Listen For The Patient’s Second Sentence

27 Aug Listen For The Patient’s Second Sentence

Listen for the Second Sentence

The first question tells us where the patient can begin. The next sentence often tells us what really matters.

‘How much does it cost?’ ‘How long will it take?’ ‘Does it hurt?’ ‘Can I think about it?’

Every day, patients ask questions like these and, understandably, we answer them. We explain the fee, the financing options, the timing, and what happens next. Question asked, and question answered, but sometimes another question sits underneath the one we heard, and that may be the one that matters most.

Answering is not always understanding

Imagine somebody calls and asks, ‘How much are dental implants?’ We can provide a starting price and explain the consultation process. All perfectly helpful, but we still know very little about the person asking.

Why implants? Why now? Have they been thinking about this for six days or six years? Are they frightened, worried about affordability, comparing practices or trying to solve something that has quietly affected them for a long time? We do not know, that is the point, and we will not know until we are curious enough to ask.

Curiosity is not assumption

Being good with people does not mean becoming an amateur psychologist, it is not about deciding what a hesitation means, assuming that somebody who mentions price cannot afford treatment, or telling a nervous patient how they feel. That is not understanding, it is assumption.

Curiosity notices something and gives the other person room to explain it: ‘You mentioned you have been thinking about this for a while. What made you call now?’ ‘What is most important to you?’ ‘Is there anything in particular you are worried about?’

We are not telling the patient what they feel., we are inviting them to tell us and that changes the whole conversation.

The first question may be the easiest one to ask

Price is concrete. It is easier to ask, ‘How much is it?’ than to say, ‘I am self-conscious about my teeth and worried you will judge me,’ or, ‘I have avoided the dentist for years because of a bad experience.’

People do not always begin with what matters most, they begin where they feel able to begin, and answering the first question perfectly does not necessarily mean we have had a good conversation. Sometimes the most useful thing we can do is remain curious for another moment.

Listen beyond the information the system needs

When we become very process-focused, we start listening for information rather than listening to people, their name, contact details, treatment, source, appointment booked, and we may inadvertently capture everything the system needs and miss what the person needs us to hear.

The interesting information often arrives in the second sentence: ‘I am interested in straightening my teeth… I have just started a job involving public speaking.’ ‘I am calling about implants… my daughter is getting married next year.’ ‘I need an appointment… I am very nervous, so I have been putting it off.’ That sentence is easy to miss when we are already moving to the next box, but it can completely change what the conversation needs.

Respond to the person, not only the behaviour

The same thing happens throughout the patient journey. Somebody who repeatedly moves an appointment becomes ‘unreliable’. A patient asking the same question is ‘difficult’. Someone hesitating over treatment is ‘price-sensitive’. Those descriptions may sometimes feel justified, but they rarely help us understand. What is making the appointmentdifficult to attend? What have we not explained clearly enough? What does this person need before they can make a decision?

Curiosity does not remove boundaries or policies. The answer may not change what we need to do, but understanding allows us to respond to the person rather than simply react to the behaviour.

Knowledge gives curiosity somewhere useful to go

Curiosity alone is not enough. The more somebody understands about the practice, the patient journey, the treatments and the boundaries of their role, the more useful their curiosity becomes.

Technology will become very good at collecting information, identifying patterns and prompting action. What I do not want us to lose is the willingness to look up from the process and notice the person, to hear the change in tone, notice the hesitation and ask, ‘Is there something else you would like to talk through?’

Not every conversation needs to lead to an appointment. A good conversation may lead to more information, a clinical discussion, time to think, or nowhere at all. The better measures are whether the person felt heard, understood more and was helped towards the decision that was right for them.

The people who create exceptional patient experiences are not always those with every answer, often they are often the ones who recognise when another question is worth asking.

Answer the first question, stay there for another moment, listen for the second sentence.