Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Communication is key in health care. But what exactly is it?

Jeff Kane, MD
Physician
May 5, 2016
151 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

Contributors on this site regularly recommend improved doctor-patient communication. Indeed, that’s one reason I’m a devoted reader. But we need to articulate exactly what “communication” is.

When I ask colleagues about that word, they usually define it as what they say to patients. I can’t argue with that. Yes, we need to express ourselves clearly and simply. But communication includes much more.

The occasional complaints I hear from patients about their care are never about medicine’s high-tech presence. Instead, they’re uniformly about deficiencies in communication, actually healthcare’s lowest-tech aspect. Too often, patients say, they’re treated almost like bystanders.

A convalescing friend told me, “When I was in the hospital, I was poked and probed and ultraviolated, but never touched.”

Others have said:

“When I phone my doctor’s office, I have to navigate a difficult phone tree, and even then I hardly ever get to speak with a person.”

“My doctor doesn’t face me. He just types into his laptop.”

“I waited all day by the phone for the call the clinic promised. Never came.”

“When I was hospitalized, the only staff member who just sat down and talked with me was the janitor.”

“No one asked me whether I could afford this prescription, eighty bucks a pill.”

“It seems like my doctor always keeps one hand on the doorknob.”

“I hear about the importance of diet, exercise, and coping with stress, but no doctor’s ever asked me a thing about how I live my life.”

“How is it medical science can transplant half our organs, but can’t fax my test results across town?”

These examples may seem minor annoyances, but patients can conclude from their prevalence that medical people often practice hardly knowing, let alone comforting them.

Sure, the financial demands of current practice necessitate speed and shortcuts. We need to recognize, though, that this atmosphere erodes professional standards. More to the point, it generates suboptimal medicine. I’ve heard cynics joke about future health care as a system of vending machines. If we continue accepting the pruning of humanity — that is, communication — from medical practice, that’s exactly where we’re heading.

Jeff Kane is a physician and is the author of Healing Healthcare: How Doctors and Patients Can Heal Our Sick System.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Become somebody: The importance of physician advocacy

May 5, 2016 Kevin 0
…
Next

When looking for a new physician job, location matters most

May 5, 2016 Kevin 12
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Become somebody: The importance of physician advocacy
Next Post >
When looking for a new physician job, location matters most

More by Jeff Kane, MD

  • Patient complaints prompt hospital to reevaluate doctor’s bedside manner

    Jeff Kane, MD
  • There’s no easy way out of the opioid epidemic

    Jeff Kane, MD
  • Turning doctors into technicians is a mistake

    Jeff Kane, MD

Related Posts

  • How social media can help or hurt your health care career

    Health eCareers
  • Why health care replaced physician care

    Michael Weiss, MD
  • Turn physicians into powerful health care influencers

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Health care needs more physician CEOs

    Alexi Nazem, MD
  • Health care is not a service commodity

    Peter Spence, MD, MBA
  • The health care system will cause its own physician shortage

    Advait Suvarnakar and Aashka Suvarnakar

More in Physician

  • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

    Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD
  • Practicing medicine with conviction

    Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA
  • The power of memory in shaping human identity

    Emily F. Peters and Sandeep Jauhar, MD, PhD
  • Physicians have no autonomy. Here’s how to change that.

    Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH
  • The erosion of patient care

    Laura de la Torre, MD
  • Navigating adulthood in the digital age

    Eleanor Menzin, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • Inside the grueling life of a surgery intern

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Physician
    • 1 in 5 doctors will become disabled. Are you prepared?

      Amarish Dave, DO | Finance
    • Misinformed claims and the offensiveness of discrediting COVID-19 vaccine development

      Angel Garcia Otano, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • Mourning the silent epidemic: the physician suicide crisis and suggestions for change

      Amna Shabbir, MD | Physician
    • I’m a doctor, and I almost died during childbirth

      Bayo Curry-Winchell, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • The art of pediatrics: Connecting through observation

      Alexander Rakowsky, MD | Conditions
    • Assertiveness in health care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Epigenetics and our inheritance to future generations

      Vishruth Nagam | Conditions
    • Practicing medicine with conviction

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • The power of memory in shaping human identity

      Emily F. Peters and Sandeep Jauhar, MD, PhD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • All Specialties Struggle With 'Moral Injury'
  • MedPod Today: Big Medical Bill; GLP-1 Agonist Plateau; Grateful Patient Fundraising
  • Spouting COVID Misinformation Tied to Use of Ivermectin, HCQ
  • Senator Dianne Feinstein Dies at 90
  • No Benefit to Tight Glucose Control in ICU

Meeting Coverage

  • New Schizophrenia Treatments Are Coming: Don't Panic
  • Loneliness Needs to Be Treated Like Any Other Health Condition, Researcher Suggests
  • Stopping Medical Misinformation Requires Early Detection
  • AI Has an Image Problem in Healthcare, Expert Says
  • Want Better Health Outcomes? Check Out What Other Countries Do
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • Inside the grueling life of a surgery intern

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Physician
    • 1 in 5 doctors will become disabled. Are you prepared?

      Amarish Dave, DO | Finance
    • Misinformed claims and the offensiveness of discrediting COVID-19 vaccine development

      Angel Garcia Otano, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • Mourning the silent epidemic: the physician suicide crisis and suggestions for change

      Amna Shabbir, MD | Physician
    • I’m a doctor, and I almost died during childbirth

      Bayo Curry-Winchell, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • The art of pediatrics: Connecting through observation

      Alexander Rakowsky, MD | Conditions
    • Assertiveness in health care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Epigenetics and our inheritance to future generations

      Vishruth Nagam | Conditions
    • Practicing medicine with conviction

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • The power of memory in shaping human identity

      Emily F. Peters and Sandeep Jauhar, MD, PhD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...