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How to Handle Difficult Patient Conversations

Katie Moyer

on

Patient Education

Patient education plays a critical role in easing tough medical situations

One of the hardest parts of a doctor’s job is telling patients something they do not want to hear. That could mean informing patients that you will not prescribe the opioids they have requested, or that the reason they are not getting better is because they are not complying with treatment recommendations, or that they are facing permanent vision loss. Delivering bad news is never easy. But there are some things you can do to help make difficult conversations with patients go more smoothly.Read More

Is Your Patient Education Failing Your Female Patients?

Katie Moyer

on

Patient Education

More women than men have eye disease, including age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma. These numbers will only continue to increase, according to a study by the organization Prevent Blindness. As eye doctors know, prevention and early detection are crucial to lessening the effects of these diseases that can steal patients’ vision.Read More

Why Non-Physician Providers Are More Important Than Ever

Katie Moyer

on

Patient Engagement, Practice Management

With more doctors nearing retirement and newer doctors increasingly choosing nonclinical careers, many medical practices are looking to non-physician providers (NPPs) to fill the gaps. But there’s another reason to consider hiring “physician extenders” like nurse practitioners and physician assistants: evidence shows they can make a significant difference in improving your patients’ experience—and reduce costs. Here’s how.Read More

How Open Doctors’ Notes Are Increasing Patient Engagement

Katie Moyer

on

Patient Engagement

There’s a movement underway in health care. Some would even call it a revolution. Patient engagement, doctor-patient communication, and shared decision-making are growing by leaps and bounds, driven largely by technology. Gone are the days when doctors scribbled private and incomprehensible notes in medical charts, inaccessible to patients. Now, the OpenNotes movement is ushering in a new era of transparency in medicine, to the benefit of doctors and patients alike.

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The Downside of Patient Satisfaction Surveys

Katie Moyer

on

Patient Engagement, Practice Management

In a previous post, we talked about how patient satisfaction surveys can help health care providers improve. As we discussed, certain factors are well within doctors’ control—such as whether they listen and show respect to patients, and if they explain things in a way that’s easy for patients to understand.Read More

Tips for Educating Young Patients and Their Parents

Katie Moyer

on

Patient Education

Good doctor-patient communication is the cornerstone of high-quality health care. Everything from establishing trust to ensuring positive surgical outcomes hinges on how well providers and patients communicate. For doctors of pediatric patients, however, there are some unique challenges. Talking to parents of patients brings with it issues of health literacy, culture, and privacy. Here’s a look at some of the issues doctors who treat children and teens face, and how a thoughtful approach to patient education can help.
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