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In this episode, Barbara discusses: 

  • Building patient trust before problems arise 
  • Making small, consistent interactions trust “deposits” 
  • Following through on promises and communicating delays 
  • Listening for the fear behind repeated questions 
  • Validating concerns rather than dismissing them 
  • Explaining the reasons behind care recommendations 
  • Being honest when you don’t have a definite answer 
  • Training staff to handle patient concerns respectfully 
  • Building trust through honesty, consistency, competence, and respect not simply being liked or agreeing with every request 

 

Key Takeaways: 

Patient trust is built before problems arise through small, consistent actions like listening, communicating clearly, and keeping promises which makes challenges easier to navigate. 

 

 

Connect with Barbara Hales: 

 

 

 

 

Transcription:

 

Chapter 1:  Building Trust before Trouble 

0:00: Welcome to the Marketing Tips for Doctors podcast, where you’ll discover the secrets to attracting more patients ready to schedule their first appointments, so you can grow your practice without spending hours away from your practice or home. Hear how to boost your online presence, build strong rapport with each patient to increase compliance, add value, and grow revenue. Now here’s your host, Dr. Barbara Hales, America’s leading medical strategist. What if I told you that the best time to repair patient trust is before you ever lose it? Sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? After all, how can you repair something that hasn’t been broken? But here’s what I’ve learned: the strongest patient relationships aren’t built when something goes wrong. They’re built long before there’s ever a problem, and that’s what we’re talking about today. Welcome back to Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales, the medical strategist, and today we’re wrapping up our five-part series on one of the most valuable assets in your medical practice: patient trust.  

1:13 We’ve talked about transparency, taking responsibility, dealing with angry patients, and what happens when your own staff makes a difficult situation worse. But today, I want to talk about something that can make all those difficult conversations a whole lot easier: building trust before you need it. When patients already trust you, they’re much more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt when something doesn’t go according to plan, and believe me, in medicine, something eventually won’t go according to plan. That’s just reality. So grab your coffee and let’s think this through together. Imagine every patient has an invisible bank account, not filled with dollars, but with trust. Every positive interaction makes a deposit. Every disappointing interaction makes a withdrawal. When you listen carefully to a patient, that’s a deposit. When your staff returns a promised call, that’s a deposit. When you explain why you’re recommending a particular treatment instead of simply handing over a prescription, that’s another deposit. 

2:25 And when you remember something personal about your patient, maybe their daughter’s wedding or the fact that they’ve been caring for an elderly parent, that’s a deposit too. Now let’s look at the withdrawals. A patient waits 45 minutes without anyone explaining why the withdrawal. A patient calls with a concern and gets no response. Withdrawal. A staff member sounds irritated because the patient asked the same question twice. Another withdrawal. Individually, these may seem small, but they add up. And here’s where it gets interesting. If you’ve been making consistent deposits into that trust, one unfortunate experience probably won’t destroy the relationship. But if the account is already running low, one unpleasant interaction may be all it takes for that patient to decide they’re never coming back. Worse, they may tell everyone they know that trust starts before the patient sees you. 

 

Chapter 2: The Trust Account and the Patient Experience 

2:20 Now, if you are anything like me, you probably think about the patient relationship beginning when you walk into the examination room, but it actually starts much earlier. It may begin when someone visits your website. Does your website make your practice feel welcoming? Does it explain what patients can expect, or does it leave them confused? What happens when they call your office? Do they get a warm greeting, or do they feel like they’re interrupting someone’s day? And what about that first appointment? Are patients told what to bring? Do they understand the process? Do they know approximately how long the visit will take? These may sound like administrative details, but to a patient, they’re signals-signals 

 

Chapter 3: Reliability, communication, and listening 

4:14: about whether your practice is organized, whether you respect their time, and whether they’re going to be treated like a person, not a chart number. Remember, patients form opinions about you long before you have the chance to demonstrate your medical expertise, and those opinions shape how they interpret everything that follows. Let me ask you something: Have you ever told a patient, “I’ll have someone call you tomorrow. Only to discover three days later that nobody did. Of course, you didn’t intentionally mislead the patient. You got busy. Your staff got busy. Something slipped through the cracks.  

4:55 But from the patient’s perspective, you made a promise, and you didn’t. Keep it. That’s why I believe one of the simplest ways to strengthen patient trust is to become absolutely reliable about the small things. If you say you’ll call, call. If you promise results by Friday, make sure someone follows up, even if the results are not available yet. And if your office is running behind schedule. Tell the patient. Don’t make them sit there wondering whether they’ve been forgotten. You might say, “I’m sorry, we’re running behind today. An unexpected situation came up, and we appreciate your patience. That’s it. No elaborate explanation.  

5:38 No defensiveness. Just communicate, because uncertainty creates anxiety, and communication reduces it. Listen for the question behind the question. Here’s another opportunity to build trust that physicians sometimes miss. A patient asks you a question, you answer, and then they ask again, maybe in slightly different words. Now you are thinking, didn’t I just explain that? But consider this: sometimes the patient isn’t asking because they didn’t understand your explanation. They’re asking because they’re frightened. Imagine a patient who asks, “Are you sure this medication is safe? You explain the research, the benefits, and the potential side effects. Then, a few minutes later, they ask, “But are you really sure I should take it? You could repeat the same medical explanation, or you could say, “It sounds like there’s something about this medication that’s worrying you. Can you tell me what concerns you most? Suddenly, the conversation changes. 

6:43 Maybe their mother had a terrible reaction to a similar drug. Maybe they read something alarming online, or maybe they’re simply afraid of making the wrong decision. Until you understand the fear, you may not be answering the question that really matters. And when patients feel understood, that’s an enormous deposit into the trust account. 

 

Chapter 4: Reassurance, Explanations, and Honest Uncertainty  

7:15 Reassurance is not the same as dismissal. Physicians use a phrase with the best intentions. We say it because we want to reassure our patients. But sometimes those two words have the opposite effect. Imagine a patient describing symptoms that have been frightening them for weeks. You examine them and determine that nothing immediately dangerous is happening. So you say, “Don’t worry, everything looks fine. But the patient doesn’t feel fine, and now they feel dismissed. Instead, consider saying, “I can understand why these symptoms have been worrying you.  

7:45 Based on what we found today, I don’t see signs of an immediate emergency. Let me explain what I think is happening and what we should watch for. See the difference. You’re still reassuring the patient, but you’re also validating their experience, and you’re explaining your reasoning. Patients don’t need us to pretend that every answer is simple. They need to know we take their concerns seriously. Explain the why, not just the what. Think about how often we make recommendations during an ordinary office visit. Start this medication. Schedule that test. Come back in three months. Reduce your sodium. Increase your activity. 

8:28 And while those recommendations may be medically appropriate, patients don’t always understand why we’re making them. When patients understand the reasoning behind the recommendation, they’re more likely to feel involved in their care, instead of simply saying, “I want you to have this test, try. I’m recommending this test because it will help us distinguish between two possible explanations for your symptoms. That information will guide our next steps. Now the patient understands the purpose.  

8:59 They aren’t simply following orders; they’re participating in a decision, and participation creates a sense of partnership. That partnership is one of the foundations of trust. The power of saying “I don’t know. Here’s something else I want physicians to remember: you don’t have to know everything to earn a patient’s trust. In fact, pretending to know something when you’re uncertain can damage that trust far more than admitting the uncertainty.  

9:30 There’s nothing wrong with saying, “I don’t have a definite answer for you yet, but don’t stop there. Follow it with, “Here’s what we know so far. Here’s what we still need to find out, and here’s what I recommend we do next. That’s not weakness. That’s professional honesty. Patients understand that medicine is not always black and white. What they find much harder to accept is feeling that information is being withheld or that their concerns are being brushed aside, and that brings us. 

 

Chapter 5: Your Staff is part of the Trust Equation 

10:00: Right back to the transparency we discussed at the beginning of this series. Your staff is part of your trust equation. Now, here’s something that may be uncomfortable to hear. You can be the most compassionate physician in the world. You can explain everything beautifully. You can spend extra time with your patients, but if your front desk staff is consistently rude or dismissive, your patients may still lose confidence in your practice. Why? Because patients don’t separate you from your staff the way you do.  

10:35 To them, everyone represents the same practice- your practice- so building trust has to become part of your office culture. It can’t happen only when the physician enters the room. Your staff needs to understand how to acknowledge frustration, explain delays, and respond appropriately when patients are upset. And just as importantly, they need to know when to bring a concern to your attention. Think about the episode we did on staff escalating a difficult situation. One poorly handled conversation can undo months or even years of positive patient experiences, but the opposite is also true.  

11:22 One thoughtful staff member who listens, follows through, and treats a frustrated patient with respect can prevent a minor problem from becoming a major one. That’s why communication training is not just a customer service exercise; it’s part of protecting the patient relationship. As we finish this series, I want to connect the dots. In our first episode, we talked about the transparency paradox: how being open and honest, even when something goes wrong, can actually strengthen trust rather than destroy it.  

11:59 Then we explored what happens when patients believe the doctor is responsible for a disappointing experience. We talked about angry patients and why telling someone to calm down often makes the situation worse. We looked at how staff interactions can escalate a conflict that might otherwise have been resolved, and now we’re looking at the foundation beneath it all, the trust you build every single day. 

12:28 The best response to a patient complaint isn’t simply knowing what to say after the damage has occurred. It’s creating an environment where patients already believe that you care about them, respect them, and will do your best to make things right. That does not mean every patient will be happy, and it certainly doesn’t mean you’ll never receive a complaint. But it does mean you are building a stronger foundation for handling those situations when they arise. 

Chapter 6: Trust, Respect, and seeing the Practice through Patients’ Eyes  

12:20 Trust is not the same as being liked. Before we wrap up, I want to make one important distinction. Building trust does not mean trying to make every patient like you. Sometimes you have to deliver difficult news. Sometimes you have to recommend a treatment the patient does not want. Sometimes you have to explain why a requested test or medication isn’t appropriate, and sometimes you simply can’t give patients the answers they hope for.  

13:34 That’s part of practicing medicine responsibly. But you can still be respectful. You could still be compassionate. You can still explain your reasoning and make sure the patient feels heard. Trust does not require agreement. It requires honesty, consistency, competence, and respect. And those are things we can work on every day.  

13:59 So here’s what I’d like you to do this week. Take a few minutes to look at your practice through your patient’s eyes, not the physician’s. See it through the eyes of someone who may be anxious, confused, uncomfortable, or worried about their health. What happens when they call your office? How are they greeted? What happens when you’re running behind? How quickly are their questions answered? Does someone follow up when you’ve promised they would? When patients express concerns, do they feel heard? You don’t have to overhaul your entire practice. Start with one area, just one. Maybe it’s improving how your staff communicates appointment delays. Maybe it’s making sure every patient understands the next step in their care, or maybe it’s simply creating a reliable system for returning telephone calls. Choose one improvement and make it part of your routine, because trust isn’t built on one great moment. 

Chapter 7: The Trust Audit and Closing 

15:00: Gesture. It’s built through hundreds of small, consistent actions. This is the trust audit. Throughout the series, we’ve talked about difficult patient conversations, and I know that in the middle of a busy practice day, finding the right words isn’t always easy. That’s why I’ve created a special patient trust cheat sheet to help you and your staff navigate these moments. It includes practical language you can use when patients are angry, disappointed, frightened, or frustrated.  

15:36 Words that acknowledge their concerns without becoming defensive, and phrases that help turn difficult conversations into opportunities to rebuild trust. You can access this resource through our subscriber community. Once you’ve subscribed, follow the instructions to request your copy, and when you receive it, don’t just file it away. Print it out, share it with your office manager, and discuss it with your staff, because these conversations shouldn’t depend on whether someone happens to know the right words in the heat of the moment. Preparation makes a difference, and if you found this five-part series valuable, please subscribe to Marketing Tips for doctors and share these episodes with another physician who could benefit. As we finish today, I want to leave you with one thought: Patients may not remember every medical term you used. They may not remember every detail of the treatment plan, but they will remember whether you listened, whether you respected them, whether you kept your promises, and whether they felt they could trust you, so don’t wait for a complaint to start thinking about patient trust. Build it now, strengthen it every day, and protect it as carefully as you protect every other important part of your practice. Because when trust is strong, everything else becomes a little easier. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales, the medical strategist. Thank you for joining me for this five-part trust series on marketing tips for doctors. And remember, you’re one tweet away from greatness. 

17:19 Thanks for listening to Marketing Tips for Doctors. If you like the podcast, please subscribe, rate, and review. Hit subscribe so you never miss an episode, and tell your friends about the show. Visit marketingtipsfordoctors.com for replays and more resources to help you grow your practice, strengthen your brand, and dominate your field. Remember, you are one tweet from greatness.