Opinion
Video
Optimizing the Clinician-Patient Relationship
Author(s):
Panelists discuss how effective provider-patient communication about weight requires opening conversations with empathy and collaboration, using phrases like "I'm concerned about your weight" and avoiding stigmatizing language while understanding patient motivations and readiness for change.
Primary Care Engagement Strategies
Engaging primary care providers requires supportive rather than punitive approaches, recognizing that all PCPs want to provide high-quality care to their patients. Effective strategies include gentle persuasion and nudging through peer comparison data, showing providers how their prescribing patterns compare to colleagues. Educational events and programs like the Echo Program bring primary care physicians together with specialists to discuss challenging cases, providing valuable peer-to-peer learning opportunities.
The reality of primary care practice includes the "27-hour day" challenge, where managing all guideline-directed care for a panel of 2500 patients would require 27 hours daily. This impossible workload explains primary care physician burnout and the declining number of physicians entering the field. Creative solutions must evolve primary care into team-based approaches that distribute tasks among various healthcare professionals.
Patient empowerment strategies also prove effective, such as waiting room signs encouraging patients to ask about their conditions, which can initiate important clinical discussions. The combination of provider education, peer support, systematic process improvements, and patient activation creates multiple pathways for improving diabetes and obesity care. Success requires moving beyond passive approaches like quality measures toward active engagement and support mechanisms.
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