Blogger ' s note : this post is the 5th in a series that follow the outline of "Closing the Sale", originally posted to this blog on 1/24/15.
Context. Milieu. Mutually Supportive Environment. "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place". "What I Want to Do", one of my first submissions to this platform, made my eureka moment at conducting the therapy session, front and center. There is not just the treasure collected by a session that has proper context and focus; that has resonant and reverberant boundaries, working to distill actions and thoughts of the person served.
The desire for context and perspective, on the needs of persons who receive our communication sciences and disorders (CSD) services, is crucial for intervention reaching its maximum effectiveness. Is there any there, there? Does this work actually impact real life? Does it impact THIS PERSON's real life??
Why would you need to establish a clear context in therapy sessions? It is part and parcel with the need to teach others about the profession. There is also a need to establish and maintain an environment conducive for learning. With the unrelenting pressure for cost containment in SLP services, the clinician has an obligation to stay organized and on track to get the work done for persons served.
Teaching others about, and promoting the profession: through improved clinical outcomes we create our best ad campaign. Our customers are not only the person served, the family, the referring professionals or the professional community, -they are also the general community who may never consume your services. The clinician who helps her/his client stay focused, and working toward goals, makes the Sale of SLP as a community service that much easier.
"This is what I want". No matter what the client's age or needs, our training and experience allow CSD clinicians to move from this initial proposal; to "What I Want to Do"; - then finally, "Please do this". At its core, our profession is one involved in helping transforming people's lives. The ease of our completing our work with each person served, assures that the personal transformations actually take place. They are the reasons many of us entered the profession. We want to serve others.
The persons in charge of CSD programs may be CSD professionals, yet many times they are not. You as a CSD professional, and your managers, want to know that you manage every clinical case efficiently. If you work for yourself, or if you are part of an interdisciplinary team, controlling your expenses of materials and time helps keep the lights on. Keeping the lights on, in turn, let's your market area know you are open to serve them. When you can serve more of the community - then you have the opportunity say once more, as the authority: now, today....
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Watch your time!
So many reality television shows now - and reality shows now inhabit a huge percentage of our TV time - engage us in competition. Build this! Cook that! Find this faster than the other contestants! And RUN, RUN, RUN while you do it. Slog through the mud! Outlast, outwit, outlandish! But working with speed is a hallmark not only of the world of television, but also the workaday world of you and me.
Professionals in speech-language pathology now find themselves in work environments where, at the interview for a new position, they are told uniformly that the work day is "fast paced", - demanding a lot of focus by the applicant. Where do the fast pace and high productivity demands allow for an additional emphasis on service quality, during the clinical day?
Powerful real-time time management is an indispensable tool for today's clinical professional. The pressures for maximizing reimbursement and minimizing costs are equally seen across the spectrum of modern healthcare. Yet, quality doesn't have to be sacrificed to meet today's standards for productivity.How can this work?
The people you are entrusted to serve; they still deserve high quality healthcare. To meet the productivity targets and likewise give persons served the best possible outcomes, keep a few principles in mind:
* Become confident in your clinical skills - no matter where you are in your career, prepare your case work to the best of your ability. If you are a new clinician and continue to receive mentoring : depend on it and use it, without fail. See many, many cases having similar presentations. When you have your own script for the clinical presentations you may see most often in your practice, you will most easily detect clinical cases that are atypical 'outliers' from your script, requiring their special attention.
* Get your work done - when the visit starts, some minutes rightly get used for checking in with the person served. Have communication skills ready, to signal a transition to the activity you have planned : "what I want to do today...". Remember to keep your client's spirits high with the proper reinforcement schedule. Periodically check in to ask: is this making sense, what we're doing? Do you think you are getting better? Can you practice what we are doing between times we meet? Give the client when attention starts to drift, the best preparatory set. When time approaches to end the session, help the client focus on what has happened and what should come next.
* Manage your non productive time smartly: when you are confident in your clinical skills, and when your visits allow you to get your work done, then you are able to use the remaining time in your workday well. Be on time. Prepare for your day. Communicate with everyone who will impact your clinical work. Between shifts, take good care of yourself physically and mentally. We work hard , and helping others in need to better communicate and swallow - it takes good care, to take good care of the persons served.
In the final analysis, time is a human Invention. When your client has a need you can serve, you give them every minute they deserve. Manage this human invention using wisdom, focus and joy for what we are allowed to do.
Professionals in speech-language pathology now find themselves in work environments where, at the interview for a new position, they are told uniformly that the work day is "fast paced", - demanding a lot of focus by the applicant. Where do the fast pace and high productivity demands allow for an additional emphasis on service quality, during the clinical day?
Powerful real-time time management is an indispensable tool for today's clinical professional. The pressures for maximizing reimbursement and minimizing costs are equally seen across the spectrum of modern healthcare. Yet, quality doesn't have to be sacrificed to meet today's standards for productivity.How can this work?
The people you are entrusted to serve; they still deserve high quality healthcare. To meet the productivity targets and likewise give persons served the best possible outcomes, keep a few principles in mind:
* Become confident in your clinical skills - no matter where you are in your career, prepare your case work to the best of your ability. If you are a new clinician and continue to receive mentoring : depend on it and use it, without fail. See many, many cases having similar presentations. When you have your own script for the clinical presentations you may see most often in your practice, you will most easily detect clinical cases that are atypical 'outliers' from your script, requiring their special attention.
* Get your work done - when the visit starts, some minutes rightly get used for checking in with the person served. Have communication skills ready, to signal a transition to the activity you have planned : "what I want to do today...". Remember to keep your client's spirits high with the proper reinforcement schedule. Periodically check in to ask: is this making sense, what we're doing? Do you think you are getting better? Can you practice what we are doing between times we meet? Give the client when attention starts to drift, the best preparatory set. When time approaches to end the session, help the client focus on what has happened and what should come next.
* Manage your non productive time smartly: when you are confident in your clinical skills, and when your visits allow you to get your work done, then you are able to use the remaining time in your workday well. Be on time. Prepare for your day. Communicate with everyone who will impact your clinical work. Between shifts, take good care of yourself physically and mentally. We work hard , and helping others in need to better communicate and swallow - it takes good care, to take good care of the persons served.
In the final analysis, time is a human Invention. When your client has a need you can serve, you give them every minute they deserve. Manage this human invention using wisdom, focus and joy for what we are allowed to do.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
The relationship you forge must be primary
You go into work one morning in the speech therapy department. Others may call it the therapy department, or the speech-language pathology or rehab department - irregardless, that morning the secretary hands you a case file and says "We need an evaluation done and written by noon". There are thirteen other persons on your caseload already, each with their own paperwork and logistical needs. But, hey, let's get this evaluation done in the morning, when the patient is relatively fresh. What could go wrong, and how to prepare for the contingencies?
It starts with our stock in trade: Communication. Though we feel the pressure of time and someone watching us during the daily caseload grind, at the moment we meet that new customer - she or he is the center of our attention. The relationship we develop and maintain with the person largely determines what the outcomes may include. If you as an SLP have a good working relationship with the person, then what you might ask of that person, she/he may more likely follow whatever lead you provide. Some specifics on relationship-building, that begins with the first encounter at the evaluation:
BE HONEST. Tell the person referred you are sent (using the authority of the referring physician's order if necessary) to describe the person's skills for communicating, or thinking or swallowing. Explain in a manner the person can understand, the processes and mechanics of the evaluation and treatment planning process. Describe each step you are taking concisely, with its rationale. When you are done, explain the data analysis as possible while you are still online (in the evaluation setting). If data requires further offline analysis, offer to supply the interpretation as soon as possible.
BE EFFICIENT. Collect as much of the history information prior to entering the assessment setting. Have your interview questions polished and in a framework; insert additional questions to flesh out impressions as necessary. Practice your formal testing before the first visit, so that you have a routine that allows you to get the data and process it with the person present - when it is possible. Have your report writing procedure ready to start as soon as possible after the visit is over.
BE REASSURING. Given your data analysis and interpretation, your job is then to supply the recommendations and "close the sale". When you follow the guidelines of our Code of Ethics, by not guaranteeting results of treatment - but instead, by painting the picture of how treatment is systematic and designed to help the person function better - you have the best opportunity to show that therapy matters. If therapy is not an option, and you may see the person again, reassure them that you are available again if needed. If you are to treat the person, let them know that the standards for communication you set at the first visit, will continue throughout her/his association with you.
As the relationship continues and grows: Stay honest. Work efficiently. Always reassure your patient that she/he can count on YOU.
It starts with our stock in trade: Communication. Though we feel the pressure of time and someone watching us during the daily caseload grind, at the moment we meet that new customer - she or he is the center of our attention. The relationship we develop and maintain with the person largely determines what the outcomes may include. If you as an SLP have a good working relationship with the person, then what you might ask of that person, she/he may more likely follow whatever lead you provide. Some specifics on relationship-building, that begins with the first encounter at the evaluation:
BE HONEST. Tell the person referred you are sent (using the authority of the referring physician's order if necessary) to describe the person's skills for communicating, or thinking or swallowing. Explain in a manner the person can understand, the processes and mechanics of the evaluation and treatment planning process. Describe each step you are taking concisely, with its rationale. When you are done, explain the data analysis as possible while you are still online (in the evaluation setting). If data requires further offline analysis, offer to supply the interpretation as soon as possible.
BE EFFICIENT. Collect as much of the history information prior to entering the assessment setting. Have your interview questions polished and in a framework; insert additional questions to flesh out impressions as necessary. Practice your formal testing before the first visit, so that you have a routine that allows you to get the data and process it with the person present - when it is possible. Have your report writing procedure ready to start as soon as possible after the visit is over.
BE REASSURING. Given your data analysis and interpretation, your job is then to supply the recommendations and "close the sale". When you follow the guidelines of our Code of Ethics, by not guaranteeting results of treatment - but instead, by painting the picture of how treatment is systematic and designed to help the person function better - you have the best opportunity to show that therapy matters. If therapy is not an option, and you may see the person again, reassure them that you are available again if needed. If you are to treat the person, let them know that the standards for communication you set at the first visit, will continue throughout her/his association with you.
As the relationship continues and grows: Stay honest. Work efficiently. Always reassure your patient that she/he can count on YOU.
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