Yet another stumbling block in the ongoing struggle to build Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and the effort to improve patient-doctor communication – people don’t know their own anatomy!!
A study of patients and members of the public has shown that most lack even basic knowledge of human anatomy. The research, featured in the open access journal BMC Family Practice, found that people were generally incapable of identifying the location of major organs, even if they were currently receiving relevant treatment.
The researchers are concerned about the potential problems these findings reveal in doctor-patient communication, with possible adverse effects on diagnosis and treatment outcomes. According to Weinman, “Recent evidence has shown that when doctors €™ and patients €™ vocabulary are matched, significant gains are found in patients €™ overall satisfaction with the consultation as well as rapport, communication comfort and compliance intent”.
View the News Release and the Complete Study.
