Importance of Communication

Person-centered care is supported by good provider-patient communication that ensures patients' needs and wants are understood and addressed and that patients understand and participate in their own care. This approach to care has been shown to improve patients' health and health care.

According to the Institute of Medicine:

Data and information are a first step toward improving communications between providers and patients. Providers will increasingly need to discuss with patients the risks and benefits of competing treatment options and engage patients in shared decision making about their treatment choices. This represents a shift away from the historical model of medicine toward one in which physicians and patients work together to manage complex conditions, and make decisions on the basis not only of the best medical knowledge, but also the patient’s life circumstances, preferences, and personal biology.

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Updated_05/17/2019