Negotiation skills for physicians

As stakeholders vie for increasingly limited resources in health care, physicians would be well advised to hone their skills of negotiation. Negotiation is defined as a strategy to resolve a divergence of interests, be they real or perceived, where common interests also exist. Negotiation requires effective communication of goals, needs, and wants. The “basic needs” model of negotiation is best suited to the current health care environment. In this model, negotiator must to be able to identify their needs in the negotiation, establish their best alternative to a negotiated agreement, and identify their strategies and tactics for the negotiation.