Urology Coding Alert

Hint: Become an active listener.

Recently at the 2021 HEALTHCON session “What’s In a Word: Communicating With Providers,” instructors Tracy Bird, CPC, CPMA, CEMC, CPC-I, FACMPE, and Sarah Reed, BSE, CPC, CPC-I, AAPC Fellow, shared tips on how you can become a better communicator with your providers and everyone in your office.

Read on to learn more.

Beware of These Factors Impacting Communication

Three factors affect the communication experience, according to Bird. They are the following:

• Internal: These factors affect each party involved in the communication.
• Interactional: These factors affect the information sent and received between parties.
• External: These factors are affected by the physical environment during the communication.

Bird gave this example to illustrate her point: “You are in your practice, and you need your physician to clarify something. Your physician is between patients. Is this a good time to try and catch your physician? No. His thoughts are on the results he’s trying to get back from the lab on a particular patient. We don’t want to catch him in situations like that because that communication is not going to go well. So, we have to choose the appropriate environment in order for us to be understood.”

Cultivate 5 Effective Communication Skills

To be an effective communicator with your physicians, as well as everyone else in your practice, you should learn important communication skills.

Skill 1: Active listening: “We have two ears and one mouth for a reason,” Bird said. “Active listening is such an important part of communication. Active listeners are well regarded by their coworkers.

Active listeners focus on the speaker and let the speaker get everything out, Bird added. They avoid distractions, ask questions, and give the speaker time and space. They also paraphrase, restate, or summarize key phrases, which affirms understanding and builds dialogue.

In addition, as an active listener, you should remain non-judgmental and ask non-threatening questions, Bird said. Tell your provider what you intend to do and be sure to follow through.

Skill 2: Show respect: You should know when to initiate communication and respond and how to read people, Bird said. Learn when it’s the right time to say something and when it’s not. Also don’t interrupt someone when they are talking.

You should also use your time wisely, Bird added.

“If you do have to talk to your physician, schedule a specific time. Tell them, ‘I need 10 minutes of your time. You tell me when, and we will schedule it,’” Bird said. “Then take seven minutes; give them back three minutes of their time. Schedule longer and take less time. This will build trust.”

Skill 3: Friendliness: Honesty and kindness foster trust relationships, Bird said. You should have a positive attitude and an open mind.

You should ask questions to understand the other person’s position, Bird added. Also, smile, and ask someone how they are doing.

Skill 4: Confidence: Others respond positively when ideas are presented with confidence, according to Bird. If you have to give a presentation, prepare ahead of time so your thoughts are polished. Appearing confident includes making eye contact, sitting up straight, and keeping your shoulders open.

Skill 5: Responsiveness: Fast communicators are viewed as more effective, according to Bird. Consider how long your response will take. With simple questions, you should respond immediately. With complex questions, you should acknowledge the receipt of the question with an expectation of when the other party will receive a response.

Don’t miss: Above all, when you are learning to become an effective communicator, a top skill you need is how to adapt your communication style to your audience, Bird said. Consider your audience and adapt your communication style for the most effective communication with that individual or group.

You should also take into consideration how the listener may receive your communication, and be intuitive, Bird added.

Know How Physicians Communicate

In order to effectively communicate with physicians, you must understand how they communicate, Reed said.

For example, your providers will use medical terminology.

“Medical terminology is a provider’s plain English,” Reed explained. “They’ve been in medical school and residency for years. This is how they talk. They probably talk this way to their family at home.”

When you communicate with providers you can use phrases such as “I don’t think I understand this really well” or “Could you help me understand this and why you did it this way?” Reed said

You should also take into consideration the location of your provider practice when it comes to communication. Is it inpatient, outpatient, the emergency department (ED), physician’s office, ambulatory surgical center (ASC), nursing home, rural health clinic, home health, or hospice?

The location could make a difference as far as how formal or informal your practice is, Reed added. Your methods of communication need to be successful, and oftentimes how you are communicating depends on the location of where the person is and how they will understand you.

You should also use facts and show source documents on rules, according to Reed. Physicians want to know where the information is coming from. They want to see it in writing.

Use rationales, Reed added. Present yourself as organized, detached, and calm. State the facts concisely.

Bottom line: You should never panic, Reed said. The easiest solution is communication.

You can explain by saying something like “The CPT^® description is not the same as what you are telling me” or “Help me to understand what you did or what you meant,” Reed said.

Also, use a medical dictionary and the Internet to search for unfamiliar terms, Reed added.

Editor’s note: Want more great info like this? You can now register for the upcoming 2021 HCON regional conferences: https://www.aapc.com/medical-coding-education/conferences/. Visit www.aapc.com for more info.