Remember to practice empathy by putting yourself in your patient's shoes. When they are faced with an intimidating health scare, the process becomes even more difficult, as it is charged with uncertainty, emotions, confusion, and more. But it’s important to remember that healthcare workers spend every day in their workplaces while their patients do not. Of course, everything mentioned above is already part of the job.
That is why it is crucial that doctors and healthcare workers sufficiently communicate with patients.Ĭreating an open space for them to ask questions – as many questions as possible- and giving them simple and sufficient answers is the best way to help patients understand their clinical pathway. Laying out all their options and explaining the processes and implications of each and everyone will help patients make better decisions, and it will increase their understanding.
Too many pamphlets can be overwhelming, and complicated writing may confuse patients more than they help. Informational material can only go so far. And they can be done in a way that benefits a practice along with its patients. There are strategies that individual practitioners can take to raise awareness and share information. Leveraging these resources can help address healthcare literacy, but they are not the only way. There are already several initiatives that provide valuable resources for healthcare professionals to access in order to promote healthcare literacy. By releasing educational content and resources for others, private healthcare practices can address the healthcare literacy issue while simultaneously achieving more exposure and marketing to their practices. And they can do so at the benefit of their practice.
While no one can be expected to fix this large, systematic issue on their own, there are ways that everyone can contribute. economy up to $236 billion every year,” (Mahadevan, 2013).Īt the end of the day, everyone deserves to know how to navigate healthcare so that they can make informed decisions. Plus, the more versed a patient is when it comes to healthcare, the smoother the process can be for patients and healthcare workers. This is, in part, tied to the concept of clinical pathways, which creates a more cohesive patient experience. It can also save money for people and hospitals, as health illiterate people spend up to 4x on healthcare costs, and “low health literacy is estimated to cost the U.S. An additional 12 percent of adults had Proficient health literacy. Among the remaining adults, 22 percent had Basic health literacy, and 14 percent had Below Basic health literacy.”Īlthough this study is relatively dated, the statistics reported are not expected to have changed significantly. It is important that more people achieve healthcare literacy, especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher healthcare literacy rates mean better communication, which can give way to better diagnoses, care, and treatment for patients. “The majority of adults (53 percent) had Intermediate health literacy. The problem is that too few people understand enough to properly participate in America’s healthcare system. This understanding ranges from describing symptoms and finding care, to processing treatment plans, making decisions for loved one, paying healthcare bills, and more. The National Center for Education Statistics ran a major study in 2003 that reported The concept of healthcare literacy is not the problem. The Center for Healthcare Strategies defines it as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions,” (Mahadevan, 2013).
Healthcare literacy is an uncommon term that describes a very common problem in the American healthcare system. In this white paper, we aim to bring attention to the important issue of healthcare illiteracy in patients across America and introduce ways to combat it through a marketing plan that can also help your business grow. Engine Systems is dedicated to helping private healthcare practices authentically serve patients and give them the best quality of care possible. Beyond that, we want to help practitioners grow their businesses so that patients cab receives the care that they need. Our research team is constantly working to provide practical ways to do this, which is why we release weekly white papers that can help businesses gain actionable insight.
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