Patients Come Second

I recently finished reading a book with a fantastic title called Patients Come Second by Paul Spiegelman and Britt Berrett.  Now having worked in healthcare primarily my entire career you may find it strange that I enjoy the book’s title so much but the reason I do is because I agree with it whole heartedly.  In fact, I have tried to practice it and encourage it throughout my career.  Now you may be shocked.  You may be saying to yourself what is this guy talking about—he’s worked in healthcare leadership most of his career and he agrees that patients come second!?  How can this be?!!  Well hopefully your reaction isn’t too negative and I can understand why it may be, however once you come to understand what the title truly means, and how it impacts patients, it probably isn’t what it seems at first glance. Please let me explain. 

I’ve learned as a leader, and the authors have too, that when you take care of employees and put them first, they nearly always “pay it forward” to the customer or patient.  Now because this is true, this type of philosophy works and is the best way to provide healthcare or any other type of care or service to a customer.  When leaders of an organization realize it’s very difficult for employees to provide great customer experiences when their personal experiences with the organization are not great, everybody wins.  Therefore as leaders focus on their employees first, it translates in to the best patient experiences and outcomes. 

Now having said this, many people will still find this theory to sound strange, yet I know it works—and so do the authors of this book.  So let me go a bit further in explaining.  If as a leader I care about my people and they know it, they will care more about the customer.  If as a leader I take time to listen to and address the problems and concerns of my team members and always assume the best, they will be much more likely to do that for our customer.  If as a leader I show interest in my employee as an individual, they will likewise be much more likely to show interest in a customer as an individual.  If as a leader I help my employees feel like a million bucks each day there is no doubt in my mind it will make it much more likely that they will help others feel the same way.  Simply put, the better an employee feels about the organization they work for, the better the chance is that they will treat the organization’s customers well.  For this reason patients second only makes sense for when leaders put employees first, the employees almost automatically take great care of the customer. 

The theory behind this book’s philosophy is even applicable and true in our normal, everyday lives as I think most of us would agree that it is hard to treat others well when we ourselves feel mistreated.    

Now this may sound like some type of leadership manipulation or a very calculating business strategy—that leaders who invest and take care of their employees are only doing it to increase the bottom line.  Whether this is true or not doesn’t really matter because taking care of others is not easily counterfeited.  If a leader is not genuine and sincere when caring for their employees, the team members will see right through it and it won’t work.  This book points out this fact too and the entire premises of the title hinges on love for others.  Good leaders love those who work with them.  When they show this genuine love and concern to them, the team reciprocates this love and concern to the customer and others they interact with.  This love cannot be faked.  And this is what the book is all about.    

Having love for others, especially your team members first, is the best way to be a successful leader and run an organization.  I’m grateful for this book’s title and the philosophy the authors espouse and promote.  Like the authors, I attest that when a leader lives this philosophy good things will happen for all.    

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