Communication for Doctors: How to Improve Patient Care and Minimize Legal Risks

Description

What Makes a Good Health Care System? examines the various assumptions that underpin the different views of what makes a good health care system. The national systems in the UK, Australia and Canada are thoroughly examined. Each country has a different view of what a good health care system is trying to achieve, and the book elucidates these by highlighting key policy documents and comments from key stakeholders. Case studies emphasise the diverse needs and expectations of individuals, examining and comparing concepts of health needs, quality as a measure of 'good-ness' and the various ideas on Gold Standards. This book will be valuable reading for all healthcare managers and clinicians with management responsibilities, as well as policy makers and shapers and all those with a general interest in health. Cover Title Copyright Contents Foreword Preface About the editor List of contributors Patients are a virtue What do patients think of doctors as communicators? Making patients your partners Thirty ways to make your practice more "patient-friendly" Eight easy ways to make the medicine go down Answering questions patients don't ask Can your patients read your writing? How about a Hippocratic Oath for patients? Hippocrates was right: treat people, not their disease How non-verbal communication can give patients a sense of connectedness Empowered patients may have something to teach us How to communicate with patients who (think they) know more than you do How to deal with illiterate patients How to avoid alienating patients "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning" Seven ways to build trust with your patients on their first visit Watch your language Medicine and the English language The printed word: encouraging a more coherent view of the world Writing and speaking painlessly Who's for Tennyson? The case for language and literature in medical school Splitting atoms and infinitives Making sure your language doesn't mystify patients Reforming the language of healthcare Euphemism in medicine: calling a spade a horticultural implement Humor in medicine: the whimsy of Richard Gordon Elevator etiquette: when is communication too effective? A conversation with Norman Cousins The future of medical publishing Physician, heal thyself Becoming accustomed to public speaking Do you speak "Medispeak"? Let's hear it for sounder listening skills! Specialty scientific meetings: time for critical review Recognizing and avoiding non-verbal cues we give our patients Strategies for not appearing rushed Doctors can deliver hope as well as facts of prognosis The doctor patient The importance of doctors' "people skills" The profession's image: you're OK, they're not What's wrong with a little "loathsome finery"? Physicians: an endangered species? Manners and medicine Improving physicians' grades in communication How to avoid getting kicked by the media donkey Reading to keep up to date Are postgraduate courses necessary? Doctor-to-doctor communication Controlling the information balloon Managing your practice How your staff can make or break your practice Improving your efficiency by maximizing your time Technology to enhance your practice Healthscapes: how physical surroundings influence perceptions of quality Hiring? Use this checklist How to handle complaints How to respond to an angry complaint How to improve your sign language A complete, updated and signed history is vital before treatment begins Making your reception area more welcoming Minimizing risk Communication and documentation at the root of growing legal risks Clean up your documentation: use SOAP Telephone advice should be documented The telephone: instrument of the devil or practice enhancer? Ten tips for effective informed consent discussions Top ten issues in medical malpractice You've been called as an expert witness: now what? Terminating the physician-patient relationship Quiz Are you a good communicator? Patient questionnaire Index