Healthcare Communication: Effective Techniques for Clinicians

Dennis Novack, MD, founder of DocCom.org, an online communication skills program for hospitals, residency programs and medical schools, discusses the influence of Dr. George Engel, research about the impact of good communication skills and best practices for teaching communication skills. This is the final episode of the podcast. Host Barbara Lewis can be reached at BarbaraLewis@JoansFamilyBillOfRights.com.

Mitchell D. Feldman, MD, MPhil, discusses how to mentor trainees to help them find their purpose and reconnect with their reason for entering the profession; the steps for integrating personal and professional life; the Japanese ikigai as a guide; traits of compulsivity and three questions at the end of the day to reconnect with purpose.

Rob Shochet, MD, discusses relationship centered communication strategy, three important skill sets, how to use the computer in the exam room and other communication techniques.

John Christensen, PhD, describes the medical conditions where hypnosis is used and verbal techniques on how to use hypnosis by talking to patients to improve outcomes.

Homa Dost, MD, a surgeon in Afghanistan discusses the challenges in finding joy in her work.

Elizabeth Morrison, LCSW, MAC, discusses the fascinating research on empathy's impact on health outcomes and three important techniques to convey empathy.

Kathy Cole-Kelly, MS, MSSW, discusses how to identify medical students who need communication remediation and the specific steps she undertakes to ensure they pass Step 2 CS.

In about a quarter of all patients seen in a year have in a mental health disorder of depression, substance use or anxiety. Unfortunately, clinicians aren't trained on what to do. Oftentimes, the physical symptoms signal an underlying mental issue. Listen to Bob Smith, MD, talk about the red flag complaints and how treating the mental disorder helps the physical ailment. His episode on patient-centered interviewing is one of the top three downloaded podcasts.

David Pendleton, DPhil, discusses how to sustain trust, how to address a patient when trust is lost and what to do when is trust undermined.

Howard Beckman, MD, discusses why every clinician needs to know the patients' goals, how articulating goals improves outcomes and helps the clinicians and what the research reflects; he encourages people to continue his innovative research.

Ted Parran, MD, discusses how to deal with the 10 percent of the U.S. population with a substance use disorder, who seek euphoric drugs. How to say NO without jeopardizing the relationship or suffering low patient satisfaction scores, and how to help the patient understand your position and de-escalate a conversation using the PEARLS technique.

Kevin Dorsey, MD, PhD, discusses his experiences with patients when he's his genuine self. He describes his empathy course and his students' reactions years later.

Jeannette Shorey, MD, discusses how to conduct a very efficient patient enounter by learning non-verbal cues, which can save time for a clinician, how to handle mixed messages, how mirroring can influence the patient.

Anthony Suchman, MD, MA, FACP, talks about the three guideposts for developing relationships, the mistakes that clinicians make in developing relationships with patients and how clinician can quickly develop relationships with patients in the era of shortened appointments.

Marcus Engel, MS, CXPX, CSP, discusses the most impactful words, which clinicians said to him, after being blinded in a horrific automobile accident and spending over six weeks in the hospital. Learn more about Marcus at MarcusEngel.com and read his books, "I'm Here" and the Other End of the Stethoscope."

Lisa Sanders, MD, is author of the popular Diagnosis column for the New York Times Magazine, which inspired the Fox TV program, House M.D. Her previous NYT column, Think Like a Doctor, was the inspiration for a seven-hour documentary series about the process of diagnosis, which is airing on Netflix in August 2019. In 2010 she published the book, Every Patient Tells a Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis. Her most recent book is titled, Diagnosis: Solving the Most Baffling Medical Mysteries. The fascinating podcast conversation is about how to organize the patient encounter, techniques for showing the patient that you're interested in their story, use of video tape with residents and coaching residents.

Elaine Khoong, MD, MS, discusses the rationale for using certified medical interpreters and the astounding error rate when ad hoc (e.g. family member) interpreters are used, how you explain to patients that you want to use a certified medical interpreter rather than an ad hoc interpreter and resources to help communicate with LEP patients.

Co-author of the DocCom module on high performance teams, Carol Mostow, LICSW, discusses the RESPECT model, an acronym for Respect, Explanatory model, Social context, Power, Empathy, Concerns and Trust. Learn how using a quick technique can change the entire tone of a meeting.

Susmita Pati, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Program Advisor for the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University discusses what individuals, teams and systems can do to rekindle joy.

Listen to renowned author and cardiologist, Eric Topol, MD, discuss the five qualities of deep understanding and how clinicians can incorporate them into their practice, using smart phone technology to bond with the patient and crying with a patient.