Medical Jargon and Clear Communication: Do You Understand?

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Natalie Salvatore, DNP, MBA, RN:

Hi, my name is Natalie Salvatore, I'm a registered nurse in the Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute at Cleveland Clinic. I have a special interest in patient education and patient experience. A common concern that patients bring up is making sure that they understand what their doctor or healthcare provider is saying. Medical terminology can be very confusing, you may be familiar with the term medical jargon or in other areas, legal jargon or technical jargon. So really what jargon means is it's just a word to describe words that are specific to that profession. It can be words, phrases, abbreviations, or acronyms that in this case, as healthcare workers, we use to communicate almost like a second language.

Some common terms that I often hear, especially in the Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute are:

There have been several studies that look at different groups of people within the general population at how well they understand what a clinician or a doctor has told them. These studies have found that people often misunderstand what a provider is telling them. They also found that when those providers used non-jargon terms, people understood those more accurately. So what does this mean for you as a patient?

Generally speaking, you don't need to understand the technical medical terminologies as part of your plan of care, but some patients may want to know what certain terms mean. You may see it on a report or your paperwork or even hear your care team talking about it, and you want to know what it means. The first thing to recognize is that medical jargon can be very confusing. Sometimes words may have different meanings based in their context from what you would hear in your normal everyday life. There's also a lot of terms that sound similar, but may mean different things. Jargon can sometimes lead to communication failures, if you are not understanding what your provider or your care team is saying, the biggest thing that you can do as a patient is ask.

You can ask them to repeat what they've said, maybe say it's slower, say it in a different way, explain it further in more detail, and you can also ask them to explain what that means for you as the patient. For example, if it's a lab test or a diagnosis, ask them to explain what that means for you individually. You can ask them to use more clear terms to avoid some of those miscommunications and really to break down some of those complex ideas or steps in a process.

One example I use, as nurses all the time we talk about smoking cessation. So now an easier way to say that would be to stop smoking. So we are always talking to our patients about the need to stop smoking and the risks associated to your health. But when we talk about it, we often say smoking cessation.

Caregivers do try to limit the use of jargon and other technical terms, but if at any point you don't feel you are understanding what they're trying to say, please stop and ask for clarification. Clear communication is always important. There are times where a provider may be delivering serious news. For example, a cancer diagnosis or needing a major surgery. Your emotional response may affect how you understand what the doctor is saying, and if they're using a lot of medical jargon, it may complicate it further.

Another example of when it is so important to make sure you have clear communication and understanding is when talking about your medications. If you take a lot of medications, it can be hard to remember which ones you are taking for what reason. Whether you are seeing your doctor for an appointment or you're a patient inside a hospital, make sure that you know why you're taking the medications that you are. Sometimes if medications are taken incorrectly, they can have negative side effects that may have been prevented. One thing I always suggest is bringing a notebook to write things down. It's easier to remember some of these things and to make sure that you are understanding them if you can write it down and then take a look at it later. It's also really helpful to make a list of questions or things that you want to remember to either ask the doctor or to look up later.

Something else to consider when you're communicating with your healthcare team is your preferred language. At Cleveland Clinic, we have the privilege of caring for patients from all over the world and for some patients, English is not their preferred language or even spoken at all. Healthcare information can be complex in English, and it can also be complex in other languages too so having interpreters who are able to translate medical information into your preferred language is really helpful to making sure you understand your plan of care.

So I'll wrap up with this, language is a complex system of how we communicate and it's really important that you understand your healthcare information clearly. If you have any questions or even think you might not fully understand, please ask. We absolutely want to help you understand everything that you need to know. So please ask questions, ask questions, ask questions. We have so many resources to help you learn more about diseases and treatments, medications and your general well-being, and we'd be happy to answer all of your questions.

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