Your patients may have unmet needs: 4 questions to ask

A deeper look into the way your patients experience care delivery can provide a new perspective into how your team coordinates care from the waiting room to the exam room to the parking lot. Learn four simple, physician-authored questions you can ask your patients to find out if your practice is meeting their needs. A new module from the AMA’s STEPS Forward™ collection, written by physicians from the Stanford University School of Medicine, shows you how to analyze your patient population’s clinical needs to build an intensive primary care practice. Check out the “STEPS in practice” section of the module to see how it’s working at Stanford. Though the module is designed to build an intensive primary care practice, knowing the care delivery experience and needs of your patients can help any practice type. Engaging patients and asking them these four questions may give your practice a better understanding of opportunities to improve your care process: What is the worst thing about your health situation? What in your life helps to make the situation better? What does medical care do that helps make the situation better? What does medical care do that doesn’t help your situation or makes it worse? Once you’ve gathered your patients’ answers to these questions, you will have a clearer picture of what kind of changes your practice can make to better meet their needs. Taking a comprehensive approach to your patients’ needs For physici...
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news