By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    benefits of using protein powder to build muscles
    Protein Powder for Muscle Mass: Everything You Need to Know
    December 12, 2021
    changes brought on by blockchain in healthcare
    Technology In The Healthcare Industry
    March 28, 2022
    What Does Core Body Temperature Say About Health?
    August 17, 2022
    Latest News
    Health Benefits of Taking a Vacation to Reduce Your Stress
    September 27, 2023
    First Aid Training Enhancing Workplace Health and Safety
    September 25, 2023
    Beyond the Clinic: Medical Surveys Are a Roadmap to Passive Income for Doctors
    September 23, 2023
    5 Self-Care Habits to Help You Live an A+ Life
    September 21, 2023
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Medical Tests You May Not Need
    August 9, 2012
    ebola virus
    What the Ebola Outbreak Shows Us About Modern Health Technology
    September 19, 2014
    Digital Health Gets Extended (Television) Coverage
    September 27, 2012
    Latest News
    Job Seekers with Disabilities Should at Health Insurance Benefits
    September 12, 2023
    Reasons That Drug Prices Are Rising to Unsustainable Levels
    September 12, 2023
    How Revenue Lifecycle Management Helps Healthcare Providers to Optimize Business Operations
    September 6, 2023
    The Hidden Benefits of Practice Exams for Medical Professionals
    September 6, 2023
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Physician Communication and Patient-Centered Care: How to Improve Internal Communication
Share
Sign In
Notification Show More
Aa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Aa
Search
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > Physician Communication and Patient-Centered Care: How to Improve Internal Communication
Health ReformHospital AdministrationPolicy & Law

Physician Communication and Patient-Centered Care: How to Improve Internal Communication

StevenShie
Last updated: 2013/10/02 at 8:11 AM
StevenShie
Share
7 Min Read
SHARE

In a recent article published on the blog of Harvard Business Review, economist Michael Porter emphasizes that the only solution to improve the health care system in this country is to increase the value of health care, which according to Porter is measured by outcomes achieved for patients relative to the dollar amount spent.

In a recent article published on the blog of Harvard Business Review, economist Michael Porter emphasizes that the only solution to improve the health care system in this country is to increase the value of health care, which according to Porter is measured by outcomes achieved for patients relative to the dollar amount spent. While it has been almost unanimously agreed upon by the health care community that we need to pursue a patient-centered and outcome-based model, reforms for this complex system face significant challenges and may take a long time to complete.

organizationWhile many obstacles are deeply rooted in the culture and legacy of the system and there is no quick and easy fix, there are issues we can tackle that may bring meaningful and tangible results in the short-term. Improving communication among providers is one of them.

Communication plays a critical non-clinical role in health care delivery. In the U.S. health care system that is highly specialized and fragmented, improving communication among providers can lead to perceivable impacts on patient outcomes and potential cost reduction.

More Read

Home Health Worker

Guarding Your Health – 6 Essential PPE Investments for the New Home Health Worker

Understanding Trust Litigation When Dealing with Health Issues
The Journey to Healing: Navigating the Aftermath of Wrongful Death Claims 
Navigating Immigrant Police Encounters When Getting Healthcare
How Personal Injury Law Supports Your Wellbeing

Treating an episode of disease or managing a chronic condition often requires different specialists work together to deliver care. For example, cancer care may involve oncologist, radiologists, anesthesiologist, surgeon and pathologist. To improve the outcome, theses specialists need to work cohesively as a team. Effective communication between various physicians is a key to achieving the goal. But in reality, the coordination is difficult. Current system does not provide sufficient communication support for members of the care team—it not only makes it difficult for physicians from different institutions to exchange information, but also discourages communication within the same provider organization. The siloed care negatively affects patient outcomes and contributes to increased costs.

Improvement of communication among providers can be made in three areas.

Integrate Communication Functions into Health Care IT System 

Significant improvements have been made in the health care IT space but it is still far from perfection. In a recent article, Dr. Adrian Gpropper, CTO of Patient Privacy Rights points out that due to current federal regulations, patient information is segregated from provider information in health care IT, creating barriers for transparency. Meanwhile, the design and integration of health care IT system such as EMR is also fragmented—provider organizations work with different vendors to build encrypted system, making it extremely difficult for inter-organizational communication and sharing of patient information. In addition, as Porter mentioned, highly relevant clinical data are often not recorded by EMR and “much outcome information is buried ‘free text’ fields within clinician notes,” which contributes to a lack of information sharing among physicians from the same provider organization.

These challenges represent several opportunities for the health care IT community.

First, health care IT needs a universal standard to facilitate inter-organizational communication. This may seem difficult in the short-term but in the long-run this will help to increase efficiency and contain cost. Second, improved IT engineering is needed for EMR to highlight relevant clinical data and facilitate physician communication so they can better coordinate clinical procedures throughout the care cycle. Third, a larger discussion about enhancing transparency via communication mechanism in health care IT is necessary for all key parties involved, from regulators, providers, technology companies to patients.

Experiment Internal Communication Mechanism among Providers

Many studies have suggested that by improving communication within an organization, efficiency will also increase. In health care organizations, more efficient and effective communication among providers means better-coordinated care, lower cost and improved patient outcomes. However, in these fragmented enterprises where specialized but siloed unites largely function independently and internal communication is needed the most, very little meaningful efforts have been put into place.

New tools and technologies have been successfully used by organizations in other industries to improve internal communication and demonstrated positive results. Chatter, a web-based internal communication widget developed by Salesforce has been widely used by organizations across industries to boost information sharing, enhancing team performance. Similar tools can be tailored and integrated in a health care or clinical setting to empower providers with shared information, enhancing coordinated care.

Cultivate New Culture among Physicians

Communication skill is one of the basic skills a physician should possess. Interpersonal and Communication Skills is defined by American Board of Medical Specialties as one of the six core competencies for quality patient care for physicians. Although a lot of attention has been given to patient-physician communication, communication between physicians plays an equally, if not more, important role in delivering effective care. Unfortunately, in many provider organizations, there is a lack of incentive for different specialists to speak to each other. This has a lot to do with the current pay-for-service system. When doctors are paid for by the volume of service they provide, they naturally want to perform more procedures than collaborating with someone outside of the unit. A long and painful change of organizational culture is something also needs to be addressed along with the payment reform.

Compared to other highly anticipated reforms in health care organizations, enhancing internal communication requires much less resource. Provider organizations might even be able to test multiple approaches until they find the idea one. The impact of the relatively cheaper change however, may bring highly cost-effective results. Stakeholders such as hospitals, health care IT companies and communication agencies should not overlook the potential opportunities.

TAGGED: cost reduction, Health care communication, health care policy, health care reform, Healthcare Communication, improved patient outcomes, provider communication

Sign Up For Daily Newsletter

Be keep up! Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
StevenShie October 2, 2013
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Copy Link Print
Share
Previous Article ObamaCare Opponents Are Trying to Scare Young Adults
Next Article food stamps Let’s Privatize the Welfare State

Stay Connected

1.5k Followers Like
4.5k Followers Follow
2.8k Followers Pin
136k Subscribers Subscribe

Latest News

Andropause hormonal decline
The Benefits of TRT for Andropause and Hormonal Decline
Wellness September 28, 2023
Cancer Prevention
The Importance of Lipoma Examination in Cancer Prevention
Cancer September 28, 2023
dental implant
Cost Analysis of Dental Implants in Australia
Dental health September 28, 2023
View,Of,Niagara,Falls,In,Autumn
Health Benefits of Taking a Vacation to Reduce Your Stress
Health September 27, 2023

You Might also Like

health insurance disability
Policy & Law

Job Seekers with Disabilities Should at Health Insurance Benefits

September 12, 2023
medical billing training
Medicare

Navigating Through the Essentials: Medical Billing Training for Beginners

September 12, 2023
rising drug costs
Pharmaceuticals

Reasons That Drug Prices Are Rising to Unsustainable Levels

September 8, 2023
healthcare providers
Hospital Administration

How Revenue Lifecycle Management Helps Healthcare Providers to Optimize Business Operations

September 6, 2023
Subscribe

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

Follow US
© 2008-2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?