Flash Cards Help Patients Remember Vital Health Information

Studies have shown that patients tend to quickly forget about 40-80% of the information given to them by their doctors. Some investigations have shown that most patients only remember about half of the information given during an appointment by the time they leave the doctor's office.

In an effort to improve doctor-patient communication and increase how much important information patients remember, the American College of Physicians (ACP) has recently developed a new set of "Health Tips" cards. The cards, designed to be handed out to patients and discussed during office visits, cover topics ranging from how to quit smoking to appropriate medication use, to facts about diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, and asthma.

The cards use simple wording, diagrams, and other memory boosting strategies in an effort to help patients retain vital health information, longer. The ACP has already distributed about 16 million sets of cards (free) to doctor's offices and clinics around the country. New topics were recently added and studies are in progress to determine how effective the learning aids are.