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Doctors’ Influence: Why Their Words Matter [Podcast]
- Physician Scott Abramson highlights how a doctor's words can significantly impact patient care.
- Abramson recounts a family conference where a doctor's use of "lesion" obscured the cancer diagnosis. He contrasts this with Dr.
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physician Scott Abramson explores how doctors’ words impact patient care. Learn how clear dialog builds trust and improves health outcomes. Discover the power of effective communication in medicine.
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Updated June 16, 2025
Physician Scott Abramson highlights how a doctor’s words can significantly impact patient care. He shares scenarios illustrating the importance of clear communication in building trust and achieving positive health outcomes. In essence, effective communication is as vital as clinical expertise.
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Abramson recounts a family conference where a doctor’s use of ”lesion” obscured the cancer diagnosis. He contrasts this with Dr. Susan Heckman,who used empathetic language to help a patient accept life-saving surgery. These examples highlight how doctors’ words impact patient care.
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transcript
Kevin Pho: Hi, and welcome to the show. Subscribe at KevinMD.com/podcast. Today we welcome back Scott Abramson. He’s a neurologist. Today’s KevinMD article is “How doctors’ words can make or break patient care.” Scott, welcome back to the show.
scott Abramson: Thank you, Kevin. It’s great to be here.
Kevin Pho: All right, what’s your latest article about?
Scott Abramson: Just as you said, it’s about how words can really, really make or break communication. I think it was George Bernard Shaw who said something like: the biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it took place. If you were to interview participants after some sort of patient-doctor interaction, you would see this. If you interview the doctors and ask,“How did it go?” the doctor would say,“Yeah,it was great. I got a history. I did a physical.I explained what the problem is. I found it. I fixed it. I did a great job.” then you ask the patient,and the patient is going to say,“I didn’t understand a word he said.”
And in this article, what I was trying to do is focus on how the words and phrases themselves can either create good communication or break it.
Kevin Pho: I think what you say is so true, especially in cognitive specialties like yours in neurology and mine in primary care. The statistics show that 80 percent of the diagnosis can be found just from the history alone. In your article, you present a couple of scenarios that really demonstrate how important words are. Share those scenarios with our audience who did not get a chance to read your article yet.
Scott Abramson: OK. The first scenario was about how, when communication is challenged, it can really interrupt that patient-doctor connection.I was at a hospital meeting where a hospital doctor was talking to a fairly large family about their loved one. I was sitting there, like a fly on the wall; I had been involved somewhat in the case.
She was explaining to the family, and she shows the MRI scan on the screen. She says, “There’s a lesion here in the brain.” And then she says, “There’s no lesion here in the liver.” And then she says, “I think the primary lesion is probably in the lung.” The family was very unsophisticated medically, and they were listening politely, but you could see that they were really puzzled. one brave family member says, “Doctor, what’s a lesion?”
The doctor then realized, “Oh my gosh, for the last five minutes, they didn’t understand a word I said.” But she made a brilliant recovery. This was great. She then repeated everything, but instead of using the word “lesion,” she used the words “cancer spot.” She went thru the whole thing,and the family sort of understood this time. when she was through, one of the family members said, “Yeah, but what do we do for treatment, doctor?” And she says, “First, we have to get tissue.”
The family was looking at each other, puzz
what’s next
Moving forward, healthcare professionals can prioritize clear and empathetic communication to improve patient understanding and trust. By avoiding jargon and using culturally sensitive language, doctors can enhance patient care and foster better health outcomes. This focus on effective communication will lead to stronger doctor-patient relationships and improved overall healthcare experiences.