How do you build relationships with healthcare stakeholders?

As a patient advocate, you play a vital role in supporting and empowering patients and their families to navigate the complex and often confusing healthcare system. But you also need to build relationships with various healthcare stakeholders, such as providers, insurers, administrators, policymakers, and researchers, to advocate effectively and collaboratively for your clients' needs and rights. How do you do that? Here are some tips to help you connect and communicate with different healthcare stakeholders.

1 Understand their perspectives

The first step to building relationships with healthcare stakeholders is to understand their perspectives, goals, challenges, and incentives. For example, providers may be focused on delivering quality care, but also face time constraints, regulatory requirements, and malpractice risks. Insurers may be concerned about cost containment, but also need to comply with laws and contracts. Administrators may be responsible for managing resources, staff, and operations, but also have to balance competing demands and expectations. Policymakers may have a vision for improving health outcomes, but also have to deal with political pressures and budget limitations. Researchers may have expertise and evidence, but also face ethical and methodological issues. By learning about their perspectives, you can identify common ground, respect differences, and tailor your messages and strategies accordingly.

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Michael Bass, M.D.

Gastroenterologist | Medical Director, Oshi Health | LinkedIn Top Healthcare Voice | Forbes Health Contributor
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Taking the other’s perspective is key in healthcare Clinicians focus on delivering care. But for us to deliver that care effectively , we need all parts running. This means listening to administrator’s concerns with an open mind. Healthcare is becoming mor complex by the day. Effective communication and teamwork is a must.

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2 Establish trust and credibility

The second step to building relationships with healthcare stakeholders is to establish trust and credibility. This requires honesty, reliability, respect, and professionalism in interactions. To demonstrate trust and credibility, follow up on commitments, share accurate data, acknowledge limitations and gaps in knowledge, seek feedback from others, give credit and recognition where due, apologize for mistakes, and avoid conflicts of interest or bias. Establishing trust and credibility is essential for creating rapport, mutual understanding, and collaboration with healthcare stakeholders.

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Terry Hunt II, MD, MBA

Interventional Pain Specialist ► Medical Director & Patient Experience Leader
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Establishing trust and credibility with stakeholders also requires addressing implicit bias. Evidence strongly supports the notion that implicit biases can adversely affect healthcare delivery. By definition, implicit (subconscious) bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect a person’s understanding, actions, and decisions subconsciously. Establishing trust and credibility with stakeholders requires addressing implicit bias effectively in the workplace.

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3 Communicate effectively and respectfully

The third step to building relationships with healthcare stakeholders is to communicate effectively and respectfully. This involves using plain and simple words, adapting your communication style and medium to suit the audience and purpose, providing context and background for your requests and recommendations, summarizing key points and action items, inviting and addressing questions and concerns, showing interest in others' views and experiences, thanking others for their contributions, and acknowledging their efforts. Effective communication is essential for developing rapport, mutual understanding, and collaboration with healthcare stakeholders.

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4 Collaborate and cooperate

The fourth step to building relationships with healthcare stakeholders is to collaborate and cooperate. This involves working together towards shared goals, values, and interests, while respecting diversity and autonomy. You can do this by identifying and aligning your objectives with others, seeking and offering support, guidance, and resources, participating and contributing to meetings, committees, and networks, sharing best practices, lessons learned, and success stories, resolving conflicts constructively, and celebrating and rewarding achievements. Collaboration and cooperation are essential for fostering rapport, mutual understanding, and collaboration with healthcare stakeholders.

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5 Advocate and educate

The fifth step to building relationships with healthcare stakeholders is to advocate and educate. This means raising awareness, influencing change, and promoting the rights and interests of your clients and the patient advocacy profession. For instance, you can share your clients' stories, needs, and preferences to highlight the value of patient advocacy. Additionally, providing evidence-based and patient-centered solutions and recommendations can help engage and mobilize other stakeholders and allies. Moreover, participating and influencing policy development and implementation as well as keeping up to date with trends, issues, and opportunities in healthcare are essential for building rapport, mutual understanding, and collaboration with healthcare stakeholders.

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6 Evaluate and improve

The sixth step to building relationships with healthcare stakeholders is to evaluate and improve. This means assessing the quality, effectiveness, and impact of your relationships and finding ways to enhance them. To do this, you can solicit and provide feedback and suggestions, measure and report outcomes and impacts, identify and address gaps and challenges, seek learning and development opportunities, recognize and reward excellence and improvement, as well as revisit and revise your goals and strategies. Evaluation and improvement are essential for building rapport, mutual understanding, and collaboration with healthcare stakeholders.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you build relationships with healthcare stakeholders?

1

2

3

4

5

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1 Understand their perspectives

2 Establish trust and credibility

3 Communicate effectively and respectfully

4 Collaborate and cooperate

5 Advocate and educate

6 Evaluate and improve

7 Here’s what else to consider

Patient Advocacy

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How do you build relationships with healthcare stakeholders?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Understand their perspectives

2 Establish trust and credibility

3 Communicate effectively and respectfully

4 Collaborate and cooperate

5 Advocate and educate

6 Evaluate and improve

7 Here’s what else to consider

Patient Advocacy

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

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