In modern times the widespread use of electronic health records (EHRs) is making it easier for patients to become an integral part of their healthcare by voicing their concerns, while having unrestricted access to their health records. The fostering of a healthy patient-physician relationship requires the ability of the healthcare provider to demonstrate a level of empathy needed to better understand their patients’ unique values, beliefs, and level of trust. Transparency between the provider, patient, and healthcare organization creates a trusting environment. Furthermore, when a provider can provide non-biased feedback and equity in care, they demonstrate their core values by treating everyone in an ethical and fair manner.
Patient-centered care focuses on safety, effectiveness, efficiency, patient-centeredness’, timeliness, and equity. The values and dedication to providing quality patient care starts with providers who share a common passion aimed towards the health betterment of a population. When providers can work effectively as a team to accomplish mutual goals, they create a healthy working environment leading to a higher level of productivity. This does not imply your team members are your best friends, or your friends at all for this sake. Teamwork requires mutual respect towards one another regardless of our differences. We cannot allow our differences to create judgement of others nor distort the true purpose of our mission in healthcare. It is important we trust who we work amongst so our patients can have trust in the quality of care we desire to deliver.
I like to think that the development of patient service excellence is the sum of every interaction occurring between a patient and the provider and/or healthcare organization. I have learned that patients want to feel important every step of the way when it concerns their health. There will undoubtedly be several key players in a patients care at any organization including the administrative team, clinical team, financial team, laboratory technicians, etc. This is why it is important we make the appropriate transfer by communicating it accurately to the next team member to ensure the continuity of care continues seamlessly. The addition of health information technology (HIT) has made it easier for us to enter and view key information as it pertains to patient care. We can admit we have witnessed an event or have heard that “information gets lost in translation”, and many studies can prove this is true.
The implementation of HIT has given healthcare organizations the opportunity to gain more insight on patient preferences through surveys to identify areas of weakness to improve. The stress of being understaffed, undertrained, and underpaid is prevalent for healthcare organizations and providers globally. It is increasingly difficult to refrain from being “impersonal” with patients when time never seems to be enough. The hope is that the adoption and implementation of HIT may lead to a higher efficiency of non-clinical aspects of care such as chart notes to create more time for physicians to interact more personally with patients. To my knowledge this remains a controversial topic since some argue more time is needed to use EHRs daily. I am a dental hygienist, and I can admit I easily spend almost one hour daily doing chart notes since I see anywhere from 7-10 patients a day. It becomes overwhelming some days and I work through my lunch. I am excited to see how much dental software programs advance with voice recognition and the possible implementation of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) to identify risk factors and comorbidities of general and periodontal health.