Why? Because conflict has no place in caring for human beings. And that means no place in patient care. Everybody knows that. But conflict also has no place in providing the special care that is due to those who give care. Health care is what you do so that medical care can do what it is supposed to do. Neither works without the other. And people – all of whom are caregivers – do not do their best under a conflict.
It’s simple.
Conflicts waste lives and energy and money because conflicts in health care typically are about people, not facts. We can disagree about an antibiotic. We can disagree about a cost accounting system. You can settle those disagreements by careful evaluation, testing and decision-making.
But because the individual stakes in health care are so high, because the urgency for each involved person is so great – and because we are human – in these circumstances we lose sight of who WE are. We don’t align with each other. We lose our sense of engagement. We lose trust. And so we lose the best outcomes. The best results.
We get so damned invested in “Getting to Yes” that we forget about “Getting to US.” And health care is an us-enterprise. Nobody, not even the most talented neurosurgeon living inside a craniotomy, does anything without US.
Let me re-frame this. In health care, you are not buying a car. You are saving a life. And quite likely it’s your own.
Health Care Mediation is a group begun by Christine Carlsten and David Block to help health care work better by dealing with person-conflicts:
- conflicts at the bedside and on the ward among patients, families, and staff about outcomes and even end-of-life decisions
- conflicts in the Doctors’ Lounge among staff
- conflicts in Administration among HIM and medical staff and providers and HR and management
- conflicts in the Board Room among the visions of people of good will
- conflicts between health care organizations and insurers – even the RAC, and
- conflicts between the community and providers and organizations
We at HCM bring over a century of knowledge, experience, and success in business, management, medical care, social work, psychology, and law to your problems.
We speak your language. We know your people. We are ready to help you.
Our mission is to care for all those who give care. Our vision is better people providing better care.
Contact us at 706-705-1305.
Or email Chris at ccarlsten@healthcaremediation.net, and David at dblock@healthcaremediation.net.