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Patients have increasing access to their clinicians’ notes, but the language in these notes can be confusing to patients and, at times, unsettling. In this study, researchers surveyed 271 adults without healthcare backgrounds attending the 2023 Minnesota State Fair regarding their language preferences in clinical notes. Participants reviewed nine scenarios, each containing medical terms alongside plain-language alternatives, and selected the wording they preferred. They also provided written comments explaining their choices.
Across all nine scenarios, participants preferred plain language over medical jargon.
Participants rejected wording that implied blame, mistrust, or failure — such as “refused,” “denies,” and “failed t…