Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Health Care Processes and Decision Making
Lecture:Making a diagnosis
Choosing therapy
Communicating the plan
The impact of EHRs and technology on clinical decision-making
Slide content:Other Clinicians Colleagues Future responsibility for patient Format Content Detail Experts share knowledge not only of their domain, but of the structure and goals of their discourse (Evans, 1989) Consultants Ask a clear questionget a much better answer What to sharewhat to leave out Neurologist Psychiatrist Cardiologist Radiologist 11
Slide notes:Clinicians often need to communicate about the patient with other colleagues or consultants. Discussions with colleagues, for example, may involve signing out a patient over the weekend or transferring the patient to another persons care for the future. The communicating clinician needs to consider the format, content, and level of detail of the communication, which will vary depending on the purpose. On-call, overnight coverage requires less information and detail than the permanent transfer of patient care responsibility. Experts share knowledge, not only of their domain but of the structure and goals of their discourse, according to Evans. This shared knowledge can make communication between colleagues quite efficient. When calling upon consultants to address specific issues, its essential to ask a clear question, which facilitates a useful reply. How much information and which information to share depends on who is being consulted; for example, neurologists, psychiatrists, cardiologists, or radiologists each need different information to address the problem in their specialty. Simply communicating every piece of data will force the consultant to find a needle in a haystack of irrelevant information. 11