Patient communication

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hello,

In order to improve patient communication more time needs to be spent listening to their concerns and, as said in one of the linked weekly reading, treating the patient more as a human being than as a patient. This is something that homeopathic and other similar practices seem to do very well. On the business side of things, providers are constantly pressured, and rewarded, for seeing more and more patients in a given time frame to deal with the volume of patients. Are there any strategies that you guys have found helpful in balancing these two factors? Providing effective communication but with a limited time frame.
Thanks

2

The main strategies I use when include asking patients what their main concerns were and listening without interrupting (for at least a few minutes) and facing the patient and making eye contact/reinforcing non-verbal cues (as opposed to looking at / typing into a computer). If they have multiple / complex complaints, it can be helpful to negotiate an agenda for that visit and agreeing to defer certain issues until the next one due to time constraints. When working in the hospital / ER setting I also always make sure to sit down at the patient bedside rather than standing over them.

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