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WITHOUT A SHEPHERD, SHEEP ARE NOT A FLOCK RUSSIAN PROVERB
THE MARKS OF A HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL: A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
Over the course of my professional training, I have been exposed to a wide variety of professionals from many different disciplines and personal opinions. Similarly, I was exposed to a host of different professionals through the influence of my parents, church, and the schools I attended. As a result of the opportunities afforded me through these contacts, I have come to formulate a view of a professional and have endeavored to pattern my professional life based on several "touchstones" of healthy professionalism. I share this model of professionalism; not as one who has attained, but as one who is always in the process of attaining.
If you are a person looking for a physician or therapist, I offer these guidelines for you to use as you ask various people for a referral or go about searching for the right person with whom to share your life and seek guidance for making necessary behavioral changes. Not every therapist is the same. Not all will be able to serve you well. The following guidelines should help make this choice easier and the person selected to be understanding, compassionate and helpful.
If you are a professional, join me in considering the marks of a professional as they pertain to you. May you find a model that you can use for shaping your own life and those for whom you hold a privileged responsibility. Consider the following marks of a health care professional:
The Marks of a Health Care Professional
1. A listening ear and sensitivity for what is being communicated, both verbally and non-verbally. Before anyone can be in a position to assist and serve others, he/ she or she must have developed the ability and the skills of acute listening. A good listener is one who is teachable, open, receptive and sensitive to the message and to the meaning of the message. The basic career of any professional begins with learning from others. Learning depends upon one's ability to attentively listen.
2. A readiness and a knowledge of assessing a wide variety of ready resources. Readiness means preparedness and availability. As a professional, he should have a sense of being prepared, available, and ready to respond to the needs of others while applying all of one's natural and learned resources, skills, talents, abilities, and experience. It involves being in a place of opportunity with a readiness to act as appropriate. Action means that one is ready, but also willing to step forward. This mark of a professional also means that one has access to a variety of resources beyond oneself that can be drawn upon as needed.
3. The capacity for insightful compassion and understanding. The role of the professional is to help, and this requires the ability to understand the need and respond in a caring and compassionate manner. The capacity for compassion generally is learned from the experiences that take place throughout the lifetime of the professional. Hurts, disappointments, achievements, tragedies, loss, and loneliness, to name a few, all coalesce in creating the capacity for compassion. Without it, a professional is incomplete.
4. The attitude and humility of a servant. We live in a profit-oriented society. We live in a world that emphasizes materialism and self-centeredness. True professionalism demands resistance to the temptation to put profit and self-interest ahead of service to others. A true servant does not act out of low self-esteem, but rather is one who has already achieved a strong sense of self-confidence and self-regard. The actions of a servant do not reflect negatively upon the professional, but rather indicate the strength of the professional. The act of serving others is the giving of something valuable, not the attempt to satisfy one's own unfulfilled needs.
5. A commitment to progressive continuing education and professional development. We live in an age of information and the development of new ideas and new research findings. The increase of information is at a much greater rate today than ever before in history. A progressive professional is one who is committed to a personalized program of reading, personal study, attendance at educational and seminar events, and the integration of new information into one's personal life and professional practice. There is not only an awareness of new information and methods of approaching problems, but there is an updating of one's skills by which problems are approached and handled constructively and affirmatively. Professionalism demands the constant interchange of learning and applying.
6. A commitment to self-care. Professionals have a lot to juggle. This places stress on anyone, especially those responsible for the care of others. Too many place a low priority on self-care. In reality, self-care cannot be postponed. Research has shown that the lack of self-care leads to stress, distress and burnout. These factors can undermine one's competence and energy. It's an ethical priority and an imperative. It is a lifestyle, a life long habit.
In the process of attempting to articulate a model of professionalism or the general guidelines of a health care professional, it is easy to make it sound stiff, impersonal, and overly formal. While the guidelines might be written in objective terms, one must keep in mind that the professional, as a person, is human with his or her own frailties, sensitivities, values and preferred life style. The professional keeps in mind the fact that his or her own values and preferences must be understood and maintained in proper perspective and balance while serving others for the purpose of assisting them reach their own goals and fulfill their own preferred directions in life. Further, it is important to realize that the professional appreciates the opportunity to be a positive influence in the life of others, but also appreciates what can be learned from others in the course of an ongoing professional relationship.
Learning is a two way street. Any benefit derived from professional services comes about as a result of an open, honest, and thorough analysis of a particular problem or issues of concern. No one has the corner on truth. We come to understand situations more clearly in the process of interaction and applying the principles of problem solving. Thus, the marks of a health care professional serve as overarching guidelines to every type of health care provider and their doctor/patient relationship.
THE HEALTHY LIFESTYLE OF A HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL
When a person is looking for a physician, therapist or counselor, they look for certain characteristics that will likely generate confidence and a good therapeutic relationship. Often others are consulted in finding the right professional. The reputation of a physician or therapist is critical and often the determining factor for this critical decision. The following lifestyle characteristics of a health care professional are important for any potential patient or client to consider. All doctors are also encouraged to note these characteristics and heed them accordingly.
The lifestyle of a health care professional directly impacts the services and activities in which any professional engages. Lifestyle supports or hinders the services rendered. When there is a contradiction, a dissonance, between the lifestyle of the professional and the services rendered, a feeling of disappointment or lack of confidence towards that professional may result. Conversely, professional services can be enhanced and more effectively provided when the lifestyle of a professional is consistent with the services rendered and the principles or values espoused by the members of the general community being served.
Generally speaking, the lifestyle of a professional person needs to reflect dependability, energy and a broad fund of knowledge and experience. Also, the professional must have behavioral patterns based on articulated values, priorities and commitments. The actual skills and tools of a professional represent only a small portion of the ingredients for successful professional service. Who the professional is, and what he represents, speaks more loudly than what he does. People relate to the professional and seek out the services of the professional primarily because of the respect and confidence they have in that professional by observing how the professional lives and relates.
More specifically, the lifestyle of a health care professional needs to be developed so as to engender confidence, respect, trust and appreciation. A professional acknowledges that there are certain expectations which influence his acceptance by the community. There is little doubt that a professional person is expected to live a life above reproach and above that which is even tolerated for the general public.
The health care professional you select must be trusted, respected, and fully accepted before people will place their lives and their concerns in their hands for advice and direction. How then shall the professional live? What are the behavioral lifestyle traits and characteristics that engender respect, trust, and confidence? What is the lifestyle that goes beyond and supports the professional's technical expertise and competence? Consider the following:
Lifestyle Characteristics of a Health Care Provider
1. Is alert, energetic, responsive and sober in outlook. Effective professional involvement requires alertness to the communication patterns going on and being specifically responsive to what is expressed and what is needed. This requires seriousness, conscientiousness, as well as sufficient energy to provide consistent service under stressful conditions. It is more than listening. People desire empathetic responsiveness to their expressed and unexpressed needs.
2. Is of firm faith in himself and in the professional service rendered. People have faith in another person to the degree to which they perceive that other person having faith in himself. Self-confidence engenders confidence from others. Confidence in the professional services one provides also encourages others to seek and utilize those services. It is more than offering a professional service; it is believing in the value and quality of those services.
3. Is faithful in serving others in the community. Faithfulness is one of the most important trait we desire from those with whom we have relationships. Outcome or productivity is generally considered secondary to faithfulness and dependability. Good stewards of human resources are those who have been found to be faithful and just. Be available and reliable.
4. Is known as a primary source of encouragement for all his contacts. We are all attracted to those individuals who will provide us encouragement and emotional support. This is particularly true of those who feel lonely, insecure, and disparaged. There is an expectation of the professional to be above circumstances and to be a source of hope, belief, courage and future direction whenever needed.
5. Is well trained and up-to-date in all areas of knowledge, facts and principles of problem solving. Professionals are expected to be well-read and informed in their particular field, as well as on a variety of general topics. They are expected to be able to gather facts, think clearly, draw conclusions and suggest directions and guidelines from which others can benefit and bring order to their lives.
6. Is unimpeachable in character and serves with integrity. Confidence and credibility depend upon being perceived by others as living a lifestyle beyond reproach. Character is the reflection of basic commitments, beliefs and values. Character is learned from our daily life experiences and our response to those events. Integrity is the most basic ingredient of a relationship and serves to inspire others to follow and to learn from the professional interchange. The basis of any intimate relationship is respect for the integrity of each other.
The selection of a professional health care provider is one of the important decisions you will make in life. A mutual sense of trust is vital to a positive working relationship on behalf of your health and welfare. Your best interest must prevail in all decisions and medical undertakings. Choose carefully and wisely. When choosing, check around and get the opinions of those that know the professional you are considering. While a perfect match may not be possible, it must be a good communicating and caring match.
NEGOTIATING WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER
Would you be surprised to learn that only a small portion of patients pay 100% of the bill they receive from their health care provider for services rendered? This includes hospitals, clinics, labs, and specialists. It is not uncommon for a 10-30% discount to be arranged for lowering the final billing statement. Others commonly work out payment plans with a portion of the final billing being forgiven.
It is important to be aware of the fact that health care providers and medical facilities commonly have a rate schedule that is utilized differently for different consumers. Some are offered a lower rate, others pay higher. Fluctuation in the billing rate is not uncommon for most health care providers so patients might be encouraged to consider negotiating with their health care provider for an acceptable rate prior to the rendering of any particular service. Hence, negotiating may not only be a smart thing to do but it might be a prudent thing to do given your own financial circumstances and today's economy.
Remember, negotiations are not only permissible with physicians but also include physical therapists, psychologists, speech therapists, chiropractors, dentists, social workers, marriage and family counselors, and other types of health care providers. Remember that your health care provider must set fees and charge fees consistent with the patterns and ethics of their profession and in fairness to other patients. Negotiations can only go so far. Be realistic in your expectations.
Below are a few suggested negotiations that might be undertaken with your health care provider as you anticipate services being rendered to you in the future. These might be negotiated each time a procedure is being undertaken, or as a general agreement that you establish with your health care provider for all services rendered in the future.
Negotiating Considerations
1. With humility and respect, speak up assertively and ask for financial consideration.
2. Request a discount in fees upon your willingness to pay cash at the time services are rendered.
3. Ask if the treatment sessions can be sub-divided into smaller segments of time for a lower rate.
4. Ask if the treatment sessions can be spread out over an increased length of time from what was proposed so that payment is not burdensome in any given month.
5. Be honest and request special arrangements only if you really need it.
6. Request a payment plan over the course of 12 months but intend to have it paid off by then.
7. Ask for samples of medication and other medical supplies.
8. Ask for medications to be prescribed at the lowest cost, such as use of generics and equivalent medication that cost less than the brand name medication.
9. Ask to see a physician assistant, or other allied professional if the charges are less than those charged by the doctor.
10. Consider paying with your credit card to rack up mileage points for your next air flight.
FINDING HELP THROUGH PSYCHOTHERAPY
Millions of Americans have found relief from depression and other emotional difficulties through therapy. Even so, some people find it hard to get started or stay in therapy. This brief question-and-answer guide provides some basic information to help individuals take advantage of outpatient psychotherapy.
Why Do People Consider Using Therapy?
Therapy is a partnership between an individual and a professional who is licensed and trained to help people understand their feelings and assist them with changing their behavior. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one-third of adults in the United States experience an emotional or substance abuse problem. Nearly 25% of the adult population suffers at some point from depression or anxiety.
People often consider therapy under the following circumstances:
They feel an overwhelming and prolonged sense of sadness and helplessness, and they lack hope in their lives.
Their emotional difficulties make it hard for them to function from day to day.
Their actions are harmful to themselves or to others. For instance, they drink too much alcohol and become overly aggressive.
They are troubled by emotional difficulties facing family members or close friends.
They are facing a high stress event or trauma in their life.
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Excerpted from ACHIEVING AND LIVING A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE IN A WORLD OF STRESS by ALLAN G. HEDBERG Copyright © 2012 by Allan G. Hedberg, Ph.D.. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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