Getting patients to follow the instructions given to them by their doctor is a crucial aspect of their treatment, and new research from the University of Florida suggests asking patients to ‘teach their instructions back’ to the doctor can have a significant impact.

“Teach-back helps doctors identify what information patients are lacking, or what they misunderstood, so they can correct it,” the researchers explain.

The researchers examined five years worth of data from the Longitudinal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and found that when doctors asked patients to repeat care instructions back to them in their own words, the patients were 15% less likely to be admitted to hospital, and 23% less likely to become hospitalized repeatedly.

Untapped potential

Despite these positive results, nearly a third of patients revealed that their doctor had never adopted this approach with them.  The researchers believe that if doctors aren’t taking the initiative themselves, then patients can do so on their behalf.

“It’s a very helpful communication strategy for patients to initiate if a provider does not. It’s certainly one I use in my own health care as a patient, but probably even more in my role as a caregiver or care partner for my children and spouse,” they say.

The researchers suggest that time is a major factor in stopping doctors from encouraging patients to teach their instructions back to them.  Despite the fact that such an exercise can often be completed in a few minutes, the average consultation is scarcely longer than that, so time is a serious barrier.

It’s an area that they plan to explore in more depth however, as they firmly believe that better communication leads to better adherence, which in turn results in better health outcomes for the patient, so the importance cannot be overstated.

The ultimate aim is for doctors to initiate teach-back interactions with all of their patients, and the researchers don’t plan to rest until that outcome is achieved.