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Better patient education by identifying barriers, using simple tips

Ambulatory Safety Monitor, February 24, 2005

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Effective patient education can lead to greater patient satisfaction, fewer post-surgery visits to the emergency room, and fewer return visits to the ambulatory center. But is your current patient information policy working to that end? There's always room for improvement, say healthcare professionals.

The JCAHO's PC.6.30 standard requires that the patient receives education and training specific to the patient's abilities appropriate to the care, treatment, and services provided by the organization. Similarly, the AAAHC's 4.D.1 says the provision of high-quality healthcare services is demonstrated by the education of and effective communication with those served, concerning the diagnosis and treatment of their conditions, appropriate preventive measures, and use of the healthcare system. In standard 10.T, the AAAHC also says organizations should establish protocols for instructing patients in self-care after surgery, including written instructions to patients who receive moderate sedation/analgesia, deep sedation/analgesia, regional anesthesia, or general anesthesia.

Identify barriers in your facility

Be aware of the obstacles your patients face. For example, some patients may have literacy, language, sight, or hearing disabilities.

Deb Phillips, RN, MSN, a patient education coordinator at Reading (PA) Hospital and an affiliated, off-site ambulatory surgery center (ASC) in Pennsylvania, receives medical information at a 12th grade level. Her job is to bring it to a sixth-grade reading ability because most people read between a fourth- and sixth-grade level.

Tricks she uses to make this adjustment include

• scoring reading ease and grade level of the created material (see http://csep.psyc.memphis.edu/cohmetrix/readabilityresearch.htm for instructions)

• keeping the length of sentences to 15 words

• using words with no more than two syllables

• making use of 25% of each page's white space

• staying away from symbols such as brackets

Language and disabilities may also be a barrier for ASCs. Non-English-speaking patients don't always bring interpreter to a doctor's office. In such a case, Phillips recommends staffing your own interpreters. "Some are even certified these days," she says.

For the speech impaired, develop a close-captioned video of patient information. Also accommodate patients with poor eyesight. A simple, but worthwhile, solution to deliver effective patient education is to create brochures in larger type, suggest healthcare professionals.

Easy does it

Follow simple tips to deliver information to your patients. Linda Cardinale, RN, at Southwest Florida Institute of Ambulatory Surgery in Fort Myers, is in charge of patient information and says her facility's method works well for patients.

Although her information delivery hasn't changed much recently, Cardinale is constantly monitoring it by surveying patients about their care. The survey asks patients

• how they were treated

• about the condition of the facility

• whether they were given clear instructions about postoperative care

Cardinale and Phillips also suggest these tools when delivering patient education:

• Maps to the ASC

• Diagrams of the surgery

• Models of the surgery site

• Timely postoperative phone calls

• Web sites with information on the facility, its staff, its technology, and the procedures it performs

• Telephone recordings that leave useful information

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