Patients usually present to primary care offices with an average of three concerns. Elicitation of all of the patient’s symptoms and concerns in the ambulatory and in-patient setting requires little additional time and diminishes the likelihood of late arising concerns…
A positive doctor-patient relationship is the key to medical care. Substantial evidence indicates that a relationship of trust and respect promotes better adherence to treatment recommendations, better physical and emotional outcomes and the disclosure of patients’ hidden concerns. Furthermore, the…
In this module we introduce the medical interview and review important background concepts. We describe the process of obtaining and communicating a complete history through integration of doctor-centered and patient-centered approaches to obtaining information, and then synthesizing the information into…
Medical education and the medical profession are stressful endeavors, with high rates of burnout and mental health problems, including substance abuse. We will be satisfied and effective clinicians only if we find healthy methods for coping with stress. We cannot…
Clinician patient encounters are therapeutic in and of themselves, independently of diagnostic and therapeutic activities of proven effectiveness. This module identifies the therapeutic elements of clinical encounters, so the learner can be intentional about maximizing these elements with patients. These…
Physicians are under more stress than ever before, much of it due to factors beyond their control. Laurie Drill-Mellum, an emergency medicine physician describes the forces bearing down on physicians, including litigation stress, and presents techniques for actively managing the…
Recent large-scale surveys of physicians show high numbers of respondents endorsing statements of stress and burnout. This video presentation by an emergency medicine physician examines the quantifiable effects of physician stress on the physician’s physiology and on the patient’s quality…
The prevalence of many chronic conditions increases with age, and so do the number of medications prescribed to manage them. The conundrum for the prescribing physician is that the over-65 population is less likely to obtain the same therapeutic benefit…
Communicating with patients by e-mail is rapidly becoming a part of many physicians’ medical practice. It ranks high in patient satisfaction, and at least one study found it to be associated with better patient compliance and better control of chronic…
CMS’s Hospital Readmission Reduction Program, previously targeting medical diagnoses, is expanding its reach to surgical procedures, starting with knee and hip replacements in 2015. This monograph will review new peer-reviewed studies about the reasons for surgical readmissions, to what extent…
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