Using digital tools to improve patient communication
I come across many people using the terms social and digital interchangeably. Some doctors are digitally savvy. Yet that does not mean that they are practiced communications experts, or that they have the skills to make the most of today’s digital social tools. I thought this might be a good opportunity to open up this discussion.
Continue reading ...
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 3, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Social media Facebook Primary care Twitter Source Type: blogs
How charisma can improve patient care
By its very nature, medicine involves close personal contact with others. Communication with patients, families, staff and colleagues is essential to success. All physicians have different ways in which they communicate — some more effective than others. The best communicators are able to inspire, engage, and cultivate trust. Everyone is born with different skill sets and communication styles may vary widely.
Continue reading ...
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 3, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Physician Hospital Primary care Surgery Source Type: blogs
TechTool Thursday 042
TechTool review 3D Health by Archie MD on iOS
Website: – iTunes - Website
3D Health provides 3D digital animation videos in order to be able to effectively explain procedures or conditions to your patients
Design and User Interface
It’s ok. But for the cost of the app, I’d expect something a little prettier.
For example, on the iPhone version all the buttons are crushed together at the top. If you actually wanted to share an image with someone you’d need tiny fingers to be able to press the share button. This is a bad design flaw in an app by a well-established company.
The interactive human body section has ...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - November 28, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Tessa Davis Tags: Application eLearning Emergency Medicine Featured Health iOS Reviews TechTool 3D 3D Health Anatomy iphone iPhone App Tech Tool Source Type: blogs
Patient Advocacy Book now available free online !
When you fall ill, you are likely to be scared and confused. While your doctor can provide you with medical care, patients need much more than just prescriptions and pills. You need:Emotional support and hand holdingInformation to understand your disease and to explore different treatment optionsProtection against medical errors and ensure care is being properly coordinatedHelp with filling up forms and claiming reimbursement from the insurance company Help in communicating efficiently with doctors, getting a second opinion and navigating a hospital’s labyrinthine mazeA patient advocate can do all this !A patient a...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - November 17, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: doctor patient communication Patient advocacy patient advocate Source Type: blogs
Five KPIs You Can't Ignore in Your Small Medical Practice
It's tempting to put the business of your small medical practice on the back burner to concentration on patient care. While patient care should always be the first priority of medical staff, you can't ignore key performance indicators that tell you how your practice is faring in financial and regulatory waters.
Daily Charges
In any organization, the sales numbers matter. It's obvious in retail, but many healthcare professionals like to think they are only there to help the patient. While that may be your calling, if you can't pay utility bills, rent, and payroll, there isn't an office to allow you to deliver patient...
Source: EMR EHR Blog for Physicians - October 31, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Shreya Iyer Source Type: blogs
Curve Dental Introduces Curve Connex: New Patient Portal and Appointment Reminder Capabilities
Curve Dental customers now able to provide their patients with convenient online payment capabilities while reducing no-show’s with automated appointment reminders OREM, UT—Today Curve Dental, developers of web-based dental software, introduced a new package of patient communication features called Curve Connex, which includes a patient portal for online payments and an automated appointment reminder system that can help the practice reduce missed appointments. The patient portal is an online extension of the practice wherein patients can make a payment, review current and past statements, view past payment...
Source: Dental Technology Blog - October 28, 2013 Category: Dentists Source Type: blogs
Ward rounds – does style matter?
Over the past few weeks I have had several discussions about the style of ward attending rounds. Medical educators who I respect greatly have argued strongly that they have the best way to do rounds. The more variations that they report, the more I am convinced that we have many ways to skin that cat.
When we started our ward attending round research over 10 years ago, we wanted to discover something about the style of rounds. We discovered a great deal, but nothing about the style of rounds. We learned the characteristics and domains of successful rounds.
Quoting from our recent letter to the editor of JAMA:
We learn...
Source: DB's Medical Rants - October 10, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: rcentor Tags: Medical Rants Source Type: blogs
Email helps doctors and improves care for cancer patients
When we think of healthcare referrals and recommendations, we usually think of a hospital website or social network. As marketers we build relationships, create patient testimonials, work with our referring physicians and peer institutions. But data shows that “old skool” email communication still offers the most benefits.
A decade ago, email was the most powerful communication tool. But today, there are three times as many email accounts as social accounts – combined! Much of the population still access email from their home or work devices – this also includes healthcare professionals.
Physician...
Source: Nicola Ziady - October 6, 2013 Category: Medical Marketing and PR Authors: Nicola Ziady Tags: Healthcare Marketing Source Type: blogs
Patient Informed Consent for the Teaching Hospital "Trainee" Care: Informing Realistic Scenarios
Discussion Blog)
Source: Bioethics Discussion Blog - September 17, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
Coping with odd symptoms?
I recently switched to a new thyroid medication that made my body and mind feel like they were being pressed through the holes in a metal cheese grater. That was the closest I came to describing this odd sensation. I had no burning, sharp pain, or ache. I could not point to a specific part of my body that hurt, nor could I parse out my body from my mind. When someone runs fingernails down a chalkboard, what is it that actually hurts? Your ears, your spine, your mind? This was the same kind of thing.
I have become familiar with the crazy making experience of feeling symptoms for which there are no accura...
Source: Everything Changes - September 16, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kairol Rosenthal Tags: Uncategorized doctor does not believe me doctor patient communication imagined symptoms phantom symptoms strange s strange symptoms going crazy Source Type: blogs
Private CS course in NY
Discussion and demonstration of Effective Communications skills using:*Reflection*Summarizing*Clarifying information*A Structured, Chronological format for both the Adult and Pediatric InterviewEffective and fast organization of your scrap sheets.Time management - at the door and inside the examination room.- How to encounter the patient in 9 minutes - How to do physical exam for any type of case in 6 minutes *How to master a scheme that will make you approach ANY medical case without memorizing questions from FA or Kaplan books, providing that you took CK exam*How the standardized patients evaluate you "What not to miss"*...
Source: Med Student Guide - September 12, 2013 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
Use visual aids to teach patients and improve decision making
We all know that physician-patient communication is important. Poor communication, not deficient clinical skill, is the primary driver of malpractice suits; conversely, good clinical communication alone can improve patient outcomes. For example, patients of physicians with superior communication skills have been shown to have superior blood pressure control. Fortunately, physicians generally recognize the significance of good communication, and often take the time to ensure that it happens. Yet there remains a major challenge that these efforts do not address — that of managing numeracy, the ability of patients t...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - September 8, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Conditions Heart Patients Primary care Source Type: blogs
A Look at Email and HIPAA
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and do not offer legal advice. The others quoted in this post are offering general information or interpretation and not specific legal advice or any statement of fact.
For more background on this topic, check out my previous post “Practice Fusion Violates Some Physicians’ Trust in Sending Millions of Emails to Their Patients”
When I first started looking into the millions of emails that Practice Fusion was sending to patients, doctors were suggesting that these emails constituted a HIPAA violation. Practice Fusion has responded in my previous post that “The patient email r...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - August 28, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: John Lynn Tags: EHR Electronic Health Record Electronic Medical Record EMR HealthCare IT HIPAA General David Harlow HIPAA Emails Mac McMillan PHI Practice Fusion Secure Emails William O'Toole Source Type: blogs
IVF Literacy - what's your IVF IQ ?
There are a lot of stereotypes in the world, and sometimes doctors think that a poor person is automatically dumb, and a rich person is always smart. However, this is not the case, and any doctor who assumes this is headed for trouble.
Because IVF doctors do IVF day in and day out, they sometimes start assuming that their patients also understand everything about IVF. This is especially true when patients have done IVF cycles elsewhere. Doctors then jump to the false conclusion that the patient is well-informed about IVF. Some doctors also feel that well-educated patients are IVF literate, thanks to google !
...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - August 23, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: ivf literacy ivf doctor ivf clinics ivf patients Source Type: blogs
Practice Fusion Violates Some Physicians’ Trust in Sending Millions of Emails to Their Patients
Update: At the bottom of this post, I’ve included Patient Fusion’s response to this article.
When Practice Fusion asked their users to prepare for some new “patient communication tools”, the outcry from many doctors was for Practice Fusion to stop focusing new features on patients and instead focus on unsolved physician requests that were made years previous. What I found when I started digging into Practice Fusion’s focus on patients through its launch of Patient Fusion was a much more important story where Practice Fusion’s actions were violating some physicians’ trust and might ...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - August 22, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: John Lynn Tags: EHR Electronic Health Record Electronic Medical Record EMR HealthCare IT HIPAA General Medical Privacy Chief Medical Officer CMO Patient Fusion Physician Ratings Physician Reviews Practice Fusion Source Type: blogs
