Medical Staff

12 steps to improving hospitalist communication

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, February 9, 2010

“The hospitalist system has inherent discontinuity of care and communication,” said Donna Knapp at a Medical Group Management Association meeting in October 2009, according to the January issue of ACP Hospitalist.

Here are 12 ways to improve communication with patients and with physicians in- and outside the hospital:

1. Standardize the hospitalist orientation process so that communication starts early.
2. Make introductions a part of orientation.
3. Choose which communication method should be used when and relay that to all staff.
4. Use communication tools such as Google Docs.
5. Set up a consistent communication method with PCPs, such as faxes.
6. Communicate with other doctors in the hospital, including ED physicians.
7. Standardize the nomenclature, acronyms, and abbreviations used within the hospital.
8. Establish a place to communicate, such as the hospitalist call room.
9. Sit down when you talk to patients.
10. Talk to one designee of a patient’s family to avoid confusion.
11. Remember that clothes can talk too; avoid messy dress.
12. Get others’ input when developing a handoff policy.

Have more tips? Join in the conversation at HospitalistLeadership.com.

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