Background: Substantial portions of hospitalized patients in the United States do not understand their plan of care. Hospitalized patients’ knowledge of their plan of care affects their ability to provide truly informed consent and assent to inpatient treatment, and to assume their medical care after discharge. There is a need for further study of the [...]

Background: The use of whiteboards in the inpatient setting has become increasingly prevalent as a potentially effective tool for prevention of communication failures and improved multidisciplinary care. Provider and nursing surveys indicate that this tool is useful when utilized, however the true impact on patient satisfaction outcomes remains unclear. Moreover, little is known about the [...]

Background: The Institute of Medicine includes patient-centeredness as an essential component of high-quality patient care. One dimension of patient-centeredness is the need for physicians to provide clear communication to patients (1). The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey also measures physician communication skill.Patient perception of physician communication is complex. Visual aids [...]

Background: Inpatient bedside whiteboards enhance patient-provider communication and satisfaction with care, but little is known about patients’ perspectives on the whiteboards. Our objectives were to understand patients’ views on the usability and design/content of these boards; and assess nursing views on current practice of whiteboard utilization, including barriers and suggestions to optimal use. Methods: We [...]

Background: Whiteboard mini lectures (WMLs), a “chalk talk” subtype, are interactive, small group sessions that use a whiteboard and markers as the primary teaching tools, A distinguishing feature of WMLs is the flexibility to creatively teach material by combining written text with novel, hand-drawn visuals such as diagrams, flow charts, and graphics. Assessment of WMLs [...]

Background: More often than not, hospitalized patients are not able to correctly identify members of their physician team. Being able to identify physicians is a critical component of developing the patient-physician relationship. The use of facecards and whiteboards appears to improve hospitalized patients’ ability to identify their physician and may be associated with improvements in [...]