Improve communication at your healthcare system: 3 tips

More than 80% of healthcare quality experts say improving communication between patients and healthcare staff is the number one factor in improving the patient experience, according to a recent survey by ASQ, the global network of quality improvement professionals. Unfortunately, the reality is that the number one outcome of communication in many healthcare settings is miscommunication. 

Read: The growing importance of patient satisfaction and first call resolution

Why is this the case? Too often, the conversation between a healthcare provider and patient is simply one-way communication (monologue) versus two-way communication (dialogue).  The doctor communicates the diagnosis and treatment options while the patient and family members simply listen.  The doctor forgets (or simply doesn’t have time) to ask clarifying questions to ensure that the patient successfully understands the message. 

Michael O'TooleI witnessed this scenario many times between my father and many of his healthcare providers.  Both of us watched and heard the healthcare provider deliver the same message, yet we both had completely different understandings of what was said after the healthcare provider walked away. 

Asking clarifying questions and engaging in two-way communication does help.  For example, after one pharmacist reviewed all of my father's transplant medications and guidelines with us, the pharmacist asked a clarifying question: “So tell me how you would find the correct dosage of a particular medication.”  My father quickly replied with, “Look at the prescription label.”  The pharmacist politely reminded him what he had just stated moments earlier, “Always look at the patient portal for the correct medication dosages as transplant medication doses change frequently.”

Asking clarifying questions typically aids in better quality outcomes and an overall better patient experience.  However, it can backfire.  For example, a resident walked into my father’s room a few weeks after his lung transplant surgery and asked him if he had ever been on oxygen.  My dad replied jokingly, “Well, it wasn’t a cosmetic lung transplant.”  Although comical, my dad was shocked that a doctor would walk into his room without reading his medical chart.  There were countless other examples of poor communication between healthcare staff and my father.

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