How Can You Build Quick Rapport with Patients? Calvin Chou, MD; Professor, UCSF School of Medicine The first [technique] is just the plain old introduction. Using your full name, and coming in with authentic delight at seeing the patient.
Physician: Hi! I’m Dr. Chou. I’m taking over for Dr. Forten, who is the doctor who was seeing you for the last couple of days in the hospital. So, I’m the new hospital doctor following you for the next couple of days.The second thing is to decrease the space between the patient and the provider, and one way of doing that is to go into the patient’s space first.
Physician: I’m sorry to interrupt your reading. Patient: Oh, I wasn’t getting very far anyway. I was just trying to distract myself. Physician: Oh, okay. I heard that your leg has been getting better over the last couple of days. Patient: yes, that’s right. Physician: I’m glad to hear about that. I’m wondering if there are other things, other than your leg, that you would like to raise with me today?That is to say, you know, I would go into the patient’s room, and I said, “Oh, I’m sorry to interfere with your reading,” for example. In the outpatient setting, it’s “How is it that you got here?”
Physician: So, Ms. Walters, really nice to see you again. So your hospitalization, I’m sorry that you had to go into the hospital for that leg. Patient: Yeah. It’s all better now!Research shows that if you get all of the patient’s concerns out at the very beginning, you are less likely to get a doorknob question at the very end.