Negotiation, MD

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of attending Paul Levy's seminar on negotiation. http://runningahospital.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-much-would-you-bid-for-10-bill.html

It was a great seminar, and covered many of the fundamentals of the art and science of negotiation in a 3 hour period. What I found most interesting, is how innately uncomfortable many physicians are with negotiation, especially with monetary negotiation. I have often thought about this problem as it applies to physicians as a group, as our negotiation skills lag far behind, especially given our training on rigorous analysis, decision making, and interpersonal skills.

Having grown up in a household whose sport was negotiation, I feel I can shed a little light on this issue that has often puzzled me about my colleagues. I can come up with at least three reasons why physicians fail at negotiation:

1. We never hear "No."

As physicians, we are not used to being told No. A real No, the kind that sticks. Sure patients, nurses…