The importance of scientific communication in the healthcare industry

It’s a real niche we’ve made for ourselves. The healthcare industry stresses the importance of quick, accurate communication between doctors, nurses, and patients. That’s a need we try to address. – Michael McNeal

Information and communication technology pave the way for the practical restructuring of many health service processes. Today there is a wide range of communication channels, media, and devices.  They enable Scientific communication services constructed in the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry needs pragmatic improvements to the outcomes of healthcare delivery, and empirical evidence is required to guide the utilization of new scientific technologies.

The importance of scientific communication in the healthcare industry prevents injuries and the death of patients. It also increases the trust between the patient and caregivers and also the staff members.  Organizations with effective scientific communication policies can enrich their patients’ health. Without which there can be a negative impact on patient well-being, which can be understood from the following statistics and facts of major research findings.

• As per a study published in FierceHealthcare, poor communication results in 1,744 patient deaths and 1.7 billion dollars in malpractice costs nationally in the last five years.
• A 2006 study in the Clinical Biochemist Review of 14,000 in-hospital deaths, the communicative errors were found twice than that of inadequate clinical skills as the cause.
• As per the Health Care Quality Survey conducted by the Commonwealth fund, 25 % of Americans said that they do not follow their clinician’s advice. The survey further points out the reasons for such non-adherence as

1. 39 % disagreed with the terms of the recommended treatment that the clinician prescribed
2. 27 % were due to cost concerns
3. 25 % found the instructions of the doctors too difficult to follow
4. 20 % were with the feeling that it is against their beliefs
5. 7 % reported that they did not understand the doctor’s instructions and did not know how to follow them

• As per a study by CHIDS or Center for Health Information & Decision Systems, it was found that poor inter-hospital communications end up with the loss of 12 billion dollars annually
• A research conducted from 1995 to 2005 found that

1. Ineffective team communication is the main cause of more than 66 % of all medical errors
2. One-third of all adverse events are ascribed to human or system errors
3. Healthcare team members are under stress or in heightened task situations they are unable to communicate effectively.

• Several studies have found that the clinician’s ability to listen, explain and empathize can have a profound effect on both functional and biological health outcomes. It also gives patient satisfaction and experience of care. Besides communication between healthcare team members influence 

1. Quality of working relationships
2. Job satisfaction
3. Intense impact on patient safety
4. Significant reduction in staff & nurse turnover
5. Facilitate a culture of mutual support

• As per a Larsen & Yao 2006 report, there is a direct relationship between clinicians’ level of contentment and their capability to build affinity and convey care and warmth with patients.
• A clinician may have up to 150,000 interviews with patients during a typical full career. It is considered as the most common healthcare procedure of the clinicians. But as per the report on clinicians by the IOM or Institute of Medicine, it has been found that they lack adequate training to provide proper and quality healthcare to patients. Hence it has called upon the licensing organizations to enhance all health professional training requirements.  They want to emphasize patient-centered care, which strongly depends upon the core communication skills like the following as a way to retort to the unique needs, values, and preferences of patients.

1. Open-ended inquiry
2. Reflective listening
3. Empathy

• Many evidence-based Research indicates that there are intense positive relationships between the healthcare team members’ communication skills and the patients’ ability to follow through with

1. Medical recommendations
2. Self-manage a chronic medical condition
3. Adopt preventive health behaviors

• Beth Huntington and Nethie Kuhn reported in 2003 that the root cause of most of the malpractice claims is due to the breakdown in communication between the physician and patient. In previous research also there were 71 % of such applications are due to the same problem.  The findings from the depositions of the plaintiffs for the claims were

1. Clinicians are uncaring
2. One of the four plaintiffs complained about poor delivery of medical information
3. 13 % cited poor listening on the part of the physician

• As per the information shared from Becker’s Hospital Review more than a quarter of hospital, readmissions can be avoided with improved communication among the healthcare teams and patients.

Scientific communication methods in health care institutions are of two types to provide the best patient safety and well being. They are inter-hospital and intra-hospital.

Intra-hospital communication:

Intra-hospital communication is all information sharing within a singular hospital or institution in the healthcare industry.  It may happen between personnel regarding

1. Coordinating room shifts
2. Scheduling all types of surgeries
3. Assigning more tests to be conducted
4. Setting up appointments

When improper sharing of information between doctors, patients, and staff, the efficacy of all the process decreases. It potentially results in unnecessary cost or even life-threatening to patients.  The following may be the result of inferior intra-hospital communication.

1. Delays in patient records
2. Procedural coordination will be less
3. Serious medical errors

Inter-hospital Communication:

Inter-hospital communication is between more than one hospital and institution. They include effective communication for

1. Shifting patients from one hospital to another
2. Transferring medical records
3. Transporting vital clinical equipment

Scientific communications in the healthcare industry:

Nowadays, with the rapid development of technology, many health care professionals and institutions are using the internet and intranet to serve patients remotely and are now playing an important role in health care communications

1. Facile sharing of patient records
2. Easy cross-departmental communications
3. Communications can be shared with as many institutions as possible electronically
4. Patients can receive medical care and advice from the comfort of their home
5. Patient’s frequent visits can be avoided with video call
6. For patients with traveling difficulties can avoid it by video chat
7. 3D medical animation help patients with a better understanding of the medical procedures, recommendations, and many more
8. Digitalization of the healthcare industry will enhance patient treatment and hospital management

Scientific communications provide a seamless communication experience for all involved in the healthcare industry.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/

How-effective-communication-can-save-lives-in-the-healthcare-industry

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/

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