1. Assess What the Patient Already Knows
Before providing information, find out what a patient already
knows about his or her condition. Many times, other physicians
or health care providers have already communicated information
to the patient, which can have the effect of coloring
patient perceptions and perhaps even causing confusion when
new information is introduced. For instance, a nephrologist
may talk about the patient “getting better” based on improving
renal function tests, while a cardiologist is focused on the
patient’s severe, irreversible cardiomyopathy. In other scenarios,
patients will come to the physician with preconceived
notions about a particular condition, perhaps based on lessthan-
authoritative sources. It is important, therefore, to determine
what a patient already understands—or misunderstands—
at the outset.