Key Benefits Of Maintaining Good Healthcare Communications

Updated on June 10, 2020

Every day, no less than one person dies due to ineffective healthcare communications. Good healthcare communication means maintaining the proper flow of information with everything in the healthcare blockchain. These include the clinicians, healthcare communication technology, healthcare database, and down to the patients. Essentially, several activities, individuals, and devices have to work together to ensure an effective healthcare communication system.

Achieving an excellent healthcare communication system might look challenging. But, it is possible to create qualitative healthcare communication with the right system in place. With a sound communication system in place, the hospital is likely to witness seamless operations, thus saving more lives. 

You can always tell when a hospital has an effective communication system. It reflects in the method of operations, the services rendered, and the reduction in mortality. 

Here are the benefits of maintaining a sound healthcare communication system:

1. Patient’s Satisfaction

Health care communication involves so many areas that eventually leads to the patient. Poor communication in healthcare is one of the prevalent causes of increased mortality and recurring diseases.

Effective communication on patients’ past health care and health challenges records are very essential. Without the proper transfer of documents and patient records, healthcare givers might find it challenging to treat patients effectively.

Communication in terms of patient medications also matter. A lot of patients complain that their medication dosage wasn’t adequately communicated to them. Little mistakes, like giving patients medicines that they are allergic to or prescribing the wrong dose, can have fatal consequences for the patients.

Excellent healthcare communications will allow patients to get the best healthcare available. It also places the patient’s needs as a priority, ensuring that the patient receives satisfactory health care. 

Even after recovery, when there’s a sound communication system, the hospital can continue to check up on the patient. This ensures that the patient stays right on track and continue after recovery care. 

2. Ensures Patients’ Safety

When health care workers and the patients do not have a clear and refined communication flow, the patients tend to suffer the most. 

Excellent healthcare communication facilitates patients’ safety when receiving care. Proper communication means that human errors and technical errors would reduce drastically. 

By communicating effectively with patients, health care workers will know the best way to relate with them and handle their cases. This will reduce the possibility of complaints by the patients and their families. 

Lastly, an excellent healthcare communication system promotes proper communication flow between doctors, nurses, and other healthcare staff. This, in turn, ensures that there is no miscommunication in the patient’s healthcare.

3. Reduced Malpractice-based Legal Cases 

Ineffective communication increases the risk of health workers getting charged for medical malpractices. This is because any miscommunication in the communication channel can have adverse effects on the patient’s health or even result in death. 

In such cases, patients usually charge the healthcare center to court. The court might ask the hospital or doctor to pay a hefty settlement or face a possibility of jail time if found guilty of medical negligence. 

In addition to that, a medical malpractice case can also discredit the hospital’s name and give bad publicity. This is why hospitals need to improve healthcare communication system to enhance the quality of healthcare. 

An effective communication system will reduce the chances of medical malpractice and protect the hospital’s integrity.

4. Health Care Workers’ Satisfaction

There is a feeling of satisfaction everyone gets when their work is going on smoothly. There is an even greater feeling when health workers know that they are saving lives. 

Satisfaction at work is easier to achieve when hospitals encourage and have quality health communication. By having one, it saves time since everyone has a clear definition of what, when, and how to do something. More so, the burden and stress on health workers would also decrease because of an increase in job efficiency and satisfaction.

5. Patient’s Medication Adherence

Sound communication systems would make it easier for the patients to adhere to their dosages and other things necessary to achieve full recovery. 

Further, people managing health challenges would see the need to replace their drugs as soon as it gets exhausted. Proper instruction guidelines shouldn’t be left out in this discussion. When patients are aware of all their medication instructions, they will endeavor to take it as specified. 

6. Better Crises Management

The healthcare industry is a crisis-prone zone. Every day, there are dozens of emergencies that health care workers must attend to. Amidst the stress and measure to meet deadlines, it is easy to get overwhelmed by crises, especially if there is no communication system in place.

An efficient communication system ensures that there is always a crisis management protocol. That way, the hospital can go through emergencies and survive crises period without buckling over.

Conclusion

Ineffective communication in the healthcare sector has remained a ravaging monster. Technological advancements and innovations have made communication flow less complicated. This is a welcomed development because all hands need to be on deck to ensure proper communication flow for the healthcare system.

With a sound communication system, healthcare givers can reduce medical negligence and mortality, promote job efficiency and satisfaction, and give patients the best healthcare.

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