Medical terminology can often sound like a foreign language to those outside healthcare fields. But improving health literacy and clear communication are key to empowering patients and providing quality care. Learning to decode medical terms and explain concepts simply benefits both clinicians and the individuals they serve.
The Origins of Medical Language
Modern medical terminology has roots dating back to Greek and Latin. In fact, most of today’s medical prefixes, suffixes, and root words originate from these ancient languages. Examples include ‘cardio’ from Greek kardia for heart, ‘hepat’ from Greek hepar for liver, and ‘renal’ from Latin ren for kidney.
While many common medical words have Greek and Latin origins, terminology continues evolving to describe new discoveries. Doctors also frequently use complex terms by habit, even when simpler phrasing would suffice. Ensuring vocabulary aligns with patients’ health literacy levels takes conscientious effort.
Improving Health Literacy
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 12% of American adults are proficient in health literacy. This means the vast majority struggle to grasp medical information critical to managing their health and navigation of healthcare systems.
Low health literacy leads to poorer outcomes and higher costs systemwide. Patients may miss preventive care services, experience more hospitalizations and readmissions, and show lower compliance with medication regimens and lifestyle change plans. Improving how clinicians communicate promotes better adherence and outcomes.
Using Layman’s Terms
When speaking with patients, providers should try their best to avoid complex medical jargon and use layman’s terminology instead. For example, you could replace ‘myocardial infarction’ with ‘heart attack’ or ‘hypertension’ with ‘high blood pressure’.
They should use plain language when describing anatomy, physiological processes, and medical procedures. Word choice matters. ‘Bad’ valve may provoke more fear than saying the mitral valve ‘doesn’t close properly’.
Clarifying Diagnosis Details
The icd-11 diagnosis codes certainly use very specific medical language, say the experts at Find-A-Code.com. But the details embedded in these codes need not be relayed in full to patients. For instance, a coder may select ‘type 2 diabetes mellitus with diabetic neuropathy’ based on the physician’s documented findings.
However, the doctor could simply inform a patient “your blood sugar levels are too high, and this seems to be affecting nerve function in your feet”. The code captures necessary details for billing, while the patient receives a straightforward explanation. This improves comprehension.
Defining Medical Tests
Patients also commonly have medical tests ordered that they may not fully understand. A doctor may tell a patient she needs an MRI to better evaluate her sprained knee. But unless the MRI procedure is clearly explained, the patient may still feel confused. Describing an MRI as allowing the doctor to see highly detailed images of soft tissues like ligaments and tendons makes the value obvious.
Explaining Medications Clearly
Prescribing a new medication often leads providers to rapidly share a litany of instructions about dose, timing, and side effects. But information overload can cause patients to leave confused about how and when to actually take the drug.
Slowing down to clearly explain typical dosing schedule, how the medication works, what to watch out for, and what to do if side effects occur helps cement understanding.
Speaking with Cultural Awareness
Finally, being able to communicate health concepts in an understandable, culturally competent manner is very important. The background of a patient influences how this person describes symptoms and understands terminology. To that end, being able to share information in ways that resonate with each patient’s culture and health beliefs is crucial.
Conclusion
While medical vocabulary might seem like a foreign language to some people, decoding these terms for patients is an essential skill when it comes to building trusting relationships. With conscientious simplification and clarification, complex medical language gives way to true patient-centered communication.