In a KevinMD blog post, Starla Fitch, an ophthalmologist, lays out tips for teaching patients to prioritize their list of symptoms and medical problems, thereby improving physician-patient communication.
Here are four tips:
1. When patients with multiple medical problems come in for a recheck, ask your staff to triage each patient's symptoms.
2. Have your staff discuss the top three symptoms as they are preparing for you to enter the exam room.
3. Encourage patients to create checklists of their medical concerns whenever you speak to them.
4. If the patient gets off course and starts talking about problem number No. 37, gently steer them back to their list of the top three, with particular attention to No. 1.
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