Facilitating Patient-Centered Communication Doesn't Take Much Effort

Patients lack understanding of their diseases, in part because of barriers to physician–patient communication. Investigators at a Michigan hospital introduced bedside “Dear Doctor” notepads with structured fields for questions about diagnosis and management, tests and procedures, and medications (e.g., “What is the reason for my hospitalization? What tests are planned for today?”). Patients received notepads, pens, and instructions on completing the fields; clinicians did not receive instructions.

Because of logistical factors, only 78% of 440 patients in the intervention group received notepads. Postintervention surveys showed that only half of recipients actually used the notepads, but those patients were more likely to report that their q…