Education material can promote your practice
The right software makes it easier
By Neil Baum, MD
How would you like to increase patient satisfaction and compliance, enhance office efficiency, and reduce the risk of lawsuits all at once? If any of these sound appealing to you, you need to implement a computerized patient communication system in your practice.
Has this happened to you yet? Your patient shows up clutching an article he downloaded from the Internet and asks why you recommend a certain diagnosis or procedure instead of the latest advancement mentioned in the article. Or maybe you’ve been involved in a lawsuit in which the patient claims the risks of a procedure and alternative therapies weren’t adequately explained.
These are easy problems to avoid with a computerized patient communication system. How ever, the benefits go far beyond avoidance of problems. They also include increased compliance with instructions, improved outcomes, and higher patient satisfaction. In addition, your malpractice insurer may offer a premium discount for the use of a qualified patient education product. One company, Dialog Medical (www.dialogmedical.com/ insurers.htm), has a list of insurance providers that offer premium discounts for the use of patient education software.
Getting started is not as complicated as it sounds. Many companies offer software products that are easy to install and use, even for the computer novice. Computer systems are affordable as well. PCs for less than $1,000 have become a standard in the computer market, and many patient education software programs are available for under $500.
o Hardware.
To get started, you need a PC, some software, and a printer. Most patient education software programs state their system requirements, but you should be safe buying an entry-level PC. A typical entry-level configuration would include at least a 200MHz Pentium processor or equivalent, 16 megabytes of RAM (most systems currently come with 32MB), a CD-ROM drive, and a large hard disk (2 Megabytes or larger).
Laser printers work best for high-volume tasks like printing patient pamphlets because of their superior print speeds and output quality, but some physicians opt for an inkjet printer so that they can incorporate affordable color graphics in their handouts. Color laser printers are still very expensive.
o Software.
A variety of companies offer patient education solutions. Some are specific to medical specialties; others are more general in nature. Some products generate handouts for the patients to read and take home, while others are interactive teaching tools that require the patient to take a guided tour on the PC.
There also is a lot of information available on the Internet — much of it questionable in quality. With the affordability of patient education programs, it’s not worth your time to try to write your own or to collect information from various sources on the Internet. (For more information on some of the software options available, see box at right.)
In most programs, you can personalize the handout materials so they appear to come directly from your practice. Many programs allow you to customize and edit the material so it meets the exact language and opinion of the physician providing the material.
Another advantage of the computerized patient education program is that it saves space. You won’t need to have large filing cabinets and messy pamphlet holders. Many programs contain more than 500 different documents that are available on a few diskettes or CD-ROM.
Some programs offer educational handouts only. Others include discharge instructions, drug information, consent forms, or other types of communication. You should decide what types of communication might be valuable to you and evaluate the available options.
I suggest that you be sure that the program includes periodic updates that provide new patient education material as it becomes available. For example, a program written in 1997 and early 1998 would not have sildenafil (Viagra) information. Periodic updates will contain new drug information and patient education material on new products, procedures, and treatments.
Patient education programs are a real plus for your staff. The efficiency of the practice improves when staff no longer have to search the office for a pamphlet or brochure on some health-related topic. Computerized material avoids the necessity of interrupting patient care to make copies of the latest form or handout material. And most importantly, the patient education material reduces the number of questions from patients as the most frequently asked questions are answered in the handout material.
Clean and current patient education materials enhance the quality of your practice. If you hand out a sheet that has been photocopied five times and is barely legible, your patients might begin to wonder about quality in other areas of your practice. The handouts become a practice marketing tool.
I’ve been using my computerized communication system in my office since 1992. Since then, patient satisfaction has gone up, phone calls to the office have been reduced, and I feel better protected from a medico-legal standpoint. I’d like to hear your comments and questions about computerized patient communications systems: Send me an e-mail at [email protected].
Neil Baum, MD, is a urologist in practice in New Orleans. He is a frequent speaker and writer on the art and business of running a medical practice.
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