Patient Health Literacy

Patient Portal Use in Mental Health Is Up, But Digital Literacy Key

by Sara Heath

Patient portal use in mental health is getting more common, but still, only about half of those with self-reported anxiety or depression are using the health IT, according to data published in...

Using Shared Decision-Making to Enhance Informed Consent Conversations

by Sarai Rodriguez

When patients are tasked with making difficult medical choices, a patient decision aid (PDA), used as a part of the shared decision-making process, can be an effective strategy that boosts patient...

In-Person Patient Portal Training Raises Patient Satisfaction

by Sarai Rodriguez

Healthcare organizations can trigger improvements in patient satisfaction and engagement by providing in-person patient portal training to hospitalized patients, according to a study from the Ohio...

Navigating Social Media’s Public Health, Medical Misinformation Problem

by Sara Heath

Healthcare has hit the internet age, with a growing presence on social media becoming all too familiar as the need for public health information gets greater. But within that growth has emerged a new problem: the broad accessibility of...

Overlooked Medication Reviews for Older Adults Pose Patient Safety Risks

by Sarai Rodriguez

Older adults could have better medication management, yet most are missing out on medication reviews which can reduce patient risk and improve prescription costs, according to researchers from the...

Removing Medical Abbreviations Can Boost Patient Portal Understanding

by Sarai Rodriguez

Medical abbreviations and acronyms have adverse effects on patient understanding of information during patient portal use, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health found. This is happening...

Digital Health Literacy: Why It’s Important and How to Improve It

by Sara Heath

More healthcare providers are leaning on patient engagement technologies to support self-management and better outcomes. But as the industry becomes more high-tech, digital health literacy becomes a greater threat to health...

Medical Misinformation Exposure Reduces Patient Health Literacy

by Sarai Rodriguez

Medical misinformation has been spreading rapidly nationwide, causing many Americans to struggle to identify the difference between fact and fiction and hampering patient health literacy, according to...

Why Patient Education Is Vital for Engagement, Better Outcomes

by Sara Heath

The healthcare industry has made many efforts to become more patient-centric, especially through its push for better patient engagement. However, in order to improve patient engagement, providers need...

4 Main Barriers Diminishing Patient Activation Efforts

by Sara Heath

As the medical field pushes value-based care efforts, the concept of patient activation has become more critical. After all, it’s an activated patient who is able to fend off or manage illness in...

Patient-Centered Tips to Cut Emergency Department Overutilization

by Sara Heath

The emergency department is an exceptionally important healthcare setting, giving patients a place to go when they are experiencing life-threatening and often frightening healthcare symptoms. But these...

Assessing Patient Health Literacy for Improved Outcomes, Safety

by Jessica Kent

As healthcare increasingly moves from volume to value, it’s becoming imperative for providers to understand more than what patients present at their yearly checkups.  Environmental factors,...

Patient Education, Communication Key for Medication Adherence

by Sara Heath

Strong patient-provider communication, patient education, and lower costs can help patients more confidently manage and take their medications, according to a recent survey from DrFirst. The survey of...

Patient Recall Suffers as Patients Remember Half of Health Info

by Sara Heath

Patients only remember about 49 percent of the information their doctors give them without prompting, highlighting shortcomings with patient recall that can negatively impact patient activation, shows...

Nurses Must Be Involved in Patient Health Literacy Support

by Sara Heath

The American Academy of Nursing is calling on nurses to better support patient education and patient health literacy as a part of the organization’s annual policy brief. “Health literacy...

How Does Social Media Impact Perceived Provider Professionalism?

by Sara Heath

As social media continues to permeate the healthcare space, providers are increasingly creating their own professional profiles to connect with patients and offer better patient education. It is...

Improving Pediatric Patient Experiences with Age-Appropriate Education

by Sara Heath

For pediatric patients and their parent caregivers, fear in a hospital is a normal thing. Young patients can experience sensory overload, parent and child are often separated during procedures, and there is the looming fear of an adverse...

Patient Education, Scheduling Fixes Shrink Patient No-Show Rates

by Sara Heath

A federally-qualified health center (FQHC) reduced patient no-show rates by 14 percent by implementing a four-pronged intervention that prioritized patient education, practice communication, and better...

Using Patient Education to Enhance ICU Patient Experience

by Sara Heath

The ICU is a scary place for patients and their family caregivers. Patients are a mess of wires and medications, facing what is often a life-threatening condition. Providers are working to treat...

3 Key Traits of a Positive Patient-Provider Relationship

by Sara Heath

As healthcare continues to take a consumer-centric turn, patient needs have evolved. Patients are not simply looking to visit their doctors to cure a disease, and now also want a positive...