New BiggerPockets Article: Why Communication is So Important in Real Estate
—Especially When Things Go Sideways
This is an excerpt from an article originally published on BiggerPockets.com
What is the most likely reason a doctor is sued for malpractice (other than screwing up a procedure, of course)?
One might think it had something to do with not being thorough enough, so a good number of doctors have gotten in the habit of ordering extra tests and procedures and the like (known as defensive medicine). The bias toward “doing something” isn’t a good thing for our society overall, especially given how out-of-control healthcare costs are, but it does make sense for practitioners to do so as a defensive mechanism in our litigious society.
Studies have shown, however, that such preemptive actions have no effect on whether doctors are sued for malpractice. The main reason patients sue doctors (aside from a procedure leaving someone dead or injured) is that the doctor hadn’t talked to the patient enough, communicated about the situation effectively, and built rapport. As Aaron Carroll notes,
“To understand why patients file claims, we have to talk to them. Many researchers have. A study in 1992 found that about a quarter of mothers who had sued physicians because of deaths or permanent injuries in their newborn infants ‘needed money.’ But there were answers given more frequently that had nothing to do with remuneration. A third of respondents said that their doctor would not talk openly to them, half said their doctor had tried to mislead them, and 70% said that they were not warned about long-term neurodevelopmental problems in their children.”
It, therefore, shouldn’t be surprising that another study for The New England Journal of Medicine found that 1% of physicians accounted for a full 32% of paid claims. An analysis of four studies for PubMed found that for malpractice claims, “Overwhelmingly, the dominant theme in these studies’ findings was a breakdown in the patient-physician relationship, most often manifested as unsatisfactory patient-physician communication.”
(In other words, if Doctor House were a real person, he would have been sued just about all the time.)
The various aspects of real estate don’t generally involve life and death, but the same principle applies. Communication can make problems go away, and a lack of it can make problems get much, much worse. Even what should be innocuous or irrelevant can become an enormous issue if left ignored.
The Importance of Communication, No Matter What
In pretty much every walk of life, communication is essential. And it’s not just the part where you make sure to tell someone something—it’s also the part where you listen empathetically. Surveys have repeatedly shown that employees are more likely to leave jobs when they don’t feel listened to by management. They’re also less likely to be productive, even if they don’t leave, which we’re seeing more and more of these days with the phenomenon of “quiet quitting.”
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