Patients and families benefit from strategies that empower them to actively participate with clinicians. The nuance of understanding required to support effective healthcare relationships, however, can be hard to achieve when communication styles make it difficult for clinicians and patients to understand each other. In addition to other stresses, English spoken with regional or foreign […]
Providing patients and family caregivers with understandable health information might seem like common sense, but it’s not as common as you might think – and its impact on care has big implications when it comes to health outcomes and the cost of healthcare. The Institute of Medicine defines health literacy as “the degree to which […]
What do health literacy, health communication, shared decision-making, patient education and patient engagement have in common? They all focus on the individual patient being an essential part of the healthcare system, which is a step in the right direction, given the paternalistic past of healthcare. Too often, these fields are seen as distinct efforts, each […]
In an earlier post, we discussed how patients might feel stupid when faced with a medical crisis. Medical professionals can help patients feel knowledgeable and reverse that feeling, which will increase patient satisfaction and improve the organization’s bottom line. Today, patients are smarter and better informed than ever before. Access to information—reliable or not—is as […]
Editor’s Note: Informed consent is far more than getting a signature on a form. A true informed consent process requires patient engagement and involvement to ensure the best clinical outcome. Here, Dr. Aaron Fink outlines the challenges with regulatory compliance and offers a practical solution for truly engaging with patients in the process. Informed consent […]
Dealing with an illness or injury is overwhelming for patients and families, who must learn all they can about an unfamiliar condition, make treatment decisions, manage medications, and more, all while stressed with the change in health status. My son Zachary was 17 when diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. It was heart-wrenching and often […]
Editor’s Note: This is Part II of Setting the Standard for Engaging and Activating Patients detailing a new standard for communication Dr. Scaletta and his team created to improve patient engagement at every touch point. My healthcare system closed calendar year 2015 on a high note. We trained 7,000 employees and medical staff across our […]