4 Ways You Can Make Sure Patients Will Memorize and Follow Your Instructions

Too often, a patient leaving a hospital or clinic immediately forgets many of the doctor's advice and instructions. This can be true for both personal visits and telemedicine or telephone conversations, in many medical matters, from a mild virus to life-threatening conditions.

The reasons for this forgetfulness vary according to reasons such as the stress exerted by the doctor on the average person (stress affects memory), while some patients may not memorize medical terms with which they are unfamiliar. The result of non-compliance with medical instructions? An astonishingly high cost in lost lives, lost money, wasted time, and endangering health.

Find out 4 ways you can make sure your patients remember the information you pass on better.

1. Be aware

During a regular 20-minute visit to the patient, doctors reported that they spent eight minutes on the patient's tests and medical records and had only 12 minutes of interaction with the patient. Therefore, 40% of the visit is spent not reading the patient's body language, not looking for emotions, discomfort, or understanding that they may signal, but analyzing some data.

You have to be careful about this - it's very important to know the data and the results, but the way your patient feels is even more important, especially when you have it in front of you.

Do your actions and behavior as a doctor make you look like a friendly and approachable person? What does your body language communicate - whether it's a personal consultation or a telemedicine application? Do you lean your hands behind your head (an unspoken sign of superiority)?

Do you cross your arms (a sign that for some people means distance or defensiveness)? The last thing you want to do is unknowingly contribute to a patient's anxiety, so self-awareness of the message your language conveys is essential.

2. Smile

Think of all that a smile communicates - warmth, friendliness, affordability - all the qualities needed to disarm the reluctant or fearful patient. If you manage to do this, the patient will most likely open up to communicate freely and will most likely be able to remember what he or she is hearing. Think of everything that conveys the lack of a smile.

Do you know someone who rarely smiles? How does it make you feel? In most cases, it is not very pleasant, and this is also the case for patients.

Unfortunately, the smile, even in the case of the friendliest of people, can evaporate under the stress of a busy day. However, if you are aware of the importance of a smile, you can make sure to slip it between explanations, and the patient will appreciate it!

3. Avoid jargon

Jargon includes a list of abbreviations, medical terms, and "nicknames," which you usually use in hospital discussions. In most cases, the terms that we might think everyone knows, well, are completely unknown, especially to someone who does not work in the field.

For patients, this is jargon and can cause confusion, misunderstanding of advice, or even a sense of embarrassment if they do not understand a term, but the patient is embarrassed to ask.

When the results of the laboratory are positive, you may be shocked by the percentage of patients who do not know if the results involve care, seriousness, a critical situation or are perfectly fine. Only about 12% of patients are somewhat familiar with the jargon of healthcare because they are related to the field or have spent a lot of time in such institutions.

Otherwise, physicians should strive to explain medical terms, use plain language, use analogies, and ask questions to ensure that the patient has understood.

4. Use the patient's name

The name is among the most appreciated "goods" of a person, one of the few things he wears the most in his life. Using a patient's name puts the two on a fairer playing field. If it is a new or opposite patient that you are unfamiliar with, ask the patient's permission to say their name, then try to use it often in conversation.

Careful! Make sure you understand the name correctly or pronounce it correctly in the case of a more specific name.

Although not every doctor feels comfortable when it is informal, it is best to introduce yourself with your name and encourage the patient to use it, the feeling is reciprocal.

By doing this, a close connection is formed between the patient and the doctor, and the instructions provided by him will be assimilated as coming from a close person, therefore they will be easier to understand and understand.