The real scoop on editi...

Health care providers are now regularly looking at the reading levels of the handouts we give patients and families. Finally, we are recognizing functional health literacy as an issue we need to address if we are to improve health outcomes. If patients don’t understand our instructions,...

No time to teach? Or n...

In 2009, Turner et al. described pediatricians’ self-reported experiences with health literacy, use of basic and enhanced communication techniques, and perceived barriers to effective communication during office visits. 81% of the 1605 pediatricians were aware that in the previous...

Patient Education is th...

Every health care provider I know can tell a story of how things went awry when a patient or caregiver did not understand directions. How often does a test or surgery need to be rescheduled because the patient is not appropriately prepared? How often do we assume the medicine isn’t...

Accountable Care Organi...

The hot topic in health care reimbursement these days is Accountable Care Organizations or ACOs. ACOs are a work in progress, starting with Medicare, but will probably spread if they work. Basically they are a financial structure for the provision of health care. An ACO is a local...