Communicating health information with older adults in medical practices

Established doctor-patient relationships are encouraged under health reform because they make for better care and save money by reducing hospital admissions and emergency room visits. In medical practice settings, high quality health communication between care providers and older adults is associated with positive outcomes such as increased adherence to treatment recommendations. Because older adults visit their physicians relatively frequently, it is important to assess how older adults rate the communications they receive from their physician, and address any deficiencies.This session will present evidence on older adults' (age 65 and older) satisfaction with health communications in medical practices. Surveys resulting from over 400,000 encounters representing almost 700 medical practices, collected by a healthcare consulting firm on behalf of clients in 2011, were analyzed. A standard survey was mailed to patients shortly after their visit, completed, and returned. Return rate approximated 25%. The survey contained background items (e.g., patient age) and 24 items pertaining to the quality of visit events. Patients rated each item (e.g., “Amount of time the physician spent with you”) on a 5-point scale ranging from “Very Poor” to “Very Good.” Responses were converted to a 100-point scale. Seven items pertaining to communication with the doctor or other care provider were assembled into two subscales assessing instrumental and affective aspects of communication. Results indicate that older patients were more satisfied with both aspects of their communications than younger patients. Implications of these results will be discussed.