Once a great idea for saving time in practice has been researched and developed, it can be tempting to consider the hard work complete. But in the context of larger health care organizations, no project can be approved if it isn’t presented to leadership, and that presentation requires the ability to successfully communicate the nature of both the problem and its proposed solution.
“Most of our training is how to effectively communicate with patients,” said Marie Brown, MD, director of practice redesign at the AMA. “So, communication strategies, we think, ‘How do I communicate with my patient?’ Well, that's very important, but we also need to develop skills to communicate the similarity of our messaging up the ladder, across the ladder and down the ladder.”
With that in mind, Dr. Brown recently presented on the topic of how to tailor a well-being message during a two-day AMA training event to help physicians eliminate unnecessary work and free up more time to focus on what matters most—patient care.
As the leader in physician well-being, the AMA is reducing physician burnout by removing administrative burdens and providing real-world solutions to help doctors rediscover the Joy in Medicine™.
When it comes to discussing ways to improve well-being, finding common ground is key, Dr. Brown said.
“It is important to align common goals for everyone in the organization, and that includes patient satisfaction, a great patient experience, institutional financial health, increased access and having the time to address the patient's needs and the health equity issues in the community,” she said.
So, once a project is ready for proposal, how can it be given its best shot at approval? Dr. Brown said several communication strategies should be applied in any presentation.
Understand your audience
A good proposal requires a deep understanding of the needs and concerns of your audience, Dr. Brown said. A chief nursing officer, for example, will not have the same concerns as a chief financial officer.
“Each group that we speak with may have a different priority,” Dr. Brown said. “When we're talking to the executive leadership, they're going to be focused on organization-wide, system-level-wide programs, outcomes and the financial performance of the organization.”
To find out more about your audience’s perspective, she said, you can have pre-meetings or talk to colleagues who have a deeper understanding of the role, but it also requires the presenter to find the proper mindset and put “that person's hat on and try to view your message through their eyes.”
Talking with executives and those in other departments means finding commonalities while trying to anticipate individual needs.
“Often it's the same goals,” Dr. Brown said. “Highlighting specific areas that they are responsible for is going to influence them to think more positively about the benefits of your proposal, so answer their question: ‘What’s in it for me?’
Develop allies
When presenting an idea, Dr. Brown said it’s often helpful to have two presenters so that someone can tackle questions if the other person gets thrown off balance or move the discussion back on track.
Presenters can also do work in advance, she said, by identifying someone to whom you’ll be presenting and having an early meeting with them to get their ideas. It may help smooth the presentation and identify sticking points earlier in the process as well as getting early buy-in.
“If you know someone on the committee that you're going to speak with, ask them if they have 15 minutes to get their input on content to make it a more meaningful agenda item,” Dr. Brown said.
Not only will you get helpful feedback, she said, but you’ll also have created an ally in the meeting and a friendly face during the upcoming discussion.
Rehearse, refine and prepare
Dr. Brown said preparation is key to success. Presenters should rehearse out loud, refining every slide and every line. They should also ask for feedback, keep the mood light, “tell the story” of the project and—critically—end with a clear call to action. If you have 10 minutes on the agenda, stick to that timeline and leave time for questions.
It can work well to deliver the presentation in advance to “anybody who might have a different perspective,” she said. Alternatively, presenters can ask someone to play the part of a particular audience member in a role-playing activity.
“When you present it, say, ‘I'm going to present this idea to you in 10 minutes. Would you look at this with the lens of the compliance officer?’” Dr. Brown suggested. “In your presentation, you want to address what you think would be their most common questions so that you're prepared for them.”
Get the latest news on physician well-being
Subscribe for insights and real-world solutions delivered straight to your inbox.
Keep it simple
Doing so helps to keep waste out of physicians’ professional routines, and the same rule applies for project presentations. Only include what’s necessary and make sure you can boil down your message to its most important elements.
“You want them to take home one simple message, usually down to one or two sentences,” Dr. Brown said. “Make sure your message is very clear, so that at the end of 10 minutes or 15 minutes, every person that you have spoken to can walk away and if they're asked, ‘What was that all about?’ They can answer.”
Start with the right project
Successful projects often seek to eliminate unnecessary work and look for ways to automate tasks. Merely transferring an unwieldy burden to someone else just creates a different group of dissatisfied people, Dr. Brown said.
“Across the teams, other physicians and other departments, our nursing colleagues, we want to ask ourselves, ‘What's in it for them?’ We don't want to shift work from one person to another, but we want the experience for everyone on the team to be optimal,” she said.
Highlighting the commonality in our goals is essential, Dr. Brown said. Ultimately, it’s about providing the best care possible for our patients. Projects should improve physicians’ well-being, achieve the organization’s goals and enhance the patient experience better.
“Most of us in health care, especially physicians, feel a calling to do this work. We want the patient to have a wonderful experience. We want to focus on the patient's needs and their agenda and give them our undivided attention when we are speaking with them. Removing unnecessary tasks that distract us from that goal is the first task.”
For additional ideas and tools for practice innovation, check out the AMA’s “Saving Time: Practice Innovation Boot Camp,” March 31–April 1 at the Association’s Chicago headquarters. The conference will cover topics including debunking regulatory myths, reducing barriers to taking paid time off, optimizing the EHR inbox and more. Learn more and register now.
