Patients are our reason for being. Consequently, they deserve to be greeted promptly and respectfully, whether in person, on the telephone, in chat, or in e-mail. Our services should be provided in a way that meets their needs for convenience, and our systems must be continually reevaluated to ensure that we are meeting our patients’ needs and desires. Requests for adjustments to our usual procedures should be recognized and cheerfully granted whenever possible.
Patients who are ill, or who are concerned that they may be ill, are often not their normal selves. Staff should realize that anxiety sometimes results in behavior that seems rude or self-centered and should respond to patients’ needs and not their behaviors.
All of our conversations with patients and with each other need to be conducted with an awareness of the message our behavior conveys. Patients should never hear staff discussing other patients among themselves. Personal conversations or personal telephone calls by the staff should occur out of the patients’ hearing. Otherwise, patients may conclude that they are not our first priority.