Dr. Michael Pottash Writes about Clinicians’ Word Choices on the Better Healthcare Blog

Dr. Michael Pottash writes about the article he co-authored on clinicians’ word choices when communicating prognosis to patients, families and other medical providers. Dr. Pottash summarizes the findings of that study, pointing out that, though the words are nonspecific, a consensus emerged among the residents that certain words did, in fact, correlate with specific time frames. He reflects that uncertainty persists between clinicians, and especially between them and their patients. Thus, it would be clearer if healthcare professionals simply used explicit time frames in documentation and in consultation with patients when attempting to convey a prognosis.