Update your patient por...

Your practice has a website. You are moving toward electronic health records (EHR). You want to provide individualized patient and family education of high quality, but you have no budget. What do you do? Well, MedlinePlus.gov offers free, reliable, up-to-date health information...

Are we measuring the ri...

The Child Health Corporation of America (CHCA), the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI), and Medical Management Planning Incorporated developed the Children’s Asthma Care (CAC) measure set. This set of process measures evaluate...

Patient engagement and ...

Ah, yes, the Top 12 Healthcare Buzzwords for 2012 has come out, and once again patient education fits right in. #10 on the list is Engagement. “For patients, being engaged means that providers have tried to cultivate their trust, making sure on repeated occasions that they...

How do I improve patien...

It’s a new year, and you’re ready for a change. Perhaps you think now is the time take steps to improve patient and family education in your organization. Why? Your patient population is low on resources, or lacks health literacy skills, or don’t speak English, and you want...

Win a copy of my book!...

Pritchett & Hull, my publisher, says: Like us on Facebook and you are automatically entered for your chance to win 1 of 5 copies of No Time to Teach, the AJN Book of the Year. Winners will be chosen by December 21st. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150519164913783&id=107911418782 Got...

Free Instructions: How...

You’ve head about the importance of health literacy. You know many of your patients have difficulty following written instructions. You know you should be writing your patient education materials more clearly. But you just don’t know where to begin. Plain language is...

Use those appointment c...

You probably remind your patients of their upcoming appointments. Maybe your calls are automated, or maybe they’re made my someone in your office. Or perhaps you just send a postcard. So why not use that contact as an opportunity to encourage your patients to come in with...

Health Coaching: A tre...

In a survey of 1,015 consumers, (Televox, 2011) 83% said they did not follow treatment plans exactly as prescribed, but said they’d do a better job following doctors’ orders if doctors checked up on them between visits. Forty-two percent said they would follow the treatment plan...

On my soapbox again: H...

I’m on my soapbox again: Health care providers do not empower patients. Yes, I’m picking at semantics. But words influence thoughts, and thoughts create actions. If we don’t look at our words, it could lead us down the path of ineffective action. The dictionary has 3 definitions...

Do your translations ta...

You know about the need for patient education materials to be written in plain and clear language. You do that all the time. And you even have your materials translated into another language—or languages—because your patient population is diverse. But are your translations...