Just Because you are Hearing Does Not Mean you are Listening

Improved Communication Results in Improved Clinical Outcomes

The beauty of the physical therapy profession is that you build relationships with patients. As we all know (or should know) that all good relationships are grounded in good communication. If each party understands what the other is conveying then the relationship can be sustained and hopefully progressed.

Ok, so lets for a moment (just a brief moment) look at scenario that happens in the clinic. You see a patients for two visits with minimal improvement. They come back for the third visit with obvious changes in body language, closed off, and not laughing at your A+ jokes (I know, its really bad). You, being a good clinician and communicator, ask whats going Mr/Mrs. Blah Blah? They fire back with, “you know I was really expecting to be much better by now!” Now you are at a bit of a loss, how do you tackle that comment? Its a challenging situation that has serious potential to make or break your trust with the patient and the desired outcome of reducing pain and restoring function. It becomes a discussion of expectations vs reality.

In the following podcast, we cover our approach improving patient outcomes and strategies to deal with patients that might not be improving as quickly as desired.