The Advisor Opportunity Hidden in Plain Sight

Want to provide unique value to physician clients and doctors? See how you can offer value once a physicians gets sued. 

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Transcript

Most advisors are overlooking an opportunity to engage with doctors that's hiding in plain sight.

In fact, some of your physician clients may be experiencing it right now.

And you don't know it.

Today I want to talk about lawsuits.

Not because I want to teach malpractice law.

I want to help you understand physician psychology.

If we’ve not met, I’m Dr. Vicki Rackner, a retired surgeon who has spent the past 15 years helping financial advisors attract, engage and serve more doctor clients.

As a surgeon, I've seen malpractice litigation from both sides.

I've been sued.

And later in my career, I served as a medical expert in malpractice cases.

What I've learned is that lawsuits are not merely legal events.

They're safety events.

And understanding that may help you become one of the few advisors physicians truly trust.

At this point you might be thinking:

“Dr. Vicki, my physician clients tell me everything.

They tell you about taking away the car keys from an aging parent.

They tell you about a teenager struggling with drugs.

They tell you about the brother-in-law who's on his fifth business venture.

They tell you about divorces.

Family conflict.

Burnout.

Career transitions.

So if one of my physician clients was being sued, surely I would know.

Maybe.

But maybe not.

Here's why.

When physicians are sued, they're often advised by their malpractice carrier and defense attorneys to be extremely careful about discussing the case.

The goal is understandable.

The legal team wants to protect the physician and the case.

But there can be an unintended consequence.

Isolation.

The physician suddenly finds themselves navigating one of the most frightening experiences of their professional life while feeling unable to talk about it.

You may have physician clients who are being sued right now.

And you don't know it.

You may see the consequences without knowing the cause.

The physician who suddenly becomes withdrawn.

The physician who stops returning calls.

The physician who seems distracted.

The physician who becomes unusually concerned about money, asset protection, or retirement.

You may be observing the effects of a lawsuit without knowing a lawsuit exists.

And that's one reason advisors need to understand what physicians experience during litigation.

Not so you can become a lawyer.

So you can become a better listener.

Let me take you back.

I was a surgical resident.

My husband and I were sitting at our kitchen table eating dinner.

We noticed a car back into the driveway.

The engine stayed running.

A man walked to the front door.

My husband answered.

The visitor asked for me.

Then he handed me an envelope and said four words I'll never forget.

"You've been served."

I took the envelope back to the kitchen table.

I opened it.

Honestly, I didn't understand what I was reading.

I handed the papers to my husband.

As he read them, I watched his face change.

The lawsuit named:

Vicki Rackner, MD and her marital community.

Suddenly this wasn't happening to me.

It was happening to us.

For the rest of the weekend we lived with one question.

What if?

What if I lose?

What if we lose?

What if everything we've worked for is at risk?

Eventually I was dismissed from that lawsuit.

Years later I was sued again.

That lawsuit lasted three years.

I ultimately prevailed.

And afterward my attorney said something I've never forgotten.

"Even when you win, you lose."

At first I thought he was wrong.

Later I realized he was absolutely right.

Because even though I won, the lawsuit changed me.

It affected how I viewed patients.

It affected how I viewed risk.

And it affected how safe I felt practicing medicine.

Before we go further, let's talk briefly about how malpractice lawsuits work.

Many people think a bad outcome equals malpractice.

It doesn't.

A malpractice lawsuit generally requires four elements:

Duty.

A breach of the standard of care.

Harm.

And causation.

The plaintiff must prove that the harm was caused by the alleged breach.

That's important because one of the biggest lessons I learned as both a defendant and an expert witness is this:

Being sued does not mean you're a bad doctor.

I had to remind myself of that over and over.

Good doctors get sued.

Excellent doctors get sued.

Careful doctors get sued.

Now here's something else advisors should understand.

Malpractice isn't the only source of liability physicians face.

Doctors think malpractice.

Advisors should think liability.

Employment claims.

Business disputes.

Automobile liability.

Premises liability.

Cybersecurity breaches.

Partnership conflicts.

Many physicians spend years preparing for the lawsuit they fear and almost no time preparing for the lawsuit they never see coming.

But here's where things get really interesting.

Why do patients sue?

The classic research identified four common reasons.

Patients want:

An explanation.

Accountability.

Compensation.

And reassurance that the same thing won't happen to someone else.

Notice what's missing.

Most patients don't begin with:

"I want money."

They begin with:

"What happened?"

One of the most meaningful experiences I had as a medical expert taught me something I'll never forget about why patients sue.

I was asked to review the records of a woman with advanced gallbladder cancer.

She believed there had been a delay in diagnosis and wanted to sue her medical team.

I reviewed the records carefully.

I didn't find a violation of the standard of care.

In my opinion, this was one of those heartbreaking situations where bad things happen despite appropriate medical care.

The attorney later told me that when this person learned she did not have a case, she was crestfallen.

Why?

Because she said:

"Now I'll never have a chance to tell my story and learn from my doctors exactly what happened and why."

So I made an offer.

I would come meet with her.

I brought my anatomy book and my surgical atlas.

I sat down and listened to her story.

Then I showed her exactly what had happened medically.

I answered her questions.

I explained what we knew and what we didn't know.

Most importantly, I listened.

At the end of our conversation she said something I'll never forget.

She said:

"Thank you. Now I can die in peace."

That experience changed me.

Patients don't always sue because they want money.

Many want to understand.

Many want answers.

Many want acknowledgement.

Many simply want to be heard.

And if you're a financial advisor, that should sound familiar.

Clients often don't leave because of performance.

They leave because they don't feel understood.

They don't feel heard.

Now let's talk about what doctors are really afraid of.

They're afraid of being publicly called a bad doctor.

They're afraid of losing everything.

They're afraid they aren't as protected as they think they are.

They're afraid of what they don't know.

They're afraid of losing control.

They're afraid of long-term consequences.

Credentialing.

Hospital privileges.

Future employment.

The National Practitioner Data Bank.

Medicine is not just what physicians do.

It's who they are.

A malpractice lawsuit doesn't simply threaten assets.

It threatens identity.

This morning I taught this material to a group of advisors.

One advisor made an observation that changed my thinking.

He said:

"People are happy to talk about being sued because somebody fell at their Airbnb."

He's right.

Those lawsuits get discussed.

But the lawsuits that really affect people often don't.

Why?

Because they're identity threats.

Nobody says:

You're a bad Airbnb owner.

A malpractice lawsuit says:

You're a bad doctor.

And that hits differently.

As the discussion continued, advisors started talking about client complaints.

Compliance issues.

Regulatory investigations.

The room lit up.

Because they realized they have their own version of malpractice.

One of my private coaching clients experienced PTSD-like symptoms after a client complaint.

The complaint was eventually resolved.

But the emotional impact lingered.

One of the most helpful recommendations I made was that she work with a trauma therapist.

She did.

And it helped tremendously.

The events were different.

The emotional experience was remarkably similar.

And that brings me to perhaps the most valuable lesson my lawsuit taught me.

Client selection matters.

After my lawsuit I became more selective about patients.

I noticed a pattern.

Some people create conflict wherever they go.

They criticize previous physicians.

They criticize employers.

They criticize family members.

They criticize everyone.

Eventually I realized:

If someone bad mouths other people, it's only a matter of time before you join the naughty list.

The advisors immediately understood.

Because they've seen the same thing in their businesses.

How many future complaints could be avoided by better client selection?

Now let's talk about advisor opportunities.

First, help physicians build moats around their castles.

Help them understand the difference between insurance, asset protection, and wealth building.

Second, dispel protection myths.

Many physicians assume they're protected when they aren't.

Third, help them prepare before a crisis.

And finally, create community.

After my lawsuit, I sought therapy.

My psychiatrist happened to have several physician patients who were also being sued.

She noticed something fascinating.

The secrecy surrounding litigation was creating shame.

Doctors were suffering alone.

Her solution was brilliant.

She formed a consulting group.

We each paid one another one dollar.

One dollar.

Now we had a safe place to talk.

We weren't discussing legal strategy.

We were discussing the human experience of being sued.

We discovered we weren't alone.

I eventually named it The One Dollar Consulting Club.

Think about the opportunity.

Physicians are often told what they cannot do.

Don't discuss the case.

Don't discuss the deposition.

Don't discuss the strategy.

What they're rarely told is where they CAN safely process the experience.

That may be one of the most overlooked opportunities available to advisors.

Because the advisor opportunity isn't lawsuits.

The advisor opportunity is loneliness.

It's isolation.

It's helping physicians feel understood.

If you'd like to learn more practical ways to engage doctors around the concerns they rarely discuss, our next Get More Doctor Clients Immersion will be held June 24th through June 26th.

We'll dive deeply into physician psychology, physician communication, physician decision-making, and the hidden opportunities that help advisors become the professionals doctors trust and tell their friends about.

Until next time, remember this:

When a physician talks about money, they may actually be talking about safety.

And sometimes the most valuable thing an advisor can provide isn't financial advice.

It's a safe place for a physician to stop carrying the burden alone.