Giving Consumers the Tools and Support They Need to Navigate Our Complex Healthcare System

By CINDI SLATER, MD, FACR As physicians and healthcare leaders, we are already well aware that the majority of patients do not have the information they need to make a medical decision or access to appropriate resources, so we didn’t need to hear more bad news. But that is precisely what new research once again told us this spring when a new study showed that almost half of the time, patients have no idea why they are referred to a GI specialist. While the study probably speaks to many of the communications shortcomings we providers have, across the board our patients often don’t know what care they need, or how to find high-value care.  Last year, my organization commissioned some original research that found that while a growing number of patients are turning to social websites such as YELP, Vitals, and Healthgrades to help them find a “high quality” specialist, the top-ranked physicians on these sites – including GI docs – are seldom the best when we look at real performance data.  Only 2 percent of physicians who showed up as top 10 ranked on the favorite websites also showed up as top performers when examining actual quality metrics. (The results shouldn’t surprise you as bedside manner has little to no correlation with performance metrics such as readmission rates). As providers and health care leaders, we lament that our patients are not better informed or more engaged and yet across the board, we have not given them the tools or resourc...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Patients Physicians Health care leaders Health care technology patient-provider relationship Physician's Responsibilities Source Type: blogs