Patient education before discharge from the hospital.

Hospitalized patients' perception of their physician's effectiveness as a patient educator was surveyed, using three basic areas of doctor-patient communication: diagnoses, medications, and follow-up plans. The survey instrument, a questionnaire designed and administered by medical students, was designed to ascertain (1) the patients' satisfaction with their hospital stay, (2) satisfaction with their physician as a patient educator, (3) any correlation between (1) and (2), and finally (4) specific data about the amount and kind of information that patients perceived had been transferred from their physician. Satisfaction with their doctor as a patient educator was not a good predictor of satisfaction with the hospital stay. Results are compared with those of a similar survey published in the British medical literature. The effectiveness of the resident physicians as patient educators increased as they were given more information about the exact content of the survey. Their increased effectiveness did not clearly persist during a later follow-up period.

Contribution of education to cost-effective care of microcytic, hypochromic anemia.

Through a handbook, a seminar, and multiple opportunities for reinforcement in clinical settings, faculty in family medicine conducted an educational program that presented cost-effective practice standards for the care of anemia patients to resident physicians. A comparison of the quality and cost of anemia care by the residents before and during the program ascertained its value. The quality of patient care by residents rose significantly during the program. In addition, the residents' utilization of tests, therapy, and clinic visits and attendant costs reached more appropriate levels. These results should encourage faculty to respond to the current national need for the development of educational materials on cost-effective care of patients with common health problems.