A better way(?) of keeping patients informed

The importance of keeping patients

informed cannot be overemphasised

Mis-communication, or a lack of communication

is the biggest cause of formal complaints by

patients

Source is the Dental Cases Panel, which deals

with all the things gone wrong.

Current methods of patient

communication/information

acquisition (in order of priority)

1. At time of consultation (pros/cons/opinion)- pictures,

videos, and pamphlets

2. During treatment (keeping them informed about what is

going on e.g. decay is in the nerve, I am going to now

blah blah)

3. Post treatment e.g exo instructions

4. TLC by your admin staff or yourself

5. Patients who think they know what you know

because they’ve studied it on wikipedia/webmd

At the time of consultation

1. Information overload- imagine trying to talk

to a patient about all the things associated

with caries, large fillings/crowns, bruxism,

etc in one appointment.

2. Patients only take in a fraction of information

you give them, and retain a fraction of that

fraction.

You see them at their 6 month

recall....

And because it was all so much, they ignore

the problem(s), and you repeat everything

again (the most annoying part of my life)

To create an interactive, credible, evidence-

based, ‘’drip-feed’’ system of patient education

and awareness, whether it is general

information, or about a procedure, or about

post operative instructions.

The Idea:

In the real world, you will have

to take teeth out, and explain

the post operative information

to them. This is a lot for

patients to take in:

You could regurgitate healing

of an extraction socket like

Saturday Night’s Tequila on

Sunday, but they will

understand it as clearly as the

regurgitate looks.

Benefit to Students

1.You convert your book knowledge into clinical and patient centric material

2.You get your names published in a document that will be seen and felt (sic)

by dentists and patients

3.You contribute to knowledge, and have the opportunity to continue doing so

after you graduate (rather than the usual masters degree or pHD.

4.You will learn about marketing, business, management, creativity, turning

ideas into reality. All these will assist you in your career, but in all the other

aspects of your life.

Benefit to Patients

1. They receive information in small chunks that are easier

to swallow

2. They are empowered by this information, and can make

a decision regarding treatment outside the daunting

dental surgery.

3. They start to feel like someone is looking after their

health even when they are not in direct contact with the

dentist!

Benefit to dentist

1. Patients are more informed

2. Better acceptance of treatment plans

3. Up to date information on procedures (trust me after

you leave uni, you cannot update your knowledge on

every facet of dentistry)

4. The system we create is interactive, so patient can be

engaged outside the dental surgery. i.e. it is a value

added service to the patient

What we need from you:

1. Commitment

2. A bit of elbow grease

3. A bit of faith in us and the idea

What we will do:

1. Create a framework, and timelines for the project

2. Split you into groups

3. Come up with a list of topics

4. Come up with a list of supervisors who know their shit in that particular topic,

and are also approachable

What next?

Feedback?

Amit Gurbuxani (Might be a bit busy so

maybe approach his slaves below)

amit.gurbuxani@uwa.edu.au

Hemal Ruparelia hemal@mediref.com.au

0405 982 105

Anish Shah anish@mediref.com.au

0423 840 804