Discover the Best Medical Receipt Format for Public Relations

Medical receipt format for Public Relations

[Music] hello and welcome to an episode that deals with public relations in hospitals I'm Swati Singh teaching as a guest lecturer at Yale University and other colleges I'm also working as a corporate trainer and a creative director of an ad agency I have an experience of 12 years with media and 8 years in teaching at various North Indian universities we would today be discussing public relations in hospitals which deals in maintaining cordial relationship between the hospital and its public understanding the need and significance of public relations in hospitals developed trust and understanding of the internal and external public by adopting significant public relations measures new paradigms of public relations in hospitals need of public relations in hospitals various measures to ensure better public relations and improved relationship between a hospital and its public in this particular topic we have intended to deal with the salient features of public relations function in a hospital situation while providing health care services to the patient's public relations are an important function to build up corporate image of the hospital in the minds of the public and the patient's it is therefore suggested that proper attention may be paid to this aspect for greater appreciation of the services by the community at large [Music] till recently almost all the major advances in medical and hospital procedures have been in the area of physical technique where most of the time the medical profession in general and hospitals in particular have given relatively little thought to the deeper psychological demand of the average adult patient his relatives and those who are directly or indirectly concerned with a medical care patients relatives and community usually form and rather permanent impression of the entire hospital either from their initial contact which may be with the outpatient department accident and emergency that is casualty or even inquiry office a hospital is often judged by the standard of efficiency or courtesy offered by these departments the inpatient area is no less important but as this is not a first contact point it gets comparatively less attention from public relations point of view hospital clientele today is aware of its rights and the expectations are rising as consumers the society has absolute and in alienable right to demand better services a feeling is growing among the masses that hospitals are not functioning properly as evident from an increasing number of patient complaints the press public opinion appears to be largely against hospitals scanning of these reports revealed that the complaints are mainly rough behavior of the lower category staff neglect in patient care by the staff undue delay in rendering services and influencing poor information and guidance systems [Music] not many years ago management decisions took no consideration of public attitudes but today management cannot ignore the views of employees and the community in making policy decisions it has been estimated that 80% of the problems confronting management have public relations implications management has to foresee the impact of policy decisions on the opinion of the public almost every Enterprise is actively concerned with securing the satisfaction from its constituency and in case of hospitals the constituency is the community it serves hospitals cannot serve in isolation and hence it needs to assist the society and to gear itself to meet the expectations of the society to give them fullest satisfaction good services coupled with sound working practices and fair treatment of employees and medical staff is not enough unless a sound program of public relations is developed and practiced in fact most of the hospital today have an in-house Public Relation Department with professional Public Relation officers handling the day-to-day issues along with managing image of the organization crisis management as and when required and media relations it is also evident that certain Public Relation consultancies are also hired many a times to manage press relations handle press conferences and manage critical image issues for hospitals there are normally four distinct reasons for ever-increasing necessity of public relations increased governmental activities population explosion creating communication problems increased educational standards resulting in rise of expectations progress in communication techniques the need of PR is very important for hospitals particularly I think we because the value of trust associated with hospital also with healthcare services why we call it most important factors of hospitals and other diagnostics and other institutions providing health care services is because of the trust value which is associated with them people come here whoever to visit hospitals diagnostic labs and other clinical institutions they think that they would be treated by those people whom they trust a lot right after the God so then in order to build that trust value you need to have a very good public relations services which not only emphasize on these services particularly affordable health care services which you are providing to the people that also emphasize on the health care services because what we call the health care services so you're not only providing health good health but also good care to your patients also those dear attendants your hospital staff your clinical staff we are taking good care of the here of course the patient and their caretakers as well so because that builds a good relationship between both the patient and this hospital staff it also provoked them too good to do to do the good mouth mouth publicity of that particular institution that yes this is the hospitals where we have been treated really well where we have taken care of really good people doctors are really nice they are good they are happy you know serving it so you have to somewhere emphasize that we love to serve you and we welcome you of course since we are in hospital we won't say ok come here again again but yes whenever you are here we would love to serve you so somehow this message must convey that we are serving you with happiness also second very important point is that nowadays since we have a cutthroat competition in health care services we have got so many medical institutions coming up providing affordable health care services also a lot of institutions health insurance companies providing get on good health care services to their employees and also they're more Chitra's I think their staff and other supporting people so you have a lot of options why one person should visit to you only so I think there comes the need of Public Relation that you were able to develop a good relationship with the patient as well as their you know supplier their care taking stuff that whenever they require any sort of in a clinical or medical help they are coming to you so you're providing good value to their money yeah they are not they are not only getting good health care services they're also getting a lot of care the sufficient amount of mental support physical support every kind of support you know which they're required during the violent are going at treatment so that is a very important point which I think probably emphasize the need of PR for any kind of medical institutions particularly hospitals and diagnostic labs and other you know clinical institutions [Music] every hospital employee has a responsibility towards gaining the confidence of public by discharging his duties efficiently every action by each employee is the art of operating trust and an irrevocable ingredient of public relations however the major responsibility for carrying forward a sound public relations program rests with the highest governing body of the organization public relations responsibilities can be identified as primary and secondary primary responsibilities is a combined affair between the trustee the administration and the public relations staff concerned whereas second responsibility rests with all other hospital functionaries many authorities over the world feel that the clientele should also be involved more actively in total Hospital public relations efforts because they are the viable and visible links with the patients families and visitors and hence with the rest of the community public relations professionals in an organization such as hospital manage both the internal and external public of the hospital at the same time they ensure the trust building better services and goodwill management be provided also the public relations staff of hospital are well trained and well versed with the medical practices the laws related to medical and health care and important medical procedures to be followed with the external public [Music] high quality of patients care will ensure simultaneously good public relations obviously a patient will never accept public relations program in lieu of indifferent hospital care thus good patient care is must no amount of smiles tears and propaganda will compensate for bad administration and poor professional care in hospital a patient comes with certain definite expectations to the hospital the reception is normally the first contact point but often he may have made earlier contact for the hospital by getting into correspondence or by contacting over the phone all courtesies must be extended to him on these occasions to project a good image of the hospital a public relations officer ensures that a lot of valuable information is furnished to patients even prior to their admission certain details with regard to time and date and the person to whom he should contact with exact place will help in achieving favorable opinion about the hospital equally important is the fact that the person who is to receive the patient should be available on right time or else this will lead to just opposite effect and the patient may go back home disgruntled most of the hospitals have their own telephone exchanges the experience of a telephone call may be the first impression of understandable importance telephone operators should answer calls promptly politely and respond to the quarries of the caller's this was avoid waste of time and frustration a Public Relation officer would also ensure that the box at hospitals are well maintained and the greenery and cleanliness be kept to its best standards environmental sanitation cleanliness and physical comforts provided to pay create good impression well-kept lawns green surroundings are reflection of good administration which helps in building initial confidence reception inquiry and admission office should be established as one single unit the staff boasted there should be specially selected and trained in human relations this should be courteous cheerful and above all efficient in their work persons working here should have full knowledge of the routine procedures of the hospital so that information to the patients or their relatives is furnished without any delay the outpatient department is the most sensitive place from the Public Relation point of view largest number of people visit this department ing to a research for each bed in a hospital there are 500 visitors to a hospital in any er this would explain the gravity of the situation more frictions and misunderstandings arise in this department than anywhere else separate parking space for the staff and the public adequate waiting space and seating arrangements and facilities of wheelchairs and trolleys should be made available public toilets drinking water cafeteria and public telephones are essential in this department waiting time of the patients should be rendered to minimum maximum number of doctors should be available during the peak AHS help of para medical and non-medical staff is a must voluntary agencies may be required to help the patients in finding out various areas in the hospital this department should be organized in such a manner that there is free flow of traffic and cross traffic is avoided or minimized in addition to the help from staff and volunteers suitable guidance aids like supply of information brochures in local community centers and other sign postings will definitely help in creating a good impression a responsible member of the staff should be available to explain the reasons of delay or listen to public grievances measures should be taken to avoid queue-jumping and influence of pull to avoid public resentment separate counters should be opened for the hospital employees the accident and emergency department or casualty is another very sensitive area people coming here are charged with emotions anxiety and sense of urgency a Public Relation person has to ensure that this department should be staffed and equipped for round-the-clock services it should be supported by an efficient ambulance service also prompt medical relief and sympathetic behavior of the staff is very important in building good public relations in one of the studies it was observed that the consumers were dissatisfied due to misunderstandings rough behavior of the lower Kader staff and poor information and guidance system in the department most patients entering the hospital's have many questions and concerns hospitals must strive to answer their questions a public relations person in hospitals generally ensures that a hospital information booklet should be made available which provides information that is helpful to the patients and their relatives often patients are admitted in an elective basis and they have time to plan their admissions they can take advantage of these booklets in planning and preparing for their hospital stay the booklet can be of various types and the information to be incorporated therein will depend upon many factors the hospital administrator should decide after careful study as to which information should be provided through these booklets they are certain other aspects which need careful consideration which are described in brief in order to maintain good image of the hospital of deflation officer has to ensure certain uniformity especially with respect to the dressing sense of the staff all functionaries should wear uniforms and name labels this creates initial good impression on patients and reflects good administration it also infuses among the employees a sense of pride and belonging to the organization these also have been identifying the staff by name and their status these are particularly useful in OPD and ancillary departments [Music] color affects many of our moods and emotions proper choice of colors can transform depressing and monotonous atmosphere into pleasing and exciting one it stimulates employees productivity hospital is one area where color can be used with measured success not only in appearance but for the psychological uplifting which it brings to patients to [Music] keep the goodwill of the hospital intact the public relations officer ensures that no delay in procedures because anxiety and distress is a result of delays in admission due to long waiting list in allotting priorities for admission hospital consider the physical state of the patients but forget the social background and as a result social emergencies have to wait adequate facilities in efficient use of present resources can resolve this problem to some extent [Music] patients are generally vulnerable to anxiety and fear on arrival in the ward the reception they get tends to leave a deep impression prompt reception improves the morale of the patients it is normally observed that majority of the patients are dissatisfied with the type of privacy provided in the word a Public Relation officer must ensure that provision of screens around each bed be made which would afford greater privacy to have the privacy and at the same time provide the advantage of companionship of other patients in the ward would go a long way in creating feeling of warmth and understanding [Music] healthy food is a signature of any good organization good food well prepared and attractively served to the patients make a very favorable impression presence of dietitian or a nurse at the time of service creates a good impact on the patient and ensures in creating a positive image of the organization [Music] cleanliness is a much desired thing in a hospital it not only enhances the image of the hospital but also helps in controlling hospital infections frequent cleaning and revenues of detergents and deodorants eliminates the stink which is most dissatisfying the most important thing to a patient is to know as to what is wrong with him and how long it will take to recover a public relations officer should encourage providing information in this respect which will help in building patient's confidence a doctor or a nurse should be available in the ward during visiting hours to furnish such information regarding illness of the patient to their relatives [Music] relatives and friends come rushing to the hospital the moment they hear about the illness of their near and the dear ones this is to show their loyalty affection and strength of ties it also satisfies emotional needs of the patients the relatives etc are allowed to visit their patients for a short while the visiting our policy should be more liberal for the visitors to the serious patients and relatives coming from a distance place too rigid visiting policy makes the public at large critical of the hospital the best way to deal with complaints is to do everything possible to avoid getting them by anticipating the problems in spite of the best intentions of everyone and as it happens everywhere else sometimes things go wrong any complaint and suggestion should receive prompt attention and wherever possible remedial action be taken equally important is that whatever action is taken the same is communicated to the complainant [Music] the disposal of the dead is influenced by religion social and cultural beliefs and practices public relations is related to social welfare and public well-being therefore a Public Relation Department many-a-times ensures that a place be provided to which a dead body can be moved quietly so that other patients do not get upset disposal of the dead has a great bearing on public relations of the hospital this is a sensitive area for the relatives and friends even unintentional neglect or delay may carry unpleasant impression about the hospital utmost care is needed by all members of the staff to ensure that prompt and proper disposal of the dead is arranged hospital the place where of course sometime deaths also happen sometimes you face a very challenging time very tough time so at that point of time you have to ensure that their feelings are properly at rest your staff is that much supportive that they are you know giving them and whatever the you know the console consolidation to their feelings and everything so that is maintain their bodies and you know mortuaries are properly managed ing to their religious and you know regional and geographical sentiments so that are properly addressed so that would give them feeling that yes the hospital has a respect to their feelings they're there they are equally sharing our pain our grief [Music] too often not much of attention is paid to the public relations aspect in a hospital in our country demands are many and resources are few particularly in the health sector almost all the hospital remain crowded and the necessity of creating good impression about the hospital does not trust the mind of the staff very little do we realize that with a good public relations system the hospital does not only get good name but it also helps in early recovery of the patients it is very vital that all the staff of the hospital is made aware of this aspect in order to get their full support and active health a public relations department is a necessity for any hospital today especially the respective brand building image building and creating good with public relations can actively work for the hospital in the coming years of the creation department would be mandatory in every hospital which will embark a novel episode for better health facilities and treatment that is all we have for you today we hope you enjoyed this episode see you again Namaskar [Music] [Music] you [Music]