Some people talk about health literacy like it’s something out there. Something that’s big, immutable, remote. I don’t have time for that. And neither do you. Health literacy is real. It’s not new. And it happens nearly everywhere, every day, with everyone. Still, concrete examples of what you can do about health literacy are hard […]
This may change the way you think about patient education
You’ve seen me talking about patient education quite a bit around here, on the podcasts and in the articles. And sure, maybe you have a bunch of past CMEs on patient education cluttering up your cloud storage right now. It’s kind of the modern equivalent of the dusty binders on the shelf. I’m not immune. […]
3 communication hints for hotspotting teams
Hotspotting is hot! I have had friends on hotspotting teams telling me about it for some time now. Certainly there are other terms for the process of using claims data to identify those patients who frequently use healthcare systems, but are poorly served by them. It’s probably happening in a health system near you. Whatever […]
“Are we using technical terms that are not appropriate for any patient?”
“Are we using technical terms? That are not appropriate for any patient?” This was a physician group administrator talking with me on the phone. This group had reached out to me, and I was asking about the problems they were facing. This was one of the first things the administrator said. I hear versions of […]
Connect with patients who don’t talk like you do
“I want to help these moms talk to their babies,” the physician told me. “Who? What do you mean?” I asked. She gave me a quick overview of a study she’d learned about: “There was a recorder that transcribed the number of words and type of words that they used – more educated people—[there was] […]
A quick breakdown of some health literacy basics
“When I say ‘health literacy,’ what does that mean to you?” I asked 4 physicians this question. I got 4 very different answers. And all of them were ‘right.’ As health professionals, you care about health literacy. I know this because when I’ve done in-person talks, nothing has drawn more attention and put more butts […]
