Today’s communication methods are various and sometimes complex. Everything from paper and pens to computer communication systems, modern communication has come a long way since our parents’ days. We can take our phones with us and keep up on current events like the recent earthquake in Japan, or check our electronic mail, talk to someone from around the world, and even get information on ourselves. In the communication era we are so connected to the rest of society that we almost never stop communicating to someone. Healthcare uses a lot of different communication channels. We have focused on verbal vs. non-verbal, EMR and e-mail. Verbal communication is a major factor in an office setting, weather it is in the health care industry or
Also with the EMR system it allows everyone inside the clinic to use instant messaging. Instant messaging is a way of communication between the clinic employees, similar to emailing each other. The difference between the two, while the doctor is in the room with a patient in that patients open chart, the nurse can still relay a message to him that pops up at the bottom of the screen. This allows the nurse to communicate with the doctor without interrupting the patient’s visit. Instant messaging is useful when the nurse is making her nurse calls back to the patients that have called the clinic with questions and needs to ask the doctor’s permission to give the patient certain information, or results, the nurse can instant message the doctor and get the answers she needs right away. Another way of communication that is used with the EMR system is that when a doctor prescribes a medication for a patient he can enter it in the patients chart at that point exactly the way he wants the patient to take it and send it directly to the patient’s pharmacy before the patient even leaves the room. While the doctor is entering the medication for the patient into their chart, the EMR system informs the doctor if the patient has an allergy to the drug they have prescribed. This is lifesaving equipment that makes a huge difference in the medical profession. Communicating with staff involves e-mails, memorandums, policies, and procedures. All communicating informs and