For many patients, the standard healthcare experience has been transactional in nature. But according to Gregory Makoul, PhD, CEO of PatientWisdom at NRC Health, an evolution is underway that focuses on treating each patient as an individual.
During a September Becker's Hospital Review webinar sponsored by NRC Health, Dr. Makoul described this evolution and explained NRC Health's digital tool to help clinicians better understand the human beings they care for.
Four takeaways:
- An evolution in human understanding is underway in healthcare. Healthcare is evolving toward consumerism. But the industry also needs to evolve to support connection and relationships between patients (who are experts on their lives) and providers (who are experts on clinical care).
- Within healthcare, there are multiple threats to common sense. Among the threats is a prevailing mindset of "that's how we've always done it in healthcare." Dr. Makoul said most patients' lives happen outside of a healthcare setting, yet this fact is often not adequately considered by payers and providers.
- Common sense in healthcare requires clarity on key teams. Three key terms are:
- Health: When patients are asked if they are healthy, they think about health broadly, including physical and psychosocial health, capacity to do what they want and control. "If you think people only think about health as physical, you're missing the boat," Dr. Makoul said.
- Empathy: The highest level of empathy is a shared feeling. But more common is acknowledgement — "I hear you" — and confirmation that a person's feelings are OK.
- Human understanding: People are looking for compassion, communication, empathy, honesty and listening.
- Clinicians often don't understand a patient's goals. Often when a patient is diagnosed with a disease, clinicians proceed to treatment without first asking the patient, "What is your goal for care?"
"We need to start focusing on what matters to [patients] . . . everyone in the organization needs to treat each patient as a unique person," Dr. Makoul said.
- NRC Health identifies what matters to patients. NRC has developed a digital tool that patients engage with before a visit. Patients respond to questions in a safe, easy way and share stories about themselves. Every member of the care team receives a one-screen summary about a patient, delivered through the EHR, that can be reviewed in 15 seconds. This summary conveys what matters to the patient, what make them happy, their agenda, goals and worries, how their health affects their life and their expectations for improving care. "This is what helps us provide care for each patient," Dr. Makoul said.
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