Twenty years as a malpractice attorney have given me superpowers. I am an extraordinary translator. Courts sometimes hire translators to interpret when witnesses speak a language other than English. It helps jurors understand witnesses and gather the information they need to make decisions. But we need someone who can translate for the jury when the doctor starts talking about “medicine.” This also helps jurors understand and decide.
Early in my career, I realized that my biggest challenge would be translation. When I first saw the doctors about the case, they told me about deceleration, osteomyelitis, or potential. Once I did, it became my job to translate for the jury. Some of the jurors had no high school education.
I had to overcome the “knowledge curse”.Assumptions behind Curse of Knowledge In other words, once you know something, it’s hard to imagine not knowing it. Once you know what your decelerations and fluctuations look like on the monitoring strip, you forget you don’t know them. Once you know all about osteomyelitis, you forget that the term is confusing. The curse affects doctors in court, and if they can’t overcome it, they lose. But every time we talk to patients and their families, it affects doctors too.
If you can learn how to overcome the curse of knowledge, you will win the trial, but you will also have more time, better results, better relationships, and less burnout. You are much more likely to win the case. And if you can’t overcome it, you lose.
Doctors struggle with this, no matter how hard they try.Healthcare organizations aim for their readability teaching materials Must be 6th grade level or below.
However, the researchers found that only 2% of the material on the AAOS information website matched. its criteria. And orthopedic surgeons are not alone. All healthcare providers carry the curse of knowledge, and overcoming the curse requires effort and focus.
It has been my job and my focus for over 20 years. I found a 3-step process that worked for me.
1. Be curious. You need to be interested in your patients, their understanding, and their perspective. Doctors often find it inefficient and a waste of time to answer their patients’ questions. Therefore, many physicians will not ask further questions about patient understanding. But this is time well spent. Ask if the patient understands, but go further and ask what they understand. See if they can translate back to you what you have told them about your condition and treatment. And if you can’t (which happens often, especially when starting this process), ask yourself how you can make it simpler and clearer. It also helps to ask staff to contribute. Front desk staff are often the most interested and helpful in understanding patients. They are an untapped resource, whether because they spend so much time talking to their patients or because their life experiences are so similar to theirs. Ask them for help in translating “medicine” into English. All of this curiosity will prove to be an investment with a considerable return.
2. Be considerate. I believe that compassion is seeing things from another person’s point of view and acting on what you see. Once you have and ask questions, you will be in a much better position to show compassion.
One of my clients told me a story that shows how important it is to see and act on other perspectives. When he was a young doctor he worked for the Veterans Administration, and a patient came in with a bad case of athlete’s foot. I told him to come back in 4 weeks if there was no improvement. Indeed, the curse of knowledge.
I find this doctor to be a friend, caring and kind. But if you can’t see things differently, you can’t act on them. Perspective comes first. And seeing other perspectives takes time, practice, curiosity, and sometimes even coaching.
Remember that clear is kind and unclear is unkind. The more you can tune into the patient’s perspective and act on what they see, hear, and understand, the better the patient-patient relationship will be.
3. Build trust. In my work, we share a triangle of beliefs that builds credibility. I want stakeholders to believe in you, believe in you, believe you can help them, and her third side of that triangle, which is believing you can help them, is Most important. When patients believe you can help them, they will start to trust you. They will want you to help them. And their beliefs often contribute to their healing.
You must be able to talk to your patients in a way they understand in order for them to believe you can help them. You should be able to explain why and how to take medication, how to wrap a wound, or how to do physical therapy. Suddenly they are much more likely to do so. Reliability always wins.
When you become good at translating between what you know and what your patient knows, you can overcome the knowledge curse. You become a better doctor and your patients achieve better results. Your practice may have a plan for when a patient does not speak English. We know the language barrier is real and it impacts patient care. When you realize that every barrier that stands between you and the patient deserves the same attention and attention, you will focus on translating “medical care” into the language the patient speaks. And you have developed another superpower for yourself.
Heather Hansen Communication consultant and lawyer.she can be reached at Heather Hansen Presents.
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