1 Professional Communication

Watch or Listen to the Following Media Clip

Media 1.1 Anxiety Scene [Video]. CC-BY-NC-SA 2021. Conestoga College.

Introduction

Health care administrators (HCAs) are often the first point of contact for clients in many health care settings. This may take the form of verbal communication such as speaking to a client who is looking for a new family physician and has called the office to find out if the physician is accepting new patients. HCAs are often the first person a client interacts with when arriving for their in-person health appointments. Sometimes, when clients arrive to check-in, the health care administrator (HCA) is on the phone and may use non-verbal communication to convey a warm hello by making eye contact, a friendly wave, and a smile. If a client appointment is to take place on the telephone or through virtual conferencing software, it is the HCA who will make the arrangements for the client to talk with the health care provider (HCP). HCAs are frequently required to communicate with clients, clients’ family members, and other members of the health care team through written communication like email. With this in mind let’s consider the role that customer service skills play in communicating professionally to ensure that the clients’ health care needs are met.

Assessing What You Already Know

Most people have had at least one, if not several communication interactions with health care administrators. Consider the last time you went to the dentist, family doctor, or even took your pet to the Veterinarians. As you reflect upon the following questions and statements, consider what you might already perceive about professional communication based on your past experiences.

Alternative Text Option

Professional Communication in Health Care Settings

Health care clients expect competence when seeking health care services because decisions about health care choices impact their quality of life. Consider that a health care administrator (HCA) may have the education and training required to competently perform their employment tasks, but if they do not present and communicate in the way a client expects, it may be difficult for the client to trust that the HCA is competent. This is why a set of standards regarding how to dress, behave, and communicate is set by the HCP and are the professional expectations to be followed by the staff working for the HCP. Clients will only share their health concerns when they believe that their HCP is competent and trustworthy. When clients share all of their health concerns, then health care providers have a better chance of meeting the goals to provide services that meet their client’s health care needs.

You may have heard the expression the customer is always right, this expression sets the tone that customer satisfaction is the focus of the business. When customers are satisfied with the service, they will likely purchase the business goods and/or services again, and refer their friends. Health care settings provide health and wellness services as their business. Since many health care appointments are paid for using Provincial health insurance plans or third-party insurance plans, there is often a disconnect to people viewing health care settings as businesses. This is likely because there does not appear to be a transaction of goods for money directly with the client.

In Canada, the health care and social assistance sector is the second-largest industrial sector employer (Government of Canada, 2015). Health care businesses provide valuable services that improve quality of life by caring for Canadians and by providing employment. Health care businesses are customer-centred with the added complexities of clients with health concerns who are not feeling well, clients with differing views about treatment and care options, intersecting situational factors, and clients accompanied by worried family members. Subsequently, leading to the extension of services to multiple people. Keeping the focus of communication on the client’s needs is important for effective professional communication. Effective professional communication leads to good customer service. Good customer service in the health sector works towards the goals of meeting the client’s health care needs.

Since health care administrators are often the first point of contact for clients they make the first impression of the service that the client can expect. Health care settings are busy and it is easy to get focused on tasks and forget the importance of actively participating in the communication process with other people. Actively communicating with all people is important to professional communication and good customer service. Good customer service is perceived by clients when they leave the health care setting satisfied that their health care needs have been met by competent and caring professionals.

Models of Communication for the Communication Process

At the core of communication is a process that involves a sender responsible for encoding a message in a way that can be decoded by the receiver of that message (Grimes et al., 2018). Consideration of communicating should be given to the context in which the communication will take place. Let’s review the following two models of communication and apply them to the context of health care settings.

• A transmission model of communication is a linear, one-way process in which the focus is on the sender and the message to be communicated to the receiver. The assumption is the receiver receives the message but there is no attempt to clarify understanding of the message or to continue the conversation actively with the receiver (Grimes et al., 2018).
  • A health care setting example of the transmission model is a client watching a pre-recorded video explaining how to complete the forms in an intake package before their first appointment.
  • Ideally, in this situation, an interaction model of communication will take place between the client and the HCA once the client checked in for their first appointment and before the client sees the health care provider. If the intake form is complete, then the health care provider has all of the information needed to proceed with the encounter . The client will perceive an efficient office due to the good customer service that they received.
• An interaction model of communication is a process in which participants alternate roles of sender and receiver by incorporating feedback to communicate in an interactive way. For example, in the Osgood-Schramm model of communication one person encodes a message that is received and interpreted, then the receiver encodes a message to respond and sends that feedback back to the first person, who then interprets and may choose to respond by asking a question to continue the conversation (Smith, 2018).  An interaction model of communication is then considered to be a cyclical process.

Considerations for Professional Communication

Communication Types

You will encounter many types of communication in health care settings and they are generally described as:

• Written communication, a message using written words, text, symbols, and images.
• Verbal/oral communication, a message expressed through spoken words using pitch, pace, and volume to convey a message.
• Nonverbal communication, a message observed by watching another person’s body language such as facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, and movements (Garmaise-Yee et al., 2020)

It is important for both sender and receiver to be aware of the congruency between both verbal and nonverbal communication and seek clarification through feedback when there is incongruency perceived. In addition, it is important for both sender and receiver to consider their own bias when encoding and decoding what is being communicated. Preconceived ideas, whether we are aware of them or not, impact our ability to communicate effectively with other people.

Communication Channels

Channels of communication are the conduits for the message to move between the sender and the receiver (Grimes et al., 2018). Channels of communication in health care settings generally include:

• telephone
• posted mail
• email
• fax
• social media
• virtual conferencing software
• face-to-face communication.

It is important for a sender to consider the type of communication, audience, and intended message when choosing a channel to send their encoded message. Choosing a channel that is incongruent with the type of communication, message, or audience may lead to miscommunication and block communication between sender and receiver. Once communication is blocked, the client may interpret receiving poor customer service or worse, not having their health care needs met.

For example, it would be incongruent to send confirmation of an urgent specialist appointment to a client using postal mail. Postal mail will take much longer to reach the client than an emailed message or telephone call. Some clients may not have email and require a telephone call. If you have not considered the intended audience’s needs (in this case, the client), they may end up missing their appointment. In the case of postal mail, there may be no opportunity for the client to ask questions or clarify the required preparation for the appointment; this poor customer service may lead to poor health care outcomes for the client. The client may have their appointment delayed because they did not receive the information in a timely manner or may come to the appointment unprepared. Subsequently, requiring the appointment to be rescheduled. One caveat to this is you must have expressed consent to email a message or leave a message on voice-mail.

Active Listening

Actively listening and allowing time for interpretation should be stressed no matter which communication type or communication channel is chosen. It is important to listen without distractions, listen for understanding by watching for congruency between spoken words and nonverbals, and seek clarification through feedback when there is any indication of a misunderstanding. This can be challenging in a busy setting, where there are multiple distractors such as telephone, multiple clients, multiple health care providers, and many urgent tasks.  Active listening techniques can be learned and practiced and is a skill set valued in health care settings.

Courteous Communication

Courteous communication is essential to the communication process, professional communication, and good customer service. It is important to remember that clients and their families are often stressed when seeking health care services. This may mean that their communication may be discourteous. An HCA demonstrating professional communication will not take this personally and will remain courteous when communicating with others. Courteous communication starts with respecting others, actively listening, acknowledging, and responding with the appropriate amount of friendliness. In uncomfortable communication situations, people often compensate for their uncomfortableness by being overly cheerful and friendly. This can be interpreted as disingenuous and block professional communication.

Demonstrating Professional Communication

You may be asking how can I demonstrate professional communication as the first point of contact in a health care setting? A health care administrator can display professional communication by:

• Considering your role in the communication process and apply the interaction model of communication through active listening and providing feedback when necessary.
• Greeting clients in a courteous manner and identifying yourself.
  • In-person, by wearing employee identification, greeting clients with a warm hello, and introducing yourself.
  • On the phone, by saying hello, the name of the Doctor’s office or department, then state your name and position.
• Keep your tone of voice pleasant, and speech evenly paced, pitch and volume appropriate to what is being communicated. Enunciate clearly, and check that nonverbal body language is congruent with what is being spoken.
• Review written work for grammatical errors, spelling errors, and tone before sending.

Check Your Understanding

Alternative Text Option

Summary

In this chapter you have:

• Recognized the importance of professional communication to meeting the goals of health care settings
• Applied the transmission model and interactive model of communication to examples of communication in health care settings
• Explored the importance of communication types, channels, active listening, and courteous communication for professional communication in health care settings
• Summarized what a Health Care Administrator (HCA) can do to demonstrate Professional Communication

Key Terms

Active listening: To listen without distraction to what is being spoken. Confirm congruency between verbal and nonverbal communication.

Bias: An inclination towards a certain point of view without consideration for other points of view.

Business Goods: Tangible items manufactured by businesses (Wade,  2020).

Caveat: Caution, warning, qualification, or forewarning.

Client: A term used in health care in place of the customer.

Competence: Possession of sufficient knowledge and/or skill level in a specific discipline.

Conduits: A way to transmit or distribute something.

Congruent: Verbal and nonverbal communication are matched.

Context: Interrelated conditions in which something occurs or exists.

Courteous: Pleasant and kind communication with respect for others.

Decoded/Decoding: Interpreting the message for themselves and turning that communication into thoughts.

Disingenuous: Face or insincere.

Encoding: Determines how a message will be received by the intended receiver/audience and develops the message, and makes adjustments accordingly.

Encounter: A client visit or appointment with a provider.

Expressed Consent: The client has signed a formal consent giving permission.

HCA: Health Care Administrators.

Incongruency: Verbal and nonverbal communication does not match.

Interaction Model of Communication: A process in which participants alternate roles or sender and receiver by incorporating feedback to communicate in an interactive way.

Message: Content to be delivered and interpreted.

Nonverbal Communication: Body language such as wave, eye contact, and mouthing words. Nonverbal communication is observed by watching another person’s body language, such as facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, and movements.

Quality of Life: General level of human happiness based on factors like life expectancy, educational standards, health, sanitation, and leisure time.

Receiver: The person responsible for decoding the message.

Sender: The person responsible for developing and sending the message.

Services: Intangible offerings by business that can’t be touched, stored or held (Wade, 2020).

Tone: Pitch of voice that expresses a mood or emotion.

Third Party Insurance Plans: Insurance plans which are covered by private companies such as Manulife, Sunlife, and Equitable Insurance companies. People have this type of coverage through extended health care plans offered by employers or purchased by the client.

Transmission Model of Communication: A linear, one-way process in which the focus is on the sender and the message to be communicated to the receiver.

Verbal/Oral Communication: A type of communication where the message is expressed through spoken words using pitch, pace, and volume to convey a message.

Written Communication: A type of communication where the message is communicated with written words, text, symbols, and images.

References

Garmaise-Yee. J., Hughes, M., Lapusm, J., & St-Amant, O. (2020). Introduction to communication in nursing. https://openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca/catalogue/item/?id=04e7dd2-8ba)-4be5-87c8-8cda40433a8

Government of Canada. (2015). Archived content: Proportion of the employed population aged 15 years and over, by industrial sector, May 2011. Statistics Canada, National Household Survey, 2011. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-012-x/2011002/c-g/c-g02-eng.cfm

Grimes, M., Roch, S., & Simon, D. (2018). Communication for business professionals. https://openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca/catalogue/item/?id=b100f2d8-e81d-f482-99c3-08bdfdac826c

Smith, J. (2018). Communication at work. https://openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca/catalogue/item/?id=4a544748-bdcb-fa00-af48-e9c94d751831

Wade, M. (2020). Introduction to business: Adapted for Seneca, BAM 107 and BAM 108. https://openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca/catalogue/item/?id=aa47ac70-f088-4261-9d21-07f627ebda8c.

Image Descriptions

Figure 1.1: An image demonstrating that communication is a cyclical process. The person on the left encodes the message to be sent to the person on the right. The person on the right receives the message, interprets and then encodes a feedback response to be sent back to the person on the left. [Return to Figure] 

Figure 1.2: The person’s nonverbals demonstrate pain. Hands cover eyes, and forehead is furrowed. The message can be read that this person is crying or sad. [Return to Figure]

Assessing What You Already Know Activity (Text-based)

Question 1

What displays of professionalism will a client expect to see when they encounter a health care administrator for the first time? Check all that apply.

1. The client will expect to see that the office is clean, tidy, and that the health care administrator is easy to identify, and processes their check in promptly.
2. Clients expect to wait for health care appointments and understand that the staff are stressed and grumpy.
3. The client will expect to be greeted by a friendly health care administrator upon check in.

Solution: Options 1 and 3 are correct. The client will expect to find a friendly team and a tidy office.

Question 2

Are health care offices considered businesses in Canada? Why or why not?

1. Yes, because health care are services provided to Canadians and health care providers are compensated.
2.  No, because health care is free in Canada.

Solution: Option 1 is correct. Health care is not free in Canada it is paid through taxes. Complete the chapter reading to learn more.

Question 3

In the opening scenario do you think the health care administrator is focused on what the client needs? Why or Why not?

1. No, because they ignore how the client is feeling and are focused on the task of checking the client in for their appointment
2. Yes, if the client does not get checked in then they may miss their appointment and never see the doctor.

Solution: Option 1 is correct. Although updating the client information is important, health care administrators should identify client’s feelings and needs.

Question 4

1. Check all the modes of communication that a health care administrator might use.
2. Email or using Canada Post to mail documents.Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
3.  Virtual conferencing and online software applications (apps)  such as ZOOM, MS Stream, MS Teams.
4. Telephone or cellphone.

Solution: All the options are correct. Health care administrators use several ways of communication with clients.

Question 5

If the health care administrator is speaking to a client on the telephone which type of communication is being used? Check all that apply.

1. Non-verbal communication.
2.  Written communication.
3. Verbal communication

Solution: Option 3 is correct. On the telephone you are using your voice and this is considered verbal communication. You are not using written or non-verbal communication. However, in some offices virtual conferencing software is used and if camera’s are turned on some nonverbal communication can be seen. [Return to Activity]

Check your Understanding (Text-based Activity)

Question 1

A client watches an instructional video on how to take their blood pressure and record the measurement on to a form. The client is expected to come to their next appointment with the form completed. This is an example of which type of communication model?

1. An interactive communication model.
2. A transmission communication model.

Solution: Option 2 is correct. This is a transmission model of communication because communication is linear with no option to clarify the instructions learned from the video.

Question 2

Complete the sentence using the options above. The sender conveys a message that needs to be:

1. Decoded by the receiver.
2. Guessed by somebody.
3. Decoded by the sender.

Solution: Option 1 is correct. Communication is a process that involves a sender responsible for encoding a message in a way that can be decoded by the receiver of that message.

Question 3

What do clients expect from a health care administrator? Choose all that apply.

1. That the health care administrator will be able to diagnose what is causing the client’s symptoms.
2. That the health care administrator knows how to do their job well.
3.  That the health care administrator will actively communicate with them in a pleasant and respectful way.

Solution: Options 2 and 3 are correct, clients trust in a job well done and expects kind communication. Diagnosing a client’s medical issues is beyond a HCA scope of practice.

Question 4

Which of the following is the best way to greet a client who has just entered the office?

1.  Ignore the client, after all, you are busy.
2. With a warm hello and/or a wave.
3.  Look up, give a smile, and go back to what you were doing.

Solution: Option 2 is correct. Client expects a warm greeting and your attention.