Showing posts with label complaints. Show all posts
Showing posts with label complaints. Show all posts

Friday, July 17, 2015

Avoiding patient complaints - a guide by Dr Malpani

Unhappy patient's are a doctor's nightmare. This is especially true for an IVF clinic like Malpani Infertility Clinic, which depends upon patient's referrals to get new patients. We take pride in delighting our patients,  so that they can refer other infertile couples to use.


Of course, we can't keep everyone happy all the time, and there are going to be infertile couples who are not going to be happy with us - especially when their IVF cycle fails.


Although complaints are based on multiple factors, several common issues underlie most patient complaints. We try to minimize our risk of patient complaints about Malpani Infertility Clinic by paying close attention to these four key areas.

1) Enhancing communication
Communication is a key issue in avoiding patient complaints. Because many patients have difficulty absorbing—or understanding—the information presented to them, we develop resources such as e-learning courses and an IVF comic book, so that they have realistic expectations of the IVF treatment.

2) Practicing cultural competence
Our patients come from a variety of cultures from all across the world. Language barriers can make communicating with the patient quite challenging. Often, patients’ cultural backgrounds affect how they relate to healthcare providers or process information. In certain cultures, for example, asking a physician questions may be considered rude or a challenge to authority. We are therefore very proactive in making sure patients understand that lots of IVF cycles fail, no matter how good the IVF clinic is !

3) We respect the informed consent process
Informed consent is a process, and the “informed consent sheet” commonly seen in medical records is simply the documentation of that process. Not only do we explain the risks and benefits of IVF through our educational materials, we also discuss alternatives to IVF, such as surrogacy and adoption.


4) Explaining all charges and fees up front
We make sure that all charges are clearly explained to the patient. This is why we offer a package fee option, so that there is no sticker shock or unpleasant surprises later on. This is also why we publish our fees on our website, so there is no scope for confusion !

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Dr. Malpani Addresses Patients’ Complaints



Dr Anjali Malpani with one of our success stories !





Malpani Clinic puts in its best efforts to provide high quality medical care to all patients. While lots of patients are happy to provide us with lots of compliments, there may still be unhappy patients who have complaints about us. After all, it's not possible to keep everyone happy all the time.

We strive to address these complaints in the best way we can. There are mostly two kinds of complaints about Malpani Clinic.

Firstly, patients feel that the services offered by Malpani Clinic are way too costly. Expensiveness, as a parameter is hard to measure. Compared to other IVF clinics in India, Malpani Clinic is indeed costlier. However, reviews of the costs of the IVF clinics in the UK and the USA make it clear that the rates offered at Malpani Clinic are significantly more affordable. This rate is justified by our higher rates of success with IVF and the personalized care when pitted against other IVF clinics.  We do not employ any assistants and provide all the medical care ourselves, which means we are very hands-on and accessible. Patients usually shirk from spending on medical care. Thus, when they go for IVF treatment, the prices come to them as a shock. But Malpani Clinic has published all the rates in the website and we are quite straightforward about our costs. Patients who have this information before approaching us have no reasons for surprise and therefore no reasons for complaints.

Secondly, patients are disgruntled that I am too frank and honest with them which hurts their feelings. This is true again as I don’t believe that I should cheat patients with pleasant sounding words when the truth is that they have a bad prognosis. I explain things to them as honestly as I can. Telling patients what they want to hear instead of what is the truth serves no practical purpose. It only fosters false hopes in the patient’s mind. Learning about the truth as soon as possible, helps them find a solution for their problems in time.