Who Should Use These Resources?
The toolkit is designed for use by any health care organization that is committed to understanding and improving its communication performance. This includes hospitals, health centers, health systems, physician practices, and clinics.
With minor modification, the toolkit can also be used by other health care organizations including pharmacies and health plans.
If you would answer “No” or “Not Sure” for any of the following questions, the toolkit could help you evaluate and improve patient-centered communication within your organization.
- Does your organization assess how well it communicates with patients (e.g., by asking about communication issues in surveys and focus groups)?
- Is it easy for patients to navigate your organization?
- Does your organization collect information about the cultures, languages and education levels of patient populations in its community?
- Does your organization hire employees at all levels (e.g., custodial, registration, clinical, leadership) that reflect its patient community?
- Are community members invited to serve on organizational committees and advisory panels?
- Does your organization's budget include specific funding to improve communication with patients (e.g., to train staff, collect feedback, buy visual aids, hire interpreters)?
- Is your organization sensitive to patients' cultural and religious beliefs?
- Do staff members know how to contact interpreters when they need them?
- Does your organization track the number of encounters where an interpreter is provided?
- Does your organization ask patients to review new patient education documents to make sure they are understandable?
Ordering the toolkit
The toolkit is available for purchase online or by calling (800) 621-8335. The toolkit can be purchased on its own, or as part of a survey assistance package.
