Communication is effective when both the sender and receiver reach a clear and mutual understanding of the information being exchanged.
To achieve this, the message needs to be thoughtfully delivered and packaged. If it’s verbal communication, your tone and body language can either muddy up the information or enhance its clarity. If it’s written, the format of the document and the consistency in style can have the same effect.
In other words, more than just the message itself needs to be taken into consideration.
As patients or loved ones are emotionally processing a stressful time, it can make it more difficult for them to also process important information about treatment and medication. If healthcare providers don’t take these things into account, communication starts to break down and the quality of care plummets.
3 Areas Communication Impacts
Communication affects nearly every aspect of a facility’s operations. Rather than trying to tackle all of them, this article will focus on three of the most important ones.
• Readmission rates
• Patient experience
• Work culture