How do you ensure that patients and families understand their treatment plan, medications and discharge instructions?
At HMSL, we use the “Teach Back” method because we know that 40-80% of medical information is immediately forgotten and 98% of medical errors are communication related. Through teach back we are able to assess the patient and family’s understanding of the information and evaluate our teaching effectiveness. Teach back is effective in many situations, for example medication administration, new self-care techniques, consent for procedures, health education, care plan discussion, discharge instructions, asthma action plans, physical therapy, and diabetic education. After we review the information with the patient and family we ask them to explain the information in their own words. This provides a safe environment to assess their knowledge and understanding and ensure that we are using plain language to explain the information clearly. Teach back allows us to partner with the patient and family to improve their outcomes.
Janet Leatherwood