Reaching Out to the Non-Attending Spouse

One idea that I’ve been asked my opinion on several times by doctors is the feasibility of recording a video presentation for the non-attending spouse, copying this to a disk, and sending the disk home with the take-home materials for the non-attending parent to review. That sounds like a good idea in theory, but in practice I don’t  think it would work very well.

The main problem is getting the non-attending parent to actually take the time to load the disk and watch the video. Speaking for myself, I don’t think that I would bother with watching it, simply because I would not want to take the time required to load it. I would view those steps as an inconvenience. So it’s important to note that the problem therefore is not with the video, but with the hassle of  getting to a point where it can be seen.

A much better approach – one that a doctor I recently worked with has done successfully – is to record the video and send it, not on a disc, but as an email attachment. (The Logitech cameras that I recommend for my video TC coaching program work well for this purpose). This is a fundamentally better idea for two reasons. The first is that you eliminate the expense of buying disks to send home.

The second, key one is that you eliminate the inconvenience of loading the video; now it can be viewed with the click of a mouse.

If you are going to start doing this, a couple of points to remember:

• The video is of the doctor talking directly to the absentee spouse – using their name – and describing the child’s problem, recommended treatment, and the reasons for that recommendation.

• Your TC must explain to the visiting spouse what is going to be done, and then get both spouse’s email addresses. “Dr. _____ is going to send a video summary of his recommendations to you and your husband on email. Can I have both of your email addresses so that he/she can do this?”

• The TC sends a thank-you email to both spouses following the consultation. This email tells them to be looking for a second email with the video clip.  

Then the second email containing the video clip is sent.

Following this approach virtually guarantees that the non-attending spouse will see your presentation, because its easy to get to.

One last point – keep this to two minutes or less, partly because of file size issues, and partly because none of us are so engaging that we can keep someone’s attention for longer than that.

Especially when talking about orthodontics.