A medical office is a safe space for people who need to be treated or examined to live a healthy life. It should not be a place that is segregated or
only sees certain people. It needs to be inclusive. This means it should be
inclusive of people from different countries, backgrounds, and religions.
A medical office is a place for treatment and not judgment. Stethoscopes and
kangaroo pumps work on anyone so here are some ideas a medical office could use to
make people from other countries and backgrounds feel welcomed and invited.
Hire the right staff
Finding the right people to great your patients could make all the
difference in making someone from another country feel more secure in your
medical office. The people working at your front desk and the nurses in your
office are the faces of your medical office. It’s best to make sure these faces
aren’t judgmental and don’t have stereotypes toward certain groups of people.
This starts in the interview process.
Hiring the right staff is crucial toward having a more inclusive office.
Making sure you do multiple rounds of interviews is the key to hiring people
you like. Different rounds of interviews give you more chances to see your
candidates and choose the right ones. Also, asking the right questions will
also help you to identify which candidates will treat your patients equally and
fairly. Make sure you have someone with you interviewing these candidates.
It’ll make hiring the right person easier because you’ll have a second opinion
about each one of them.
Hire an interpreter
For patients who do not speak English, you might need to have an interpreter
on call just in case. An interpreter will be able to communicate effectively
between the medical staff and the patient. This way, a patient can receive the
best care possible without worrying about how well they are
communicating.
Even for patients who are from this country and speak using sign language,
there needs to be an interpreter nearby. Many medical offices suffer the loss
of patients because they don’t take the time to hire an interpreter. It’s not a
staff member that you need to have full time but on an on-call basis. If you
can find a nurse who speaks many languages, she would also be a valuable asset.
Patients from different countries
Some patients are traveling
abroad for medical treatment that they can’t find in their own countries
and it’s important to make sure your medical office is inclusive for these
patients. Not only is it the right thing to do and you’re helping the planet,
but it’s more money in your pocket because you’ll have more customers coming in
and out of your medical office and paying you more money.
Being inclusive to more people will drive up your profit margins. The
patients that are turned away from other people’s offices will end up spending
their money at your office because they feel comfortable and accepted there.
Many offices turn away potential patients just by giving them dirty looks
when they come in the door. These patients will understand what is happening
and never return. They will also tell all of their friends and family about the
situation and none of them will return to your medical office as
customers.
All of this can be avoided by hiring competent staff that isn’t judgmental,
opening your office to all kinds of patients, and accepting people for who they
are. Interpreters will make it easier for your office to communicate with
patients along the way but aren’t necessary to hire on full time. The New
York Times says that many doctors themselves come from diverse backgrounds
so it shouldn’t be hard to find people with medical degrees and can relate to a
wide variety of patients.
The more patients that you open your doors to and help to feel welcomed, the
more money you will make and the more people you can help. All of these things
are good for your medical office to thrive and boom in business. All it takes
is a little time and your medical office will be accepting patients from
different countries and backgrounds.
