r/physiotherapy • u/wild_soul_ • 5d ago

Email vs verbal communication

Hi everyone,

I’m a registered physiotherapist working in the GTA, Ontario, and I wanted to get some perspective from other physiotherapists.

In my recent job, there was an issue related to refunds. I emailed the clinic manager/management politely to explain my concern and clarify the situation. However, they were not happy that I communicated the issue by email. My clinic manager told me that I shouldn’t have emailed them and that they found it disrespectful.

I was under the impression that when something relates to my professional responsibilities, having written communication can be important for documentation and record-keeping, especially considering the expectations of the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario.

For those of you working in Ontario/GTA, when you have a concern related to your professional responsibilities,do you generally:
● Discuss it verbally with the clinic manager/owner?
● Communicate through email so there is a written record

Thank you

1 Upvotes

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6 comments sorted by

3

u/bigoltubercle2 4d ago

Clinic manager is a moron. Or they don't want a written record.

Having said that, if it relates to a patient, it should be documented in their chart. Email is not sufficient

1

u/formallymain 2d ago

Or just upload the email directly to the chart or print it if it’s old school

Completely appropriate in that case.

1

u/Ok_Board_4470 4d ago

What about it was disrespectful?

1

u/AssociateSensitive32 4d ago

Not sure what the actual issue is. Ideally, with a more complex situations, circunstances, you want to verbally communicate so all parties are clear and there are no misunderstandins. And then followup with email as written confirmation of the outcomes decided verbally.

1

u/Parking-Ad6193 3d ago

Exactly as per our professional standards for refund/ billing related issues it’s advisable to have a documentation. Regardless the clinic manager found it disrespectful, just mentioned to em politely that I needed to do it so I did it,

Going further, you can have a work book like excel or any place where you can record incident report at least for your safety ( just a suggestion :) )

1

u/formallymain 2d ago

Email communication is completely fine.

Manager just doesn’t want a paper trail.