Lane listening skills

Effective communication involves good listening skills wherein an equal amount of emphasis needs to be placed on the development of these skills as with reading, writing, and speaking to improve organizational success (Guffey& Loewy, 2017). Three important listening skills that are necessary within a health care setting are, listening completely while paying attention to every nuance, controlling anger, and critical listening. Listening completely while paying attention to every nuance is important of physicians while interacting with patients to obtain critical, high quality information relevant to the patient’s needs (Snyder et al., 2011). It may be necessary for physicians to utilize an EHR system while collecting this information. Maintaining patient engagement by keeping eye contact and using appropriate body language are key components in strengthening the patient/provider relationship. Health informaticians involved in EHR design and implementation can promote patient centered care by designing a user-friendly interface for the physicians to easily input collected information allowing them to focus on the patient and improve the quality of care delivered.

Controlling anger or frustration is important of health informaticians involved in the education of physicians when implementing a new EHR system into practice. There may be concerns about workflow integration and the potential for undesirable affects that cause dissatisfaction during training that needs to be managed (Hersh et al., 2014). According to Guffey and Loewy (2017), critical listening means to judge and evaluate what you are hearing while maintaining an open mind and providing affirming statements even when disagreeing. This is important for health informaticians when working with a multidisciplinary team of professionals on projects. It is important to understand the values of each team member and learn from other professions which in turn can develop the skills of the health informatician (Holden et al., 2018).

There are several types of communication channels that can be utilized for information exchange which can impact the clarity of the message being conveyed (Guffey& Loewy, 2017). To avoid ambiguity and misunderstanding, attention needs to be placed on the richness of the communication media chosen which increases communication effectiveness and the ability to apply these important listening skills. For example, during internal communication a face-to-face conversation meeting will have a higher media richness than a written letter or email because emotions can be interpreted and listening skills can be applied to the conversation. A disadvantage with this type of communication forum is that it is difficult to recall specific details.

Face-to-face meetings may not always be available so utilizing alternatives such as virtual meeting platforms will be more effective as video conferencing can still offer delivery of nonverbal cues and can yield a more powerful message (Guffey& Loewy, 2017). When communicating externally with customers or the public, email is generally the communication channel chosen over handwritten business letters sent by mail due to the time constraints of conducting business and it being more economical. Depending on the relationship with the customer it is more courteous to send email communications prior to phone calls. Furthermore, the customer may not always be available by phone. The disadvantage to email is that it may seem impersonal and does not offer immediate feedback. No matter the form of communication chosen, it is important to maintain a professional image. Be polite, courteous, and respectful within the workplace.