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Abstract
You are the chief medical officer (CMO) at a 350-bed tertiary care hospital. A cardiologist insists on talking to you about "an urgent quality problem." A particular primary care physician, he says, who is in fact credentialed to read EKGs, is incompetent. In all, you prefer that the primary care providers and the cardiologists work it out, and you will facilitate the process. To solve these issues requires negotiation. The key is to know what the underlying interests are, and then work to develop a solution that either aligns them or satisfies them simultaneously. What mediators or facilitators do to achieve effective -- and appropriate -- resolution of problems include these key concepts: 1. Assure communication. 2. Build relationships. 3. Get people off positions. 4. Facilitate effective negotiation. 5. Do reality training. 6. Bring workable new ideas. 7. Bring in an outside mediator.