors, "looks me in the eye" and "knows my name" are the best predictors of the referral rating. Knowing that, you can train doctors on those simple skills, and you can hire for them as well. But Golbus understood that being treated well by the doctor was not the same as being treated well as a customer. Quality medical treatment was merely "the cover charge." So they began offering same-day and walk-in appointments; they increased hours on evenings and on Saturdays; and, get this, have a pediatric walk-in clinic open on Sunday mornings. No wonder he can say that "our customers became our marketing, our sales force."
What Golbus and his team understand is that a doctor ought to be smart enough to treat people as well as they'd be treated by teenage clerks at the Gap.
HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY, THANK YOU, AND SEE YOU IN 2008!
This is the last Sorry Works! newsletter for 2007. We wish all of our readers a safe and happy holiday season. Thank you for a great 2007 and we'll see you right back here in 2008. Cheers!
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