What are three ways in which a patient information packet can be helpful to the medical office?

Patient education allows patients to play a bigger role in their own care. It also aligns with patient- and family-centered care.

Inhaltsverzeichnis Show

Review Date 10/17/2021
Patient Education Methods
Patient Educational Materials
The Patient Information Packet
Promoting Health and Wellness
Patient Education Methods Prior to Surgery
What are three ways in which a patient information packet can be helpful to patients quizlet?
What is the purpose of patient information packet?
What is a benefit from a patient education packet?
What is the most important goal in patient education?

To be effective, patient education needs to be more than instructions and information. Teachers and health care providers need to be able to assess patient needs and communicate clearly.

The success of patient education depends largely on how well you assess your patient's:

Needs
Concerns
Readiness to learn
Preferences
Support
Barriers and limitations (such as physical and mental capacity, and low health literacy or numeracy)

Often, the first step is to find out what the patient already knows. Use these guidelines to do a thorough assessment before starting patient education:

Gather clues. Talk to the health care team members and observe the patient. Be careful not to make assumptions. Patient teaching based on incorrect assumptions may not be very effective and may take more time. Find out what the patient wants to know or take away from your meeting.
Get to know your patient. Introduce yourself and explain your role in your patient's care. Review their medical record and ask basic get-to-know-you questions.
Establish a rapport. Make eye contact when appropriate and help your patient feel comfortable with you. Pay attention to the patient's concerns. Sit down near the patient.
Gain trust. Show respect and treat each patient with compassion and without judgment.
Determine your patient's readiness to learn. Ask your patients about their outlooks, attitudes, and motivations.
Learn the patient's perspective. Talk to the patient about worries, fears, and possible misconceptions. The information you receive can help guide your patient teaching.
Ask the right questions. Ask if the patient has concerns, not just questions. Use open-ended questions that require the patient to reveal more details. Listen carefully. The patient's answers will help you learn the person's core beliefs. This will help you understand the patient's motivation and let you plan the best ways to teach.
Learn about the patient's skills. Find out what your patient already knows. You may want to use the teach-back method (also called the show-me method or closing the loop) to figure out what the patient may have learned from other providers. The teach-back method is a way to confirm that you have explained the information in a way that the patient they understand by asking them to act as if teaching it to you. Also, find out what skills the patient may still need to develop.
Involve others. Ask if the patient wants other people involved with the care process. It is possible that the person who volunteers to be involved in your patient's care may not be the person your patient prefers to be involved with. Learn about the support available to your patient.
Identify barriers and limitations. You may perceive barriers to education, and the patient may confirm them. Some factors, such as low health literacy or numeracy may be more subtle and harder to recognize.
Take time to establish rapport. Do a comprehensive assessment. It is worth it because your patient education efforts will be more effective.

References

Bowman D, Cushing A. Ethical practice and clinical communication. In: Feather A, Randall D, Waterhouse M, eds. Kumar and Clarke's Clinical Medicine. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:chap 5.

Bukstein DA. Patient adherence and effective communication. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2016;117(6):613-619. PMID: 27979018 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27979018/.

Gilligan T, Coyle N, Frankel RM, et al. Patient-clinician communication: American Society Of Clinical Oncology consensus guideline. J Clin Oncol. 2017;35(31):3618-3632. PMID: 28892432 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28892432/.

Review Date 10/17/2021

Updated by: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

The role of a medical assistant involves educating patients in general office information, promotion of health and wellness, injury prevention, and presurgical education. Educated patients want to be involved in treatment decisions, and by involving them, patients are more amenable to following a treatment plan.

Education can also reduce anxiety and fear patients may have for a procedure or treatment. Those educated patients will be happy customers and likelier to tell friends and family about their pleasant experience with the physician’s office.

There are a few methods to educate patients including factual, sensory, and participatory teaching. The medical assistant will have different methods of printed and virtual educational materials to educate patients.

In addition, a physician’s office may have a general information packet to explain many of the administrative matters involved in scheduling and billing.

Finally, education of the patient by the medical assistant involves health and wellness, injury prevention, and presurgical instructions.

Patient Education Methods

Education and instruction methods can come in many forms including verbal, written, and demonstrative. There are different methods of learning when it comes to educating patients in a medical office, including factual, sensory, and participatory.

Using a combination of all three methods of learning can help patients get a full understanding of the instructions that pertain to a procedure or regimen.

Factual Teaching – Factual teaching methods inform patients of details of a procedure, surgery, or regimen so they know what is going to happen and how they should prepare. Factual information is supported by written materials for the patient to refer to after the initial conversation.

Sensory Teaching – This method involves a description of the physical sensations patients may feel during the procedure. For example, patients may experience soreness or pain following a procedure that is common and not an issue. The medical assistant will want to focus on all five senses, including touch, sight, hearing, taste, and smell.

Participatory Teaching – Participatory teaching involves a demonstration of methods to confirm that patients understand the treatment or procedure they will be a part of. After educating patients about the treatments or procedures they may need to do at home, it is important for the medical assistant to have the patient repeat the specifics of the treatment or procedure to confirm that they understand how to complete tasks.

Patient Educational Materials

The educational materials that a medical assistant will use to educate patients and their families can be either printed or virtual. Examples of educational materials include brochures, visual representations of a patient performing a task or doing some form of stretching, videos hosted on the physician’s website or located on YouTube, and patient resources provided by different medical organizations.

Many physicians’ offices use brochures and educational materials to explain procedures performed or to give information about specific diseases and medical conditions. Also, the use of electronic health records helps create, revise, and deliver the educational materials directly to the patient.

Information that is used to educate patients should focus on what the patient needs to know and why. It should also offer some expected results, warning signs for the patient to watch out for, problems that may occur, and contact information for the physician’s office should the patient have any questions.

The Patient Information Packet

During the first visit to a physician’s office, a medical assistant will typically educate the patient about the practices and policies of the office. By distributing an information packet, the patient will develop a level of trust with the practice and staff.

Some of the administrative matters that the patient information packet will explain include an introduction to the office and staff, the qualifications of the physician, a description of the practice, office hours, appointment scheduling, late or no-show fees for appointments, telephone policies, payment policies and late pay fees, insurance policies, and patient confidentiality statements.

Promoting Health and Wellness

Medical assistants can help promote health and wellness of their patients through educational methods that focuses on healthy habits, protection from injury, and preventative measures to decrease the risk of disease or illness. Patient education in the physician’s office should help patients to achieve these goals.

Healthy Habits – The medical assistant, with order and guidance from the physician, can educate patients to employ proper nutrition, get regular exercise, avoid smoking and drugs, limit the amount of alcohol consumed, practice safe sex, and create a healthy work/life balance.

Preventative Measures – Patients need to know that they can reduce the risk of contracting certain illnesses and diseases by taking preventative measures. Preventative measures include health promoting behavior, screenings, and rehabilitation.

The medical assistant will want to educate patients about health promoting behavior by living a healthy lifestyle and knowing the signs and symptoms of diseases. Regular screenings are important to identify any problems while they are in their early stages, catching an illness or disease that can be rectified with minimal damage to the patient’s body.

If the patient already has an illness or disease, it is recommended that the medical assistant educate the patient about rehabilitation. The goal of rehabilitation is to maintain functionality and avoid further disability.

Patient Education Methods Prior to Surgery

It is important for a medical assistant to properly educate a patient prior to surgery to reduce risks, prepare the patient, and create a positive outcome after surgery. This education involves preparation for the surgery and postoperative care after the surgery.

Properly educating a patient prior to surgery can also release the physician’s office from legal liability. Part of the education prior to surgery involves the patient’s signing an informed consent form for the physician.

Preoperative education can help reduce patient anxiety and fear, educate for the proper use of medication, educate about complications that may follow surgery, and improve recovery time. Educating patients about what to expect during and after surgery will allow them to prepare both physically and emotionally.

Want to learn more about patient education methods and the medical assistant’s role in a physician’s office? Ready for an exciting new career in the medical assisting field?

The Medical Assistant program provides hands-on experience in a medical facility where you can foster professional relationships with real patients. Medical Assistant students spend 160 hours in an externship in a real-world medical work environment where they are supervised and taught in order to gain valuable on-the-job training.

What are three ways in which a patient information packet can be helpful to patients quizlet?

Which of the following are benefits of a patient information packet? It informs patients of office policies and procedures. It helps clarify the office's payment policy. It helps clarify the roles of the office staff.

What is the purpose of patient information packet?

An information brochure tells patients, healthcare users and their families about the care that is being offered, and adds to the information given verbally by the healthcare professional. It is not a substitute for verbal information but can help patients and users to take part in decisions about their health.

What is a benefit from a patient education packet?

A benefit of the patient information packet is that it. promotes better compliance with treatment programs. helps patients feel more comfortable with the qualifications of the healthcare professionals who are caring for them. can answer a treatment question that may come up during an office visit.

What is the most important goal in patient education?

Primary prevention is considered the most cost-effective and beneficial method of prevention in the healthcare system. The goal of primary prevention is to prevent disease or illness from happening through educational channels, vaccines, and other interventions.