An OB-GYN and I were talking about a recent presentation she’d seen from a leader in her field. I heard in her voice how much she’d enjoyed the presentation, and we spent some significant time talking about it. She was encouraged by this physician’s thoughtful comments on some of the complexities in physician/patient communication. She […]
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25 different ways to elicit important information
I recently heard a Family Practice Physician comment on the importance of follow-up questions. He mentioned how it’s easy to ask a patient, “Do you smoke?” and if their answer is “no,” to move on to the next issue. He said providers were “missing opportunities for follow up questions,” even though the patient had said […]
“I can’t follow my patient home:” how context matters in health communication & education
I was coaching a physician on making his patient education more effective. He was understandably frustrated, as many physicians are, over the short amount of time he has with each patient. We talked about the many constraints around patient education. His voice raised and he sounded exasperated: “I can’t follow my patient home!” There are […]
From pee-pee, to pee, to urine: the work that words do in health
I was talking with a nurse educator about the uncertainty and difficulties nursing students can face as they learn the specialized language of medicine. She said, “Because this is a different language. It’s very difficult for a student to come in and talk ‘urination.’ They’re used to saying ‘pee.’ And yet their patients aren’t going […]
So, your organization is doing unconscious bias training? Three things to consider
Just over two weeks ago, I was giving a talk at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health about addressing unconscious bias in our language. At the end, one of the questions I received from a participant was: “It sometimes takes a lifetime to create those biases, that sometimes become innate. How do [we] unlearn […]
Upgrade your patient education. Fast. Here. Now.
Partners, I’m proud to announce – the Effective Patient Education Audiobook Bundle This bundle will make your life easier. And it might change the way you think about patient education. You see many patients in a day and have a high level of complexity to deal with. You want patients to trust you, hear […]