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Between The Lines
(What They Really Need)

Ever ask an indirect question and hope someone understands what you're REALLY asking? Patients do this too. "How many procedures do you do?" usually isn't about the number; it's "Do you know what you're doing?" Answer only the surface question, and you'll miss what they actually need to hear. This upSKILL walks through how to uncover the real ask and answer it with confidence.
   5:37 Watch Time [Week 74 from the Weekly upSKILL series]
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 Real Help 

Solve these 'people problems'

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For upSKILLers:

  • Answering the surface question and missing what someone actually needed to hear
  • Feeling unsure what to say when a question seems to carry more weight than the words themselves
  • Giving a technically correct answer that still leaves the other person anxious or unsure
  • Understanding what gives you space to catch what's really being asked
  • Knowing how to acknowledge, answer, and add what someone needs to hear, not just a fact
  • Bringing that same skill to teammates and people in your personal life, not just patients

For Leaders:

  • Team members answering questions literally and missing the concern underneath
  • Patients feeling like their real worry was never addressed, even when the direct answer was accurate
  • Team members unsure how to pivot when they can't give the answer someone's hoping for
  • Coaching team members to pause, listen, and identify what's really being asked before responding
  • Helping team members add reassurance and context to their answers, not just facts
  • Building patient trust through responses that address both the question and the feeling behind it
 Data 

It's science

Patients often present clues, direct or indirect comments about personal concerns or emotions, during conversations with their providers.(1)
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That means a patient's question is often a doorway to a bigger concern, not the whole story.
Effective communication depends on understanding what's implied, not just what's literally said, a principle researchers call conversational implicature.(2)
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People expect us to catch their meaning even when they don't spell it out.
Physicians interrupt patients an average of just 18 seconds after they begin speaking, often before the patient reaches their actual concern.(3)
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A short pause before responding is sometimes all it takes to let the real question surface.
 Note 

From The Experts

"Most of the time, we're afraid or hesitant to ask the direct or blunt question we really want someone to answer, so we hope that they pick up on our cue, read between the lines, and give us the information we want, not just a direct response."
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- Christine & Lauren, The Patient Whisperers
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 SERIES 

This is adapted from Weekly: Mastering Soft Skills

by The Patient Whisperers:
Soft skills that make work and life better.
For everyone who works with patients - or interacts with humans.

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 WHO 

Meet the experts

The Patient Whisperers
Christine Scarlett
& Lauren Weaver
Former practice leaders leading change by bringing relational intelligence, soft skills + emotional connection into healthcare as authors, speakers, and upSKILL instructors. 
Get to know them here or connect on social media:
Christine Scarlett
Former CMO
& Director of Patient Experience
From counseling patients, to Director of Patient Experience, to CMO, Christine's worn nearly every 'hat' in a healthcare practice. The driving force? Her love for people... creating exceptional patient experiences and empowering those who serve them.
Lauren Weaver
Former
Director of Brand Development
Bringing her PR, branding, social media influencer status, and love of storytelling with her, Lauren turned how we market and build a brand for ourselves in healthcare upside down by redefining how we connect with our patients, both in practice and online.
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(1) Levinson, W., Gorawara-Bhat, R., & Lamb, J. (2000). "A Study of Patient Clues and Physician Responses in Primary Care and Surgical Settings." JAMA, 284(8), 1021–1027. (2) Grice, H.P. (1975). "Logic and Conversation." In Cole, P. & Morgan, J. (Eds.), Syntax and Semantics 3: Speech Acts (pp. 41–58). New York: Academic Press. (3) Beckman, H.B., & Frankel, R.M. (1984). "The Effect of Physician Behavior on the Collection of Data." Annals of Internal Medicine, 101(5), 692–696.