The healthcare system is particular about terms and jargon. Doctors, nurses, and medical billers depend on these terms to decide the best way to look after a patient and ensure they are accurately charged. This is because when working with patients, you have only a few minutes to evaluate each case, record them and move on to the next patient. If you start writing up paragraphs with no indication of what is happening, you’ll cause massive confusion in the system. Therefore you can’t skip out on the process of knowing these critical terms. It also makes it easier for patients to get updated on their health; phrases like “hypertension” inform them about their current status and seek care for it. But if you’re lagging in learning, here’s how you can supplement the process:
Why Are Medical Terms Important?
The entire framework of the healthcare sector depends on medical terms. These labels pinpoint healthcare practitioners’ direction to ensure the patient receives optimal care. The following are reasons why you can’t skimp out on knowing these words:
- Provides The Right Care
Doctors and nurses handle several cases in a day. This involves writing numerous electronic health charts daily and using detailed information for follow-up visits. Furthermore, healthcare managers who are also a part of the medical system need these codes to connect patients to the correct department and ensure they get the proper treatment.
Consequently, no matter how much you know about the medical industry, you cannot have a successful career without knowing the healthcare terminology commonly used in hospitals to ensure patients get looked after accordingly. For instance, the same disease can be acute and chronic, like bronchitis. However, both terms indicate a different severity level.
Chronic illnesses require long-term care and cannot be cured. In this case, chronic bronchitis refers to the inflammation of the bronchi. On the other hand, acute refers to the sudden onset of an illness that goes away with the proper medication. In this scenario, acute bronchitis is the swelling of the airway due to persistent cough, producing copious mucus, which is usually cured after three weeks of treatment.
- Standardizes The Language
Standardization ensures that all healthcare workers know the exact words and terms, which makes it easy to work together. For instance, if the prescription says OTC NSAIDs, a nurse knows that the patient can go to any pharmacy and purchase these anti-inflammatory pills over the counter. But suppose the medication must be administered in a controlled environment in the hospital. In that case, the doctor will use commonly used prescription names like naproxen to tell the nurse what the patient needs. This prevents confusion and makes it easier to pass on information without needing to go into details.
- Ensures Patient Safety
Under HIPAA, known as the health insurance portability and accountability act, you and every healthcare worker must provide a certain standard of care, including protecting your patient’s identity and personal information. This is a widely understood term and informs your patients that you can get sued because you’re under oath. As a result, HIPAA acts as a protective layer around patients granting them certain rights when they come for treatment.
Healthcare terminologies also tell you the procedures you can use on the patient and those you cannot.
For example, if the patient’s chart says DNR, you cannot perform CPR on them, or it will further endanger their life. At the same time, ALS indicates that you need to put the patient on advanced life support like a ventilator. A doctor may also say “stat” to mean the patients need help immediately and you cannot delay checking up on them.
How To Memorize Common Words?
Memorization can be tedious, especially when you have too many words to learn. But through simple word associations and visual cues, you will become proficient in this medical jargon; Here’s how you do this:
- Understand the Root Word
Specific medical terms like deductibles have a root word in them. These tell you what this term is hinting at, so when you say deductibles while talking about health insurance, it refers to the mathematical term “deduct,” which means reduce. This is all you need to know since it tells you that the particular amount has to get subtracted from the total cost.
- Learn Word Association
Associating the medical terms with what they mean helps you make sense of them. The fundamental component of every word is that it has a root, a prefix, and a suffix. Breaking down terms and putting them into each block can facilitate your learning. This is best illustrated by an example such as pericarditis. Peri is the prefix here which means around, card is the root word and commonly denoted for the heart, while itis is the suffix and implies inflammation. Therefore this complicated term means there is inflammation around the heart. Likewise, if the patient is admitted to the hospital, you will say inpatient, and if the patient didn’t stay overnight at the hospital, you could use the word outpatient.
- Use Acronyms
Acronyms are a creative way of remembering terms. The process involves studying the jargon, extracting commonly used words that describe the term, and rearranging them into memorable words. While this may sound complicated, the process is straightforward, and once you get into the habit of making acronyms, recalling information becomes much easier for you.
Take the medicine amoxicillin as an example; this antibiotic treats many conditions like pneumonia and chest infections and is used in dental treatments such as draining an abscess. But amoxicillin has specific side effects, which the patient should know, including diarrhea, an upset stomach, skin rash, abnormal taste in the mouth, and headaches. However, making sure you remember all these symptoms can be challenging, and assigning it an acronym like U DASH can facilitate your memory. All you need to do is take the first letter of every word and arrange it so it can become a coherent word you can recall.
Final Thoughts
The healthcare system is highly dependent on terminologies as it allows medical professionals to make sense of the situation and informs patients about their health. Terminologies also keep patients safe, help you provide proper care, and set a standard language that makes communication much more effective. While you must know every word, the medical dictionary is quite extensive, which can make the process of learning complex. Fortunately, you can supplement your understanding by picking out the root word, associating the word with real-life examples, and using acronyms to remember more minor details.
