Spring has sprung in Central Florida and our world is abloom with a heady fragrance of flowers, grass and trees. With Nature in full renewal, the doctors, healthcare professionals and staff at Florida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Specialists have felt a new buoyancy and rejuvenation.
Likewise, the energy and anticipation of holiday get-togethers and religious, family and secular spring celebrations have brought us contagious joy over the last week. Our office sports photos of happy kids and crayon masterpieces. They show all the glories of spring. They are Easter bunnies, giant eggs, baby animals and pretty flowers!
Spring Makes Us Bloom Anew
It is the perfect time of year to be outside. Deep cleansing breaths of the spring breeze reinvigorate us. However, for many of our patients, the season is a double-edged sword.
Through the Little Boy’s Eyes, You can See the Excitement and Hope of a Marvelous Spring Celebration. (Even with a Cabbage.)
On the one hand, our patients have the urge run on green grass, picnic on fresh fruits and vegetable, pet every dog in the park.
On the other hand, people with respiratory diseases know they must remain attentive to triggers.
We keep that one singular spring time warning in mind. As a result, we intend to use this blog article for one main purpose: to declare the appreciation we have for you, our patients, our friends and our families.
Inspired by the fresh breezes and warming sunshine, we declare spring to be the season of gratitude.
Oh, we know that appreciation is usually celebrated in the fall.
But for 2018, we are filled with warm gratitude for our blessings here at FLASS. Especially so, now that we are in the beauty of spring.
Likewise, the very recent major spring holidays and family time we recently enjoyed have inspired the doctors, the healthcare professional and the staff.
As Spring Transforms our World, Gratitude Transforms Our Hearts
William Arthur Ward wrote, “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
—We have discovered a new zest for life. And this blog article is our way to rejoice with gratitude for the nature that surrounds us in Florida. Also, we rejoice for the beauty of the human nature in the people who touch our lives.
Spring Morning Sunshine Brings Warmth and Joy.
A Spring Message of Appreciation!
We greet you, and we thank you with this message. For, in this spring of 2018, you, our patients and friends, have made our hearts bloom with appreciation.
Working with you brings us untold joy. Thank you seems like such a small expression of the gratitude we feel.
In our gratitude to our patients and friends, we renew our vows and rededicate our mission.
FLASS has made it their mission to foster the patient-centered style of care. We have discovered:
1. Patients in pro-active partnership heal better, faster.
2. Our patients also manage active lives. And they live longer despite the ravages of some of their chronic diseases. We appreciate you more than you know.
With our Spring Gratitude comes an authentic renewal of our promise to continue speaking our patient’s language. We also vow to continue including you, the patient, in determining wise courses of treatment options. This is technically termed “shared decision making or SDM.” As our clinic grows, we advocate it as the best and truest communication gift we can give to our patients.
Spring Brings You Our Gift of Appreciation: The Re-commitment to the Values You Share and Love
Mayo Clinic held a study which validates this SDM philosophy for communication and healing. Their research showed that patients are learning to accept and even embrace this type of treatment and communication.
Holding a Butterfly in Our Hand Brings Warm Feelings to our Being.
1. In fact, “Among respondents who had never participated in patient-centered communication or SDM with their provider, 47% said they would be “extremely” or “very likely” to switch to a provider who actively engages patients in decision making.”
We feel that is a very positive statistic for our patients, of course. But we are dismayed that some patients are forced to switch to facilities like ours to receive true, holistic, patient-centered, 21st-century medicine and communication.
And we are sad for the 20% of patients who simply did not comprehend the modern concept of SDM due to the years of old school, out-dated paternalistic medical care.
2. Like Mayo Clinic, it is our hope that “the recent increase in health care legislation…” will ease this problem. This legislation is aimed at supporting and incentivizing value-based care measures like SDM.
And, “soon it may not be necessary for patients to leave their providers to get the care they want.”
Shared Decision Making
What we mean is that we truly believe “Shared Decision Making” will become the standard, not the exception, in communication with patients.
3. At FLASS, one of the primary objectives of SDM (and patient-centered care in general) will continue to be to make you feel more involved in your treatment decisions.
The Mayo study showed us that 87 % of the patients treated with patient-centered style believe SDM either significantly or somewhat puts them in better control of their lives. They felt this was true either to a significant level or a somewhat more significant level.
One of Nature’s Miracles.
So, it is no wonder that we at FLASS feel that this spring is a celebration of the philosophy that unifies and guides our core values here at FLASS.
To Our Patients and their Families:
Your trust, your engagement and your participation with us in your health care journey have caused our hearts to bloom with renewed faith in our mission of healing here at FLASS.
A Meditative Gift for Spring: A Little Gratitude Quotation for You:
Wilfred A. Peterson wrote, “When we become more fully aware that our success is due in large measure to the loyalty, helpfulness, and encouragement we have received from others, our desire grows to pass on similar gifts.
Gratitude spurs us on to prove ourselves worthy of what others have done for us. The spirit of gratitude is a powerful energizer.”
Happy Spring!