When it comes to delivering truly patient-centered care…how are providers supposed to know when they have “arrived”? According to Michael Berry, MD, President of the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation, providers will know they have achieved the “pinnacle of...
Patient-Centered Communication Blog
The 10 Commandments of Patient Engagement For Clinicians – No Health IT Required
As a patient, care giver, researcher and a human being, here 's my "take" on what physicians and hospitals, and all the entities that work with them like health plans, ACOs , etc. need to do to effectively increase patient engagement in 2013 and beyond. Act like you...
What Are Your Personal Health Goals? Have You Ever Shared Them With Your Doctor? Has Your Doctor Ever Asked You What Yours Are?
Face it. We all have personal health goals. We may not share our personal health goals with family of friends like we do our financial or professional goals, but we all still have them. I for example aspire to the following personal health goals: To defy the...
Would Increased Reimbursement And Longer Visits Improve Physician-Patient Communications?
In a word...no. It has been said that a physician’s patient communication skills are just as important as their clinical knowledge. After all, it is only by “talking to and listening patients” that physicians are able to accurately diagnose and treat their...
Patient Engagement Is A Physician-Patient Communication Challenge…Not A Health Information Technology Challenge
There is no app for engaging patients in their own health care absent a strong doctor-patient relationship. Physicians, hospitals and other providers are being misled by industry pundits claiming that more health information technology (as in EMRs, PHRs, Smart Phone...
Patient Engagement – Here’s Why It’s So Hard For Health Care Providers
Three Reasons Why Doctors Need To Spend More Time Talking and Listening To Their Patients
Since most physicians probably will not be able to get beyond the first couple of lines of this post without yelling at the monitor...I will get to the 3 reasons…and if you stick with me …I’ll present my case for why they are so important. Your visits will be more...
Patient-Centered Communications – Does “Lack of Time” Justify Physician Reluctance To Adopt It?
I talk with lot of physicians about the need to improve the quality of communications between physicians and patients. Regular followers of my work will know that I am an advocate for the adoption of patient-centered communication skills by the physician and...
Three Reasons Why Patients Think Doctors Need To Be Better Listeners
A recent qualitative study (structured interviews) of patients conducted at McGill University School of Medicine underscores the importance of listening in physician-patient interactions. In this study, patients were asked to identify the qualities of a good...