Although various theories have been proposed to explain the downfall of this relationship, among the most notable are the excessive use of medical terminology, cultural differences, the divergence of medical beliefs, and low health literacy. In this article, we’re going to review some of the most common misunderstandings that occur between doctors and patients, as well as some solutions for restoring this bond.

After all, physicians always have more authority to direct interactions with patients, which could be the difference between life, death or simply a good or bad experience with a doctor.

Cultural Hindrances

Society today is multi-ethnic and multicultural, meaning doctors are working with patients who belong to a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds. Due to this unprecedented variance, physicians may have difficulty communicating on a personal level.

Differences in Medical Beliefs

It becomes highly difficult for doctors to work effectively when when patients have a strong belief in traditional or alternative medical treatments. In such situations, the physician may struggle to relay vital information related to the prognosis of a disease and the available treatment options for the patient.

Low Health Literacy

Health literacy is the attribute of an individual to read and understand the particular instructions on drug bottles, prescription slips, and doctor’s directions on consent forms. Thus, a failure to understand and comply to the instructions can lead to serious consequences for the patient.

Structural Barriers

In some instances, structural barriers may also cause misunderstandings between the doctor and the patient. These structural barriers include: lack of organization in hospitals, incomplete delivery of patient records to the concerned physician, and lack of coordination between different medical departments.

How Do We Eradicate These Misunderstandings and Improve Patient-Doctor Communication?

Society today is multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-ethnic. Serious efforts are required to eradicate the cultural and linguistic differences between patients and doctors. One solution is to simply increase the number of physicians that belong to diverse cultural backgrounds so they’re able to connect with people of their culture and ethnicity. In any case, however, it is important for doctors to focus on educating their patients on the positives of modern medicine.

To remove any structural barriers in the doctor-patient relationship, efficient organization and coordination of different medical departments must be ensured. The transfer of information between medical departments must be seamless, as it leads to quick delivery of high-quality care.

There are also some important pointers that can be followed by both doctors and patients to minimize misunderstandings. While the patient should be able to speak freely without any hesitation, the doctor should also understand the concerns of the patient with subtlety.

Furthermore, doctors should always ensure that the patient has a complete understanding of their medical condition, including the prognosis and available treatment options. On the other hand, patients should always communicate any physical experience related to an illness, in order for the doctor to efficiently identify and diagnose them.

The post How to Improve Doctor-Patient Relationships and Deliver High-Quality Health Care appeared first on Dr. Zeev Kain.

All the way from radiotherapy to antibiotics, magnetic resonance imaging to even anesthetics, people all over the world have experienced the benefits of innovation in medical technology. Researchers have used their faith in innovation to build equipment—and their ability to save lives is remarkable. New healthcare technology startups and companies are also innovating by changing medical concepts through reproduction, recreation, and the creation of new products.

Innovation technology — What Is It?

Innovation technology includes a combination of activities dedicated to research, development, and the design of new products, services and techniques to improve certain aspect of healthcare, often utilizing new technology to enhance existing procedures.

Some prominent examples of innovation technology are:

• Regeneration of teeth using a fish found in Africa
• Ability to slow the signs of aging with the use of anti-aging drugs.
• Remote monitoring that allows doctors to diagnose and treat patients without actually visiting them.
• Providing state of art prosthetic limbs to amputees, especially for those who served in the military.
• Restoring vision for people with artificial retinas.
• Robotic nurses as assistants that help patients, especially when it comes to moving and lifting.
• Shaping the future through interoperability between health sectors by exchanging patient information.
• Tri-corder for diagnosing and collecting patient information and diseases.
• Light bulbs that can kill and disinfect bacteria.
• The innovation of electronic underpants to prevent bed sores, primarily for elderly patients.
• Long duration batteries for medical equipment using aluminum ion batteries, foam batteries etc.

While innovation technology has brought forth an extensive list of remarkable upgrades, it has also undergone a lot of failures. These failures often stem from poor communication between healthcare practitioners and patients, which is why it’s important to shed light on the matter, perhaps now more than ever.

Key points

Some of the most prominent points of the impact and failure of innovation technology are as follows:

– There’s often a clash between doctors and patients. The trouble begins when doctors give more prioritize the treatment of patients, rather than taking the time to learn about new technology.

– Manufacturers often set a high price for selling innovation technology to the ultimate customers: doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies. By using market skimming techniques they tend to oppose penetration, which often fails since customers try out unknown products for a lower price than more prominent forms of treatment.

– When physicians use technology to record patient data some of them are very reluctant to reveal it to the patients. Hence, a lack of trust and transparency occurs between the patient and doctors.

– Communication failures that occur when a doctor attempts to pass on technical information to uninformed or elderly patients who struggle to grasp the concept, especially when a doctor is untrained in simplifying and communicating that data.

As stated by Wesley Barker, MS, over one in three individuals are known to face gaps in the exchange of information, which points to a widening gap between doctor-patient communication.

The Importance of communication

Keep in mind that communication between a doctor and a patient is paramount to high-quality treatment. Although there are various barriers hindering the doctor-patient relationship, if either party withholds information it leads to a poor solution.

The behavior of both doctors and patients should be positive to make way for a smooth recovery. Treating a patient harshly could result in the loss of confidence in the doctor, which hinders the treatment plan. The is barrier can also be caused by the complication of communication within the doctor-nurse-patient circle. For example, if a nurse’s communication differs from what the doctor says, it can lead to an even larger barrier between the patient and doctor.

It’s unfortunate that these gaps between doctors and patient exist, and to some extent human nature makes it inevitable. However, with careful observation and analysis is can be reduced considerably.

Works Cited

Barker, W. (n.d.). Health it. Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/consumeraccessdatabrief_9_10_14.pdf

Health it. (2014, October). Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/rtc_adoption_and_exchange9302014.pdf

The post Is Innovative Medical Technology The Future Of Doctor-Patient Communication? appeared first on Dr. Zeev Kain.