3.2 Negotiating with Healthcare Providers

As an advocate, you will need to negotiate with healthcare providers to secure appropriate healthcare for the survivor.

Learning good negotiation skills will help your work be more effective and make it easier for you to help get the survivor the medical treatment they need.

At the center of negotiation is the idea that relationships can be strengthened through each interaction.

Always treat your health center colleagues with politeness and respect.

It can be helpful to recognize potential sources of conflict so that you can better understand how to best negotiate and advocate for the survivor’s needs.

A few examples are discussed below.

Personal differences: Your own values, beliefs and life experiences differ from those of others, and this affects the way you perceive situations.

Clear communication helps bridge the differences between you, the survivor, healthcare providers and other people in positions of leadership and authority.

Information differences: You may have information regarding a survivor’s situation that differs from the information someone else may have.

Usually, this can be resolved by clarifying your communication with others while maintaining confidentiality.

Different objectives: Your goals may not be aligned with the goals of the others.

For example, you know that the healthcare provider needs the survivor’s story to prescribe treatment, but you also know that pushing the survivor will be painful and draining for them.

Environmental factors: The structure and function of the health center is likely not adequate to meet the needs of sexual assault survivors.

For example, survivors may not want to speak with an advocate because they do not want to be identified as a sexual assault survivor.