This article provides suggestions for improving the connection and communication between doctors and patients, addressing challenges doctors face in patient care, and offering ten practical tips.

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The growth of medical knowledge makes medical work hard and requires strict upkeep. A few tips that can help doctors are as follows:

• Doctors must establish boundaries
• Provide complicated explanations
• Deal with tough emotions
• Manage arguments
• Diagnose and manage mental illness
• Address serious issues like end-of-life concerns
• Resolve cultural and racial difficulties
• Communicate with patients' families

Whether they are general physicians or specialists, doctors often lack professional communication skills and seldom handle these and other interviewing concerns with a focused or systematic strategy.

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Improving patient-physician connection

Here are some suggestions for improving the patient-physician connection.

1. Plan beforehand

1. Before seeing a patient in person, it's always better to study their medical record and prior history.
2. If at all possible, attempt to have your nurse order any necessary prior medical documents, such as reports from prior treatment or interventions, in advance.
3. Having everything ready will put patients at rest, increase trust, and speed up treatment.

2. Establish eye contact

1. Sit down and concentrate on the patient while speaking with them rather than the computer screen.
2. Patients should never be intimidated by doctors.
3. Make sure you are seated at the same level as the patient or lower.
4. To make it easier for you to observe the patient from the computer, try to arrange the furnishings in the clinic room.

3. Use your notes to involve the patient

1. It's better to read aloud passages of your note as you type if you prefer to compose it with a patient present.
2. Patients like seeing how meticulously we pay attention to detail in patient notes. Include particular information in your note, such as the patient's occupation, prior medical conditions, and current medicines. While you write them, read aloud a condensed version of your management and medical workup plans.
3. The key points of your suggestions are highlighted in this recapitulation. Patients will comprehend and remember your idea more fully the more times you explain it to them.

4. Request a recap

Asking the patient to recollect and describe the plan to you is the greatest approach to wrap off a clinic appointment. This guarantees patient comprehension. Take this chance to clarify any misunderstandings.

This additional effort demonstrates your concern and interest in a successful conclusion.

5. Use handouts that are simple to read

1. Ensure that your patient education materials can be understood by fifth-graders. Have copies accessible in the languages that your patients use most often.
2. Utilise the specialised materials that respected societies such as ACC, AHA, AGA etc., provide to members for use in their practice.
3. These materials show that your treatment is standardised, in line with the opinions of leading doctors, and that you are involved with your country's medical association.

6. Establish post-visit connection

Walk patients to the front desk to check out whenever you can. Any urgent tests that need to be arranged should be made clear to your pertinent personnel in front of the patient.

Patients will appreciate your attention to detail and lobbying efforts. Patients will remember you as the doctor who went above and beyond after taking this easy step to establish rapport with them.

7. Make sure you follow your schedule

1. Create a reasonable clinic schedule so that you can be on time or even early.
2. Patients cherish it when you respect their time as well. Remember that many patients may need to take time out from work or even from caring for loved ones to attend your clinic appointment.
3. Punctual doctors will be remembered, admired, and recommended by their patients.
4. Provide patients with a review of the systems checklist to complete before their clinic session since it might be challenging to fit all you need to accomplish into one visit.
5. After checking in, patients have a fantastic chance to do this in the waiting area. This will facilitate taking more rapid notes.
6. Additionally, it's advisable to train your nurses and support personnel to educate patients about any intervention procedures and scheduling. Physicians can keep on track by taking these simple actions.

8. Don't rush things at the hospital

Avoid taking a patient's history or doing a physical exam in a hospital environment while someone else is taking their vital signs or beginning a line, for example. If two separate healthcare providers are speaking to patients at the same time, the patients may feel hurried and may not be able to focus on the medical talk. It's polite to assist the patient one item at a time.

9. Compose a strong discharge summary

Write outstanding clinic discharge summaries that seem like powerful advice. Each suggestion is given a number, which I then rank according to significance.

Clinic and hospital discharge guidelines must be written in clear, understandable language.

Every medicine that has been prescribed, changed, or stopped is included in the discharge statement, along with a warning about any potential adverse effects. This method significantly increases patient adherence to our suggestions.

10. Remember aftercare

1. Patients appreciate it when you phone them at home to see how they are and to follow up on symptoms like nausea, constipation, and stomach discomfort. It demonstrates how much effort you put into helping them.
2. Call the patient and have a brief talk with them rather than responding to their query in an electronic health record.
3. As a caring physician who cares for patient satisfaction and outstanding clinical results, patients will refer you to their friends.

Disclaimer- The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of M3 India.

About the author of this article: Dr Monish Raut is a practising super specialist from New Delhi.