The Mitchell Organization has long been concerned with etiquette and communication in the medical field. Ms. Mitchell has served on the faculty of the Association American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Early Women in Medicine conference.
The Mitchell Organization has created a special training program in response to the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Hospitals recommendations called “Manners in Medicine.”
In July 2008, The Joint Commission put forth several recommendations in reference to modifying physician behavior. Among them were to:
- Educate all team members—both physicians and non-physician staff—on appropriate professional behavior, defined by the organization’s code of conduct. The code and education should emphasize respect. Include training in basic business etiquette, particularly phone skills, and people skills.
- Provide skills-based training and coaching for all leaders and managers in relationship-building and collaborative practice, including skills for giving feedback on unprofessional behavior and conflict resolution.
Of interest, The New England Journal of Medicine published an article by Michael Kahn, M.D., entitled “Etiquette-Based Medicine.” In this article Dr. Kahn argues convincingly that simple etiquette rules could be implemented with dramatic effects—much the same way that a simple checklist introduced by Peter Pronovost and associates helped sharply reduce central-line infections.
Patients and employees who feel they have been treated rudely are much more likely to litigate. Etiquette training will help hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices run more efficiently, be more pleasant, and ultimately save money.
Delivery method:
Based on information gathered from your hospital, The Mitchell Organization will develop an entertaining, informative, pragmatic, and interactive program. We use case studies to illustrate key concepts. We will create a measurement instrument to compare current complaint numbers with numbers after training. We follow through with in-depth, informational interviews to determine the most effective course of action.
Our customized programs include:
- In-house train-the-trainer education
- Proactive workshops
- Remedial seminars
- Personalized, targeted one-on-one coaching