Empathy in the Clinician-Patient Relationship and in Telemedicine
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South Carolina Information
Pharmacotherapeutics Credits: 0
Related to prescribing controlled substances: 0
Course Summary
Empathy is fundamental to a strong and effective clinician-patient relationship. It is functionally embodied in good communication skills, and it is key to a clinician’s competence. Empathy plays an important part in health planning and clinical decision-making when treating a patient. Its presence leads to improved patient health outcomes. Understanding how empathy works within a clinician-patient relationship begins by defining the word empathy. Thereafter, a clinician can evaluate how it impacts his or her competency as a healthcare provider. This is particularly important with the growth of telemedicine. Scholars are studying the impact telemedicine is having on empathy in the clinician-patient relationship. Telemedicine may create unique barriers to empathy and these barriers may accompany the obstacles already found in a traditional clinical practice. Clinicians should take steps to eliminate obstacles to empathy and incorporate it more effectively into their medical practice.
Course Format
Homestudy
Course Syllabus
- Introduction
- Empathy is Key to Quality Healthcare
- Defining Empathy in Clinical Practice
- Distinguishing Empathy from Sympathy and Compassion
- Detached Concern and Clinical Empathy
- The Relationship Between Empathy and Neurobiology
- Measuring and Assessing Clinical Empathy
- Factors that Impact the Presence of Empathy
- Empathy and Gender Differences
- Empathy and Age Differences
- Empathy, Clinician Competence and Patient Outcomes
- Clinician Competence
- Diagnosis and Clinical Outcomes
- Patient Empowerment/Enablement
- Empathy Promotes Efficiency in Healthcare
- Empathy and Telemedicine
- The Definition of Telemedicine
- The Scope of Telemedicine
- Telemedicine and “Digital” Empathy
- Telemedicine and Increased Workload
- Overcoming Challenges to Telemedicine
- General Barriers to Empathy
- Protocol-driven Care
- Tension Between Empathy and Sympathy
- Patient Behaviors
- Time Pressures, Constraints and Burdens of Practice
- Technology
- Empathy, Socioeconomics, Race and Ethnicity
- Removing Barriers to Empathy in Clinical Practice
- Personalize Treatment
- Avoid Becoming Too Emotionally Attached
- Time Management
- Understanding Human Nature
- Confronting Implicit Bias
- Communication and Being a Good Listener
- Summary