You're struggling to connect with your patients. What can you do to improve communication?

In addressing challenges with patient connection, the physician may consider implementing strategies aimed at fostering effective communication. Active listening becomes a pivotal tool, allowing the physician to attentively understand patients' concerns and engage in meaningful dialogues. By demonstrating a genuine interest in patients' perspectives and experiences, the physician can establish a foundation of trust, contributing to improved overall communication. Moreover, clear and empathetic communication plays a crucial role. The physician should strive to convey medical information in a straightforward manner, avoiding jargon and ensuring that patients comprehend their diagnoses and treatment plans.

Communicating with patients is based on empathy - genuine care born out of being truly present in the moment. Frequently, we get accustomed to seeing patients as another list of tasks to complete delaying our time to go home. The patient you see may be the twentieth for you, but you are likely the first physician for them. They should be treated accordingly. Connect with them. Begin by introducing yourself, concisely explain your role and responsibility, ask them about something non-medical (kids, employment, where they live) to connect. Then, ease into the medical condition for which they are admitted. Explain the rationale and results of tests, and always keep them informed of the management plan, including them in decisions.

As a dentist, - It is important to listen carefully to your patients. - Show you are interested and understand by nodding and smiling. - Don't interrupt or judge. - Ask questions to learn more about their concerns. - This builds trust and helps you provide better dental care.

According to research, doctors only spend 11 seconds on average listening to patients before interrupting them. Conversely, 87% of doctors say that they are great at listening to patients. Start your history-taking with an open-ended question, and then just simply let your patient speak...

Over the years, I’ve learned to listen without interruption. Feeling heard is imperative to being able to respond specifically to your patients needs. It’s also important not to micromanage goals too strictly; but, to keep in mind pt’s need flexibility sometimes based on their current circumstances. Celebrate the progress/ success and suggest areas that need improvement for the future with a positive attitude.

In my experience, using common imagery of everyday items to describe a process or a procedure helps present a clear understanding. Asking them to repeat back what is their understanding, shows if your explanation resonates and increased understanding.

As a cardiologist, refining patient communication is important. Practice active listening, ensuring patients feel heard and understood. We should cultivate empathy by acknowledging their concerns and demonstrating genuine care. It's important to utilize clear language and avoid medical jargon. I use technology to enhance patients understanding of their medical conditions.

Entendo que adequar a linguagem ao paciente é essencial para que tenhamos uma comunicação clara e efetiva. A responsabilidade pela transmissão da informação é sempre daquele do profissional, que deve ter em mente que o "vocabulário em saúde", vulgo "mediques", não faz parte do cotidiano das pessoas, assim como grande parte da teoria. Nesse aspecto, o uso de ilustrações e/ou modelos pode auxiliar a explicar e exemplificar tópicos que demandem algum conhecimento anatômico prévio.

Para mejorar la comunicación en el ámbito médico, es esencial escuchar activamente tanto a pacientes como a profesionales de la salud. Esto significa no solo escuchar, sino también comprender y valorar las necesidades y perspectivas de cada persona involucrada. Al priorizar esta interacción empática y bidireccional, se fortalece la relación médico-paciente, se promueve una toma de decisiones compartida y se mejora la calidad de la atención médica. En resumen, escuchar atentamente es clave para una comunicación efectiva y una atención centrada en el paciente.

The first thing to consider here is if there are any communication barriers (e.g. different languages are spoken, for which we will need the support of a medical translator). Secondly, we should always avoid the use of jargon or complex medical terminology. Health literacy principles dictate that all communication (verbal and otherwise) should be delivered at the 6th grade level. Similarly, approximately 10% of the US population can't read and write.

Sharing common experiences is invaluable to connect emotionally with patients. It validates their experience and demonstrates active empathy.

In healthcare, especially within cardiology, displaying empathy is paramount. Understanding and validating patients' emotions are essential components. Equally vital is keeping patients well-informed about their current condition and forthcoming proceedings. This practice not only fosters a supportive environment but also serves to enhance the doctor-patient relationship significantly.

Thank you for sharing this Dr. Singareddi. It's also amazing the power of rapport building, mirroring and linguistic matching.

There is a difference between showing compassion and understanding and empathy per se. One can only truly be empathetic if they have been in the same, or very similar, situation to the patient or their family member. Personal feelings, or book knowledge doesn't necessarily transfer - many a time I have seen patients get upset or even mad because a provider has pretended that they know what they are going through when they really do not.

Empathy is one of the foremost and primary keys to improving the patient-physician relationship quality. Whenever you would like to give a piece of advice first you must put yourself into the other one's shoes. You should try to actively listen, and understand your patient's doubts or anxiety that he's going through. Then you shall be able to give your own opinion about the matter in question. The more your personal experience is elaborated on in your words, the more your patients feel closer to you and follow your advice.

I think of every patient as a teammate in health and care. This framing and language of patient teammates has helped patients to understand that I am on their team. This team based approach to symptom understanding and care plan co-design with each patient teammate and their family team members helps with patient and family engagement, bidirectional open communication, and follow through on care plans together as a team.

As a careful observer of doctor/patient relationships, partnership with partnering with patients makes them feel seen and heard. How can I help you think through this information? What can we do together to make this an easier choice? What support do you need to make this work? This approach is particularly helpful around lifestyle choices, but can apply to treatment decisions as well.

Collaborating with patients at this level will require the majority of providers to re-think how they've been trained to work with patients. Especially, in this post-Covid era. Providers must view patients as individuals and understand the importance of being intentional in making the necessary time to implement these collaboration tools, the time to follow-up, and the time to provide necessary resources and referrals.

Patient autonomy is huge - after all, patient non-compliance/non-adherence is real. When asked for their opinion, patients feel empowered and more in-control of their overall health. I am not personally trained in the use of motivational interviewing but I have colleagues that are. Additionally, I have seen motivational interviewing used many a time in clinical practice, always with positive effects.

Collaboration entails engaging patients in the decision-making process and honoring their autonomy and values. It also involves empowering patients to actively participate in their care and self-management. Utilize collaborative approaches such as shared decision-making tools like pros and cons lists, decision aids, or goal-setting worksheets. Implement motivational interviewing techniques, including affirming, reflecting, summarizing, and eliciting change talk, to further enhance collaboration with your patients.

Ask for Patient Input: Regularly ask patients how you can improve communication. Patient Surveys: Use surveys to gather feedback on your communication style and effectiveness. Act on Feedback: Make changes based on the feedback you receive.

I would argue that seeking feedback on your communication style/deficits should be the first, not the fifth step to effective communication. It is important to be open to both negative/constructive feedback as well as positive. My preference is to ask for feedback face-to-face, but I realise that this is not a perfect methodology. Be sure to analyse and truly reflect on the feedback that you recieve, and use it to change your behaviors and goal set going forward.

Verschiedene Methoden, wie zum Beispiel Umfragen, Fragebögen oder Fokusgruppen, können genutzt werden, um die Zufriedenheit, das Verständnis und die Präferenzen meiner Patienten zu erfassen. Alternativ können Peer-Beobachtung, Coaching oder Mentoring eingesetzt werden, um meine Stärken zu erkennen und identifizieren zu können, an welchen Bereichen noch Verbesserungsbedarf besteht. Diese verschiedenen Feedback-Methoden ermöglichen es mir, ein umfassendes Bild meiner Kommunikationsfähigkeiten zu erhalten und gezielt an den Bereichen zu arbeiten, in denen ich mich verbessern möchte. Durch die regelmäßige Einholung von Feedback kann ich meine Fortschritte überwachen und sicherstellen, dass ich kontinuierlich an meiner Kommunikation arbeite.

Utilize real-time patient satisfaction surveys or feedback forms integrated into digital platforms to gather continuous input on communication effectiveness and identify areas for improvement promptly.

Siempre es bueno tener retroalimentación sobre nuestro actuar, podemos realizar un ejercicio rápido al final de nuestra entrevista con los pacientes, para que nos comenten lo que piensan y, la experiencia que tuvieron en nuestra oficina; lo que nos permite estar en mejora continua y conlleva a tener cada vez una mejor atención médica.

I think that listening and expressing empathy are two of the most important characteristics that can lead to better communication. Making a connection is so important. Patients are always dealing with some issue we know nothing about and they remember how our interactions make them feel.

Aprender com os outros é uma forma de aprendizagem social. O cérebro constrói novas associações a partir da interação e observação de outras pessoas. Um exemplo clássico é ver alguém cometer um erro e não cometê-lo no futuro.

Observe Colleagues: Watch how experienced colleagues communicate with patients. Professional Development: Attend workshops or training sessions on patient communication. Mentorship: Seek a mentor in your field who is known for excellent patient communication.

Improve technology in rural and remote areas. Improve older patients access to GPs by improving wifi in their homes with direct link into their doctors surgeries if needed, and QAS in an emergency!

Establish peer learning groups or interdisciplinary case discussions within your healthcare setting to exchange communication strategies and learn from diverse perspectives and experiences.

Clinicians must also collaborate with the care team to optimize clinical workflows, create efficiencies and more value for the patient/family. Face-to-face time with the patient/family allows more opportunities to actively listen and for important quality time to build the patient-provider relationship. Leveraging Lean Six Sigma or other tools may support in removing “pebbles in the shoes” in the clinician’s daily workflows. This may include optimizing use of non-physician team members, such as advanced practice providers, medical assistants and assigning appropriate tasks to care team members. Also, working with IT and EHR colleagues to reduce the documentation burden and create value for patients and families.

Establishing a connection with patients is crucial, as almost 40% of new patients come from existing ones. Patient access to the physician's office and services is the cornerstone of this relationship. It's essential to consider who answers the phone, how quickly they do so, and how emergencies are addressed. Additionally, it's critical to examine what happens to walk-in patients. Are they turned away due to insurance? Addressing concerns of the patient and service recovery as soon as possible is essential. It is the first 15 seconds of the doctor's interaction with the patient that can help to establish trust and build a better relationship. It's also essential to speak to patients at their level and involve family members if necessary.

Effective communication is key in patient care. People absorb and process information in different ways and through various mechanisms. Having options to communicate the same message via different formats can facilitate effective communication. Verbal, written and visual (pictures, diagrams, video) are all communication tools and expanding the mechanisms of communication can make a difference.

Here are two key things that are not mentioned in the article. Call the patient 24 hours after they are home recovering from the procedure. Check in on the patient. On any follow up visit have 3 items of personal interest to follow up with patient i.e. child graduating, child’s sport, new home etc.

I often use every day analogies to explain physiology, pathology and /or basic pharmacology of medications. Never underestimate the impact of a patient/parent’s understanding in forging partnership, building trust and improving communication as a whole.