Physician-Patient Communication

Communication in the healthcare field may be a little different for some people. Healthcare requires the communication to have a purpose, and that purpose is revolved around a person’s needs. A patient with good staff communication during

Effective communication is one of the utmost characteristics of a high-quality health care model that responds to the existing needs of the general population. However, communication may sometimes be taken for granted and therefore fail to relay important information between health care providers within the interprofessional team. In today’s health care setting, communication is particularly challenging due to the limited time constrain in the workplace. In spite of the utilization of existing charts and documentation, errors are made. In this paper, a real life clinical scenario is discussed which involved a breakdown of

In a typical physician-patient relationship, the physician usually agrees to diagnose and treat the patient according to the standards of accepting medical practice and to continue doing so until the termination of treatment.

A patient will always benefit from the combined knowledge and expertise of several professionals working towards a common goal. This belief has played a key role in the biomedical model of healthcare (Yuill, Crinson and Duncan, 2010) slowly evolving to encompass more holistic models: including the biopsychosocial model (McInerney, S 2016). It is wrong to assume that a single health worker can solely manage the often complex needs of a patient. Since this is the case, effective cross-departmental communication is necessary to ensure the best possible care for a wide-range of service users. Communication, in many ways, seems to be the key to good patient care: it is used to obtain informed consent, it offers dignity and respect to patients and it can flag up possible concerns about a patient early

How we communicate effects everything we do. Whether talking to patients and family members, speaking in a team meeting, or talking with our children’s teacher at a conference, communication is how we learn information, teach information and express our concerns. With this paper I will discuss; the definitions of healthcare communication, the relevancy of effective personal healthcare communication with other healthcare professionals, clients, and patients, the relevancy of effective professional healthcare

According to Barry (2014), the Joint Commission has acknowledged the severity of complications associated with communication mistakes, for as much as 70% of adverse medical events, 75% of which lead to patient death, are a result of communication breakdowns. Barry (2014) also states that instances of miscommunication cause over two-thirds of adverse effects among patients. As noted by Malekzadeh, Mazluom, Etezadi, and Alireza (2013), as much as 69% of medical errors are preventable in nature and the fact that these issues still plague the field of healthcare in the 21st century is quite perplexing. Therefore, it is the goal of this charter to identify means and ways in which hand-off discrepancies may be minimized and further eliminated, by implementing a tool that will drastically decrease the percentage of handoff errors resulting from a breakdown of communication.

Upon close examination, and the study of materials and data gathered, it was established that the breakdown of communication remains to be the main culprit in handoff deviations. One survey concluded that up to 59% of all participants had, at least, one patient who suffered from medical errors as a result of an ineffective handoff report (Barry, 2014). Many efforts are being expended to counter these instances; nevertheless, it seems that many of these issues persist to this date. Additionally, as stated above, over 70% of all adverse effects have to do with communication errors; a recent study indicates that approximately only 43.9% of all pertinent information gets relayed accurately to the care unit and that as much as 43% of all malpractice

Communicating for effective patient care is essential to developing trust

She also told me her perception of how she is treated in healthcare in America. She says she does not receive healthcare often—just once a year—however, the times she does go she typically has no issue with how she is treated. (C. Chen, personal communication, November 10, 2017) The healthcare professionals that treat her normally follow how she wants to receive healthcare in terms of respect and the ability of patient autonomy. She is not sure if she receives the same type of treatment as other patients since her visits are held privately, however, her experience has been overall positive. (C. Chen, personal communication, November 10, 2017) The only problem that has occurred was with her daughter when a doctor talked about Chinese culture

Through effective communication, the health needs of patients can be addressed in a more efficient, and effective manner, this will lead to a reduction in patients’ fears and stress. Effective communication allows medical personnel in their field of specialty to work interdependently ensuring that the correct approach and treatments are administered. In the medical environment, effective communication is geared toward enhancing patients’ satisfaction, and improving health. It allows information to be transmitted with clarity, and goals tailored patient specific. Patients will understand the plan of care, feel empowered, and be willing to comply with treatment and medication regimen. Informed patients will make better choices resulting in improved health.

Communication has been defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs” (O’Daniel & Rosenstein, 2008). All of these communication techniques should be used inter-professionally though healthcare. The collaboration between nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals increases the awareness of other professions skills and knowledge. This leads to improved communication and decision making when providing patient care. However, this doesn't always happen due to lack of communication between healthcare professionals. Poor communication between health care providers can also lead to delays in diagnosing a patient, patients receiving the wrong treatment, triggering life threatening adverse events as well as an increase in the time of a patient's hospital stay ("Clinical Communication Framework", 2016). Hierarchy is also one of the reasons why there are miscommunications and communication problems in general. Due to doctors and surgeons being at the top of the hierarchy ladder nurses and paramedics fall further down the ‘ladder’. While some professions feel as if communication is open and that any other profession has the right to speak openly to them, other professions feel the opposite. Professions on the ‘lower end’ tend to feel uncomfortable speaking about problems or concerns that need to be addressed as they may feel intimidated by their colleagues (O’Daniel & Rosenstein, 2008). Over time professions have been thinking less about the hierarchy and are overcoming what once was, however, some individuals still believe in the hierarchy ladder complicating communication methods. On the other hand a patient will always feel safer and in better hands with a team of professionals who are open to communication and work cohesively as one

Therapeutic communication is my preferred method of interacting with patient and I use it daily while working with patient. Communication with a patient can be verbal, written body language, gestures or nonverbal. I attempt to avoid nontherapeutic communication, as I feel giving a false reassurance is of no benefit and asking "why" question, is uncomfortable and can make patient and/or family members defensive. A nursing instructor years ago, taught me not to tell a patient "you will be fine". That is a promise you can not keep, instead I always tell patients "we will take very good care of you".

Effective communication amongst staff and patients is crucial to getting positive results. Issues between staff members are just as likely as issues with patients. Open communication will lead to greater result if approached with an open mind and understanding. As suggested, all healthcare professional and physician should be required to participate in culture and sensitivity courses to build awareness. Living in a highly diverse country requires all health professional to be educated in caring for patients from different

In collaborative medical communication, doctors talk to their patients as if they are peers. The patients are involved in every process; they communicate openly to discuss the patients’ health issues and concerns, and come to mutually satisfying decisions (p. 50). In traditional, provider-centered model of medical communication, there is a high power gap between providers and patients (p.50). The decision is usually decided by the doctors as it was generally understood that since they knew better, it was better to let them decided everything.

Communication is an important tool in providing high quality, safest and cost effective care. Communication prevents costly errors, streamlines patient care to prevent delays, and demonstrates a united front among members of the health care team. According to the Joint Commission, nearly 60 percent of medical errors are a direct result of communication breakdown. Communication breakdown can be caused by many factors. Time is a major factor in communication breakdown. Work environments characterized by high patient acuity and staffing shortages create additional stress that contribute to communication breakdown. Advances in technology to increase quality and efficiency have also a part in communication breakdown (Flicek, 2012). The increasing complex needs of patients, seismic shifts in healthcare systems and explosion of medical knowledge demand for more effective communication. Today’s health care models are focused on maintaining health rather than responding to acute illness. A team-based approach that is centered on close collaboration among all types of providers from across the care continuum brings improved patient outcomes. As a result, to achieve the triple aim of improving quality, enhancing the patient experience and lowering healthcare costs, an improved communication strategy is essential (Deland, Gordan, & Kelly, 2015). Various communication modalities such