When I was 15 I started working at the grocery store near my home. The lessons I learned from interacting with customers there taught me invaluable lessons that would go on to skyrocket my patient satisfaction scores.

Today we talk about how to overcome the feeling that you are being unnatural or fake as you try to implement new habits when interacting with patients. It's time to whip out a little 'deodorant' and make ourselves more tolerable to all around us!

Listening well to our patients is one of the best ways to make them feel cared for. We often gain information that we wouldn't have otherwise. Most post-visit surveys also ask the patient if they felt they were listened to. So becoming better at listening is such an important skill for healthcare providers.

In this episode we talk about 3 simple skills you can implement in any patient encounter to improve your listening:

1. Listen with your eyes & ears using batching

2. Show you are listening to understand

3. A tried-and-true skill you can use to help redirect patients who get off topic easily