Hancock Physician Network’s April Office of the Month

This month, we’re featuring Hancock Regional Hospital’s Internal Medicine in Greenfield. This office specializes in care such as pulmonology, infectious disease, thoracic surgery, endocrinology, and rheumatology. We spoke with them about their office and learned how they work to continuously improve care for patients.

How does your staff make health possible for patients?

We partner with patients to make their experience leading up to the doctor is as easy as possible. We triage patient calls, schedule routine visits, and follow up with patients as needed. We also send orders to make sure our patients have their prescription as soon as possible.

Visiting the doctor can be a scary experience. How do you work with patients to eliminate worries?

Our policy is to put patients at ease through education. When a patient is walked through what they can expect, often the nerves go away. We also communicate with patients using the AIDET method, which stands for acknowledge, introduce, duration, explanation, and thank you. This technique decreases anxiety for the patients and it is a helpful tool so they know we’re here to help. We bring the patients in on the process to make sure they feel heard.

Why should a patient come to your office instead of a different practice?

Our providers spend quality and extended time with patients. As we are the Internal Medicine office, our patients have unique needs and require more time to talk with their provider about symptoms and treatments. Hancock Health, at all its offices, maintains that “small hometown” environment. Other hospital cultures have changed from patients being the primary focus to other priorities. Here at Hancock Health, it feels like patients and staff are taken care of.

Can you recall a time a staff member went above and beyond for a patient?

All of our staff takes the time to listen to patients and allows them to unload. Many of the diagnoses we see can be heavy, and patients usually just need someone to talk to who understands the medical side. We want patients to know how special they are to us, so we give out birthday cards and treats.

What innovation at Hancock Health or in your field are you most excited about, and what does it mean for the entire healthcare industry?

We are most excited about the addition of the endocrinology department. Having an endocrinologist on staff will allow for better diabetic care and other endocrinology disorders. This is going to allow for the addition of certified diabetic educators to work with our patients, as well as virtual health care, which is really exciting.

We’re only as good as the people working each and every day to ensure our patients have the best possible experience. Follow along each month and see how our staff does health differently across all of our facilities.