A recent study in Medical Care about Horizon BCBS of New Jersey’s Medical Home pilot reminded me of the expression a “house does not make a home.” Or in this case how building a medical house to the spec (as laid out by 3rd parties like NCQA and JACHO) is not the same as […]
“Patients are, in fact, overly patient; they put up with unnecessary discomforts and grant their doctors the benefit of every doubt, until deficiencies in care are too manifest to be overlooked. Generally speaking, one can assume that the quality of care is, actually, worse than surveys of patient satisfaction would seem to show. Patients need […]
People are forever telling me that I am wasting my talking to providers about the need to improve their patient communication skills. Naysayers typically cite one of the following reasons for why things will never change: Reason 1 – Every physician thinks they already have good patient communication skills. Reason 2 – Physicians don’t have […]
Sometimes I come across a post that I absolutely must share… such is the case with this re-print of a post by Rob Lamberts, MD, a primary care physician practicing “somewhere in the southeastern United States.” He blogs regularly at More Musings (of a Distractible Kind), where this post first appeared. “Patient engagement.” What is […]
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 care” when they routinely engage their patients in shared decision-making (SDM). In theory, shared decision-making (aka […]
A guest post by Aanand D. Naik, MD - Chief, Education and Training Core in Health Services Research at Department of Veterans Affairs, Michael E. DeBakey VAMC and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Houston, Texas. Reposted from the Blog GeriPal Improving the health outcomes of older adults with multiple chronic morbidities […]
Not long ago Nick Dawson, a friend and fellow blogger, paid me the compliment of saying I had inspired a post of his. Well Nick now you have inspired me…and this post is the result. Regarding the February Health Affairs edition on Patient Engagement the and follow-on Washington D.C. briefing, Nick writes: Personally, I was […]
This guest post was written by Vicki Whiting, Ph.D., MBA is a Professor of Management at Westminster College, and an Award-Winning Author of the health care advocacy book, “In Pain We Trust.” Doctors interrupt patients 18 seconds into an office visit, on average. Given this fact, patients who seek to maximize their healthcare must learn […]
We have all seen them. You know…those charts showing us how satisfied patients are with the way their doctors communicate. Did your doctor listen to you? Did you doctor explain things in a way you could understand? Funny thing about these charts, whether they be for hospitals or doctor’s offices, 1) they never seem to […]
Hint: They Aren’t As Good As Your HCAHPS Scores Suggest Now that over 50% of physicians are employed by hospitals, this is a question that should be on the minds of progressive hospital executive teams. With good reason. Patient-reported outcomes, including satisfaction and loyalty, are going to play an increasing role in determining how much […]