10 common errors when communicating with patients

Billions of dollars a year in unnecessary health care expenses can be attributed to the inability of patients to understand what providers are communicating to them, according to the Institute for Healthcare Advancement Resolving the issues would reduce the number of negative medical outcomes, unnecessary visits to the physician and emergency department overcrowding, says Gloria Mayer, R.N., president and CEO of IHA, La Habra, Calif. The 10 most common communication errors are:

1 | Creating prescription drug instructions that are written at...