Perhaps the most fundamental principle of “patient-centered care” is for clinicians to understand the patient’s perspective regarding key aspects of a care episode. Here’s a real life example that just happened to my wife and I...
We all play many roles in life .... spouse, employee, sibling, parent, friend, customer, and so on. Each of these roles brings with it its' own unique set of expectations (self-imposed as well as externally imposed - can you say spouse) for how we are supposed to...
Readers of Mind the Gap, I apologize for my absence in recent months. As you will see from my latest post, I have been away with my wife as she is dealing with a serious recurrence of her lung cancer. Our recent experiences continue to underscore the need for...
I recently came across an interview with Stephen Beck, MD, Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) at Catholic Health Partners. Dr. Beck was being interviewed on the subject of patient portals and patient engagement. Here’s a quote from that interview. “While we have...
A lot of physicians are having problems meeting Meaningful Use Stage 2, particularly the requirement which calls for 5% of patients to view/download/or transmit their online, personal health information. According to CMS and ONC, only 1 percent of eligible providers...
Some physicians have the mistaken impression that being "patient-centered" is synonymous with giving patients whatever they want whether they need it or not. If the patient wants an MRI they get one. If they want a new drug they saw advertised on TV, their doctor...
I was the keynote speaker recently at a national Patient Engagement Symposium I opened my presentation by asking the audience how many considered themselves to be engaged in their health. You know…just a show of hands. Everyone in the room appeared to put their...
People always ask me how I got started with my work in physician-patient communications. Like so many people, I had a story that I felt needed to be told. Much of my inspiration over the course of the last five years of writing Mind the Gap have come from my wife...