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The Virtue and Value of Patient Empowerment and Health Literacy Amidst Healthcare Reform
Patient empowerment and health literacy are essential and valuable attributes for both patients and healthcare providers in the current changing healthcare system which emphasizes improved healthcare quality, improved population health insurance and reduced healthcare costs.

Patient empowerment is really a key element of healthcare reform in that it's the development of the ability to understand and participate in one's healthcare and health management to be able to produce improvements in both while at the same time reducing healthcare costs.

Because the current fee-for-service healthcare provider reimbursement system is currently in the process of transitioning from a volume-based system to a value-based one w here the value-based parameters are quality of care and costs, patient empowerment and health literacy are valuable to both patients and healthcare providers.

Health literacy, which is the power of patients to understand health-related information and use that information to make informed decisions, has been well-recognized by many in the healthcare community as a valuable cofactor for the delivery of quality health care. The patient-related reason is that health literacy begets greater patient adherence to treatment instructions and better treatment outcomes. The provider-related reason is that the ability to make correct diagnoses and offer effective treatment are in large part dependant on the quality of the info provided by patients, regardless of all of the diagnostic technology at our disposal.

The latter fact is supported by way of a study performed in the early 1990s in which internal medicine physicians performed evaluations outside the hospital on patients with undiagnosed medical problems then compared the rate of diagnostic accuracy of the three diagnostic modalities that physicians use, i.e., the individual history, physical examination and diagnostic testing. The study showed that of the three types of information relied on the annals alone resulted in the right diagnosis being made 76% of that time period in comparison to accuracy rates of 12% and 11% when doctors relied on only the physical examination and diagnostic tests respectively.

Another study published within an August 2011 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association which compared the relative need for the individual history, physical examination, and diagnostic tests showed conclusively that hospitalized patients in the analysis were accurately diagnosed frequently when doctors relied on the history alone or the annals in conjunction with the physical examination findings and/or test outcomes. Conversely, the study showed that when physicians relied on the physical exam or test outcomes solely or in combination accurate diagnoses were made in only a small percentage of the patients.

The quality of healthcare received by patients is oftentimes determined to an excellent degree by the grade of the information they offer. Proficient health literacy usually results in more accurate and relevant information which translates into more accurate diagnoses and timelier and more appropriate treatment.

Additionally, proficient health literacy caused by patient empowerment reduces healthcare costs by decreasing overreliance on medical technology, unnecessary duplicate testing and costly errors caused by actions predicated on incorrect or insufficient information.

As healthcare reform and healthcare payment reform continue to evolve, the value and importance of patient empowerment will probably increase. Therefore, patients and patients' caregivers should take the steps needed to acquire a degree of health literacy to assume the increased patient responsibility accompanying the forces of reform.

This short article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice or a substitute for medical consultation with a qualified professional. For anyone who is seeking legal advice or are unsure about your medical condition you should consult an attorney and/or physician.

Victor E. Battles, M.D. is a board-certified internist and founder of Proactive Health Outlet. For more info about patient empowerment and to access resources [http://www.proactivehealthoutlet.com/Resources.html] for improving health literacy visit www.proactivehealthoutlet.com
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