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Bridging the Gap Between Physicians and Patients: Enhancing the Patient Experience
Mohamed Tayem
Abstract
This paper aims to provide various means of effective use of a patient’s time while
waiting in a waiting room for an appointment or to be seen by a member of the health care staff.
What different ways are there to make waiting time more useful for patients? There are various
possibilities, including having a slideshow run on a TV in the waiting room so patients can read
and educate themselves. The slideshow could include a brief video which provides explanations
and information on various topics. The slides can even be voiced over for those that have trouble
reading. Another way to put waiting time to good use would be to inform people about ways to
avoid injury and/or sickness by handing out pamphlets which could be read while waiting or at
home. These pamphlets could convey the same material as the slide show, but just as an
Bridging the Gap Between Physicians and Patients: Enhancing the Patient Experience
Background
Waiting times in physicians’ offices have long been topics of complaints. Whether it is
the feeling that the physician is overbooking his practice, or that there is time spent waiting with
no explanation for what could be occupying the staff, the issue of having to wait is often
accepted. A 2014 study in the American Journal of Managed Care showed that patient’s recorded
an average wait time of 40 minutes before seeing their health care provider (Bleustein et. al,
2014). The waiting time is usually spent wasted and was shown in the study to be correlated with
increasing patient dissatisfaction with their provider. What if we could fill this time with a
Improving one’s health is the entire reason behind the office visit and providing
supplemental information outside of the physician encounter itself would aid the patient in
improving their health. Typically, the physician is able to address one or two ailments of a
patient per encounter due to the time allotted for the visit. Taking advantage of the waiting room
time already spent at the office to further learn about medical topics to improve their health
would be extremely beneficial. Not only is it an issue of time but it is an issue of topic. As an
example, one of the most common office visits in the US is due to diabetes related issues, which
according to the CDC is a cause of 34.6 million visits annually (Center for Disease Control,
2015). At these visits, the patient addresses specific diabetes related pathology such as nerve
damage and pain and loss of sensation. A lot of the severity of these diseases can be prevented
by very simple measures taken by the patient, but often times they do not know the information
necessary and the office visit is so centralized on treating their specific issues that there is no
time to talk about preventative measures. Keeping up to date with vaccinations, maintaining a
EDUCATING PATIENTS IN THE WAITING ROOM
healthy diet and avoiding certain foods, and exercising are all information that could easily be
conveyed to the patient to improve their health in addition to their meeting with the physician.
Method
Patients will be provided with medical information in the form of a slideshow that can be
auto played on a TV screen in the waiting room as well as a pamphlet that has a brief summary
of the slideshow containing visual aids to have patients take home. Since waiting room time is
variable patient to patient and there is no single standard, patients may not have the time to view
the full slide show or may first enter the clinic at different points during the presentation, so
providing them with the pamphlet would allow them to continue reading and learning at different
points in the visit such as being seated in the patient room but waiting for the health care
provider or nurse, and even, the opportunity to take a pamphlet home to have a constant reminder
at any point. The information that would be on the pamphlets would be general medical
information from sources such as the CDC, which according to research by Consumer Reports,
would be composed of medical knowledge that physicians would like their patients to know
While waiting to be seen by a healthcare professional, patients in the waiting room will
benefit by watching a slideshow that provides information on how to reduce the chances of
becoming ill or injured. Literature review research done by the Ghulam Shabiralyani in the world
recognized Journal of Education and Practice showed that the use of a visual aids such as
presentations and paper copies significantly increased effectiveness in retention of material when
compared to orally presented information alone (Shabiralyani et. al, 2015). Retention of material
with combined oral and visual aid was shown to be about 20% greater than that of oral
information alone. Also demonstrated by their research was that slideshows and pamphlets both
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provided specific benefits but came with their individual weaknesses as well. Two notable
weaknesses were the poor cost effectiveness as the pamphlets and the difficulty of slide
maintenance with the presentation. The slideshow will include information from how to reduce
sickness or chances of getting sick to how to reduce injury or risk of injury. The pamphlets will
include the same information but in a reduced form since it is harder to put all of the information
on a limited amount of space. The pamphlets and slideshow will have short, brief points that are
easy to read and understand. A recent article published by the New York Times and credited by
multiple other sources said that recent research had demonstrated a decrease in the average
current attention span of adults to be about 8 seconds (Egan, 2016). Specifically, the pamphlets
will be composed of different sections related to issues of health that physicians believe to be
critically important and often times underlooked, in which failure to take care of may result in
extensive worsening of their disease as shown by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
One area that physicians find to be important but may be overlooked by patients is the different
types of vaccinations, their importance, and what failure to take the vaccinations may cause
(American Academy of Family Physicians, 2017). Another is nutrition, daily caloric intake, daily
recommended values and foods to avoid. Nutrition is the gateway to the human body and failure
to supply the body adequately and properly can worsen disease processes. Failure to manage
nutrition properly is often correlated with increased risk of diabetes, cancer, and other diseases
that make up a large portion of patient office clinic visits today (Barnard et. al, 2009). A third
area that tends to be overlooked by patients is exercise, the benefits of exercise, and examples,
including calorie calculations that provide patients with easy ways to take care of their body
(AAFP, 2017).
Disuccision
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Vaccinations
Vaccinations are one of humanity's most vital medical discoveries. From the first vaccine
in the late 1700’s against cowpox, and up until the recent rise in flu shot vaccinations, vaccines
have been critical in eliminating diseases before which were detrimental to human life. In recent
times there has been growing opposition to the use of vaccines, with people citing the risk of
autism and other health disturbances. A 2013 study by the CDC, along with numerous other
studies, demonstrated hardily that here was no increased risk of autism from vaccinations
(DeStefano et al., 2013). Due to media access being more easily obtained in this generation,
when compared to the ease of accessing research studies, many people may not have been
exposed to these research findings. Thus, this information must be shared with patients to let
them know that it is safe to receive their vaccinations and maintain their health.
Exercise
Exercise is one of the most important ways to maintain health. It impacts different organ
systems and builds the strength to fight different diseases. It should be a routine part of daily
lives and currently research by the Mayo Clinic recommends 150 minutes of moderate aerobic
exercise for most healthy adults, spread out through the duration of the week as well as strength
training for all the muscle groups two times a week (Laskowski, 2016). Achieving these numbers
can be done in different ways including running, jogging, biking, swimming and playing
different sports. Although it may seem to be common sense that exercise should be a regular
activity, research by the CDC in 2013 showed that up to 80% of Americans do not get the
recommended exercise (Jaslow, 2013). Providing patients with this information will encourage
them and remind them to get the exercise that they need to positively impact their health.
Health in Islam
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Health is extremely important in Islam and has been approached from various angles.
Whether it’s from the Quran where Allah mentions avoiding alcohol and other intoxicating
agents, and even extending to the hadith of the Prophet, it is a topic that is definitely present in
the religions. In one strong hadith, narrated by Abu Huraira, the Prophet PBUH is narrated as
saying that a strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than a weak believer (Sahih
Muslim, 800 AD). Strength comes from many sources but in this case it can be understood that
the prophet may be referring to physical strength which comes from maintaining one’s health. In
another hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad, the Prophet (PBUH) was noted saying to teach your
children swimming, archery, and horse riding (Fadailur Ramyi Fi Sabilillah, Hadith: 15). This
has been translated by many scholars as hinting at the importance of exercise and taking care of
one’s body. All of these activities carry with them elements of strength, focus, and discipline
earned from regular exercise. Not only is there evidence of the importance of health as conveyed
by the Prophet (PBUH), but Allah (SWT) himself tells us himself how important health is even
when compared to one of the five pillars of Islam. In the second chapter of the Quran in Surat
Al-Baqara he mentions how fasting is one of the pillar of Islam required by all believers with the
exception of those who are not in good health (Quran 2:183-185) We can take away from this the
value of taking care of one’s self that even when compared to one of the great pillars of the
Considering the main topic throughout the slideshow and pamphlets consists of
educational material regarding general health, some may lack a keen interest in this information
if the presentation is not appealing. A study at the University of Wisconsin showed that
maintaining interest for a research group was correlated with increased success in that group to
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follow the instructions given to them (Harackiewicz, 2002). The conclusions from this study may
be reasonably extrapolated to indicate that interest in the resource material may result in an
One way to keep the audience interested is to make the material amusing to the readers
depending on their age; however, since there are patients of all ages visiting the clinic that may
be difficult to achieve since research demonstrated by Dr. David Seiler showed that different age
groups tend to have differences in their learning style depending on age, with the younger school
age population preferring more visualized style of learning than their older counterparts (Seiler,
2011) . So, in order to produce informational material that will reach the widest audience and to
have the audience be interested, providing resource material containing a combination of both
Another way to keep the audience more interested is using aids such as pictures and
tables throughout the slideshow as supported by the research completed by the Journal of
Education and Practice (Shabiralyani, 2015). Text alone without visual or graphic elements is not
as appealing to the reader who tends to either ignore the slide or put the pamphlet back.
Furthermore, research shows that it is effective to keep the points brief. The information should
not be too long to the point where it bores the reader, but at the same time, not so short where the
The medical field possibly more than any, is composed of a diverse background of
people. Disease does not discriminate between race, language, or culture and affects everyone
equally. For that reason alone, medical offices are composed of some of the most diverse groups
of people. People are different and learn in different ways, and treatment of patients should be
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made that each physician treats their patient’s respective to their needs, the medical education in
the office waiting time provides an alternative method of exposure to the patients. Some people
learn by being talked to and through discussion, but others learn better and are more receptive to
more visual cues and a slideshows and pamphlet will accommodate to these people. While
information provided by brochure or slideshow is not as wholesome as what the doctor would
provide, it is a takeaway that will still provide some benefit to the patient while making more
Conclusion
Time is something that cannot be replaced and large portions of time are spent in the
hospitals and medical clinics waiting to be seen by the staff physicians and other medical
professionals. Patients spend it either on their phones, or watching TV; activities that are of no
real benefit. Patients can spend that time more efficiently, and by being educated on how to
better their health, and more beneficially as well. By providing patients with a slideshow
presentation in the waiting room as well as paper pamphlets, they will receive exposure to
medical information by a different modality than what they get with a face to face in person
interaction, which to some may be favorable with their learning style. Providing information
about vaccines, exercise, and nutrition will help patients improve their overall health and serve as
a reminder that although diseases often impact a certain system, by taking care of their entire
body and maintaining their health, they can improve their quality of life. If a patient is going to
spend time in the waiting room anyways, why not spend it learning about how to reduce
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