"Doing good is good for buisness."

In January of this year I was fortunate enough to hear Richard Branson speak at a conference. Mr. Branson spoke with passion about his businesses but specifically about his belief that “doing good is good for business”. This statement is probably understood by most business owners but intent does not always translate into decision making that is consistent with this message. This statement that seems so simple gave me cause to pause and consider what I do in clinical practice that specifically meets this standard.

Certainly how we treat each other becomes a vehicle for doing good but more importantly why we treat each other the way we do becomes a core basis for doing good. Simply put, our motivations outweigh our apparent actions. One needs to really care about their patient in order to always make decisions and communicate direction that is in the patient’s best interest. In the clinical Audiology practice the Audiologist needs to be ethical in their approach putting the patient’s health and well being first but also advising the patient in a manner that is in their best interest. An example of this would be that when an Audiologist notes a possible noise induced hearing loss combined with a history of working in noise that the advice given would be that of Workplace Safety claim initiation as opposed to prescribing a hearing aid that incurs cost to the patient. The same would be true for Veterans with hearing loss being correctly directed. The Audiologist needs to pursue funding routes on the patient’s behalf whenever possible (and there really are several). My personal approach is that there should never be a patient that requires amplification that is turned away due to an apparent inability to afford better hearing.   Making decisions that are in the best interest of the patient even when it is inconvenient to the business is indeed good for business.

My clinic was established 19 years ago and we really were starting from scratch, trying to find a foothold in the community, trying to establish identity and thereby attracting patients.  I remember being acutely aware of every time the phone rang or a potential patient walked in the door. My mind was constantly calculating and recalculating the financial viability of each day and each week. At that time we were able to bill under OHIP (our version of socialized medicine) as well as other insurances but the real income for my company came from hearing aid sales. I can remember many a time when I would discuss a hearing loss with a patient that had come to me for hearing help fully expecting to purchase a hearing aid only to realize that they might actually qualify for complete funding under workplace safety or veterans affairs or a number of other programs. I can remember vividly the ethical debate that took place in my head knowing that we really needed the income now but that the right thing to do would be directing the patient to apply for funding that they themselves had no idea they were eligible for. I can liken this to that cartoon visual of a good angel on one shoulder with a harp and a bad angel on the other shoulder with a pitch fork trying to influence the head in the middle. I can say with certainty that each and every time it was the bad angel that was eradicated and poofed off while the good angel won out. Not easy decisions given the circumstances but these are the inconvenient decisions that allow one to build a positive business reputation with solidity. Looking out for a patient’s best interest should always come first. As an Audiologist, we are also often the first to see signs of retrocochlear pathology (fancy words for a possible acoustic neuroma or schwanoma, which in turn are fancy words for a form of benign tumor that affects the hearing). While red flags may pop up during testing in strong fashion at times often the red flags may be limited or minimal. Here is another example of keeping the patients health and well being a primary focus as opposed to choosing the route that makes the business money in the short run.

The approach of doing good while inconvenient tends to work itself out in the long run. Patients come back after being medically cleared with a renewed faith in the clinic knowing their best interest will be kept in mind, those that finally get their funding through Workplace Safety or D.V.A. or other agencies become patients for life, grateful for the efforts made on their behalf. These patients not only represent themselves but each individual represents hundreds of others, and sometimes more, and these patients become a great referral source through word of mouth.

In business we know that there is no referral source as effective as word of mouth. Word of mouth however is a two edged sword. If one has a bad experience word of mouth can have a negative connotation. My contention is that positive word of mouth brings patients to your door that have foundational confidence in the clinic prior to ever arriving. Confidence is a transferable commodity. When I hear a good friend speak in glowing terms of a business or individual, I find myself being implanted with the beginning of confidence in that business or individual. Whether that confidence grows or diminishes has a lot to do with what I might encounter on a personal level.

I recently had a discussion with my almost 16 year old son regarding good business practice. My son was selling one of his electric guitars to a friend at school in order to use his profits to help him go on a “Serve” trip (this is a youth mission trip). This guitar needed to be re-strung but my son felt like the cost of doing this would take away from his profit margin given that the buyer was more than happy to take this instrument the way it was. My intent was to try to get my child to understand that doing good is good for business. I am hopeful that my child will learn this lesson as he took this guitar to school today to show it to the buyer.

It takes a consistent approach of doing good that is culturally implanted in your clinic from the front office staff to the clinical staff that allows for optimal business growth from a strong foundation.

It is certainly empowering to hear The Richard Branson’s of the world with such tremendous resources both fiscal and human speak of the ability to facilitate change. I must say that while it is exciting to hear someone like this speak it can also make the rest of us feel, well, a little insignificant. I personally have had to come to understand that my “world” is the one I come in contact with and the one that I influence and while this may be a much smaller “world” it is one in which my actions can have a significant effect in and on. Richard Branson’s “world” by definition may be much larger but one he too has influence and an effect on.

In the field of better hearing our clinic supports the “Starkey Hearing Foundation” with a goal of providing amplification for children around the world. It really is an amazing organization. Bill Austin, the visionary founder of Starkey, has converted his life vision into his mission helping children around the world find better hearing, often for the first time. It is really exciting watching colleagues from around the country giving of their time and money working on these missions where in ten days to two weeks they can literally give thousands of children the gift of hearing. The stories are tremendous and moving and motivational. The web site for the Starkey Hearing Foundation has amazing video and pictures from these missions that all can find inspirational. At our Clinic we have a drop box much like the eyeglass program that we are familiar with for donated hearing aids to be used for the purpose of being refurbished or for parts that will be used for these children. As a company, we do what we can to help those that are unable to find the funds for amplification, we try to work with the service clubs in the area as well as agencies such as “The Canadian Hearing Society.”  We try to do what we can through the donation of time, service and in some cases technology in order to make better hearing accessible to all. “Doing good is good for business”!

Starkey Hearing Foundation

www.sotheworldmayhear.org/