Dr. Kim Rozengarten, in her new role overseeing Patient Experience, will create a theme of the month to help us all focus our energies on a proven strategy to advance patient care and patient satisfaction. This month it will be using the Teach-back Method. This method ensures patients understand the information and instructions you provide to them so they are able to comply with your advice and ask questions. Below are some highlights.
Have patient explain what’s been said or agreed upon. For example:
“We discussed a lot today. Can you tell me what you found most important?”
“To check that I’ve explained everything properly, can you tell me how you are going to take your medicines?”
“Just to make sure my instructions make sense to you, can you tell me what you are going to do next?”
Review or even write the discharge instructions with the patient.
When reviewing many different topics or instructions, stop and review.
Having the patient teach back to you shows how well you explained the information to the patient.