Communication between patients, doctors needs improvement

Most patients and doctors agree that communication makes a difference between whether a patient lives or dies, according to a new survey, USA Today reports. What's troubling is that the state of communication is so poor in hospitals. Less than half of patients (48 percent) said that they were always involved in decisions about their treatment, according to a national survey of doctors and hospitalized patients. Nearly one-third of patients (29 percent) didn't know who was handling their case in the hospital. The study, which was commissioned by the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare at Massachusetts General Hospital, involved a poll of 500 doctors and 800 patients. Article