How Bad is Doctor Handwriting? $100 Billion and 7,000 Deaths/year Bad

According to articles from Time Health and Cleveland.com, this is the annual cost of poor communication between doctors, nurses, and patients. Cleveland explains, “Teaching doctors and other health care workers how to avoid medical jargon and better communicate with patients has become a national issue as hospitals across the country work to improve patient health, reduce re-admissions and control costs. Not understanding instructions -- on prescription bottles, appointment slips, consent forms and other paperwork -- racks up more than $100 billion a year in extra medical bills, according to one study.” Improving communication between health caregivers and their patients is a two-lane road that those in the health industry need to be driving down. 

One side is moving toward reducing facility and patient costs by removing unnecessary billing in the form of readmissions due to communication issues. The other lane is focused on improving patient health and understanding of their treatment. The final goal at the end is reduced economic cost on unnecessary expenses which can be invested in hiring additional quality staff and bringing healthcare costs down for patients, and improving their quality of care at each step of the process. Focusing on clear health-literacy with patients is critical, as Time reports in addition to an annual 7,000 deaths from poor caregiver communication, “preventable medication mistakes also injure more than 1.5 million Americans annually. Many such errors result from unclear abbreviations and dosage indications and illegible writing on some of the 3.2 billion prescriptions written in the U.S. every year.”

To address these issues, approaches and measure are being taken to improve the skill and method by which communication is transferred between doctors, nurses, and patients. The National e-prescribing Patient Safety Initiative (NEPSI) and a conference in Cleveland focused on simple, key steps that doctors and nurses can take to drastically improve communication. These include:

• Avoiding technical jargon and doctor-speak in favor of simple language that makes patient care clear and understandable.
• Asking the listener to repeat the instructions they’ve been given. This way patients prove they have understood everything, doctors and nurses are assured they’ve communicated clearly, and any differences can be remedied at the beginning.
• Having a friend or family member of the patient with them to ask additional questions and add another set of ears onto the patent’s side.
• NEPSI has launched a free program, eRx Now, that allows all doctors in the U.S. to write prescriptions electronically, allowing for both doctor, nurse, and patient accuracy.

Rue Education understands the need for clear communication and efficient learning for the  next generation of nurses. For these reasons Rue Education created their Online Tutor-Led Learning Systems for LPNs, LVNs, RTs, and Paramedics to become registered nurses. The educators at Rue realize mastering all of the material required to get your Associate of Science in Nursing Degree can be challenging. To help you study more efficiently, Rue Education’s subject matter experts have created a Rue Total Learning System™ for each of the subjects offered.

Rue’s educational materials that accompany both the tutor-led online and traditional learning systems feature:

• A workbook/study guide created by subject matter experts with PhD or master’s degrees 
• Objectives and required readings at the beginning of each chapter
• Page references so you can quickly and efficiently check your answers
• End-of-chapter and final exams with page references and answer keys
• Study and time management tips

If you’re ready to take up the call and transition to RN, call Rue Education today!