Visualization to improve patient learning and communication

Understanding and managing personal health information can pose a significant challenge to patients. They may be overloaded with a large volume of complex medical data, at times when emotional stress is high, which adds to the difficulty of making informed decisions. Patients must also consider choices about lifestyle, diagnostic testing, and therapeutics. They may receive verbal guidance from their health care providers, but patients need more help in understanding and managing complex information, as do providers in conveying it.

The potential benefits of such developments for building and using medical information visualization in patient-provider communication are immense. They include more timely and accurate exchange, significantly reducing information overload,6 and increasing patients' understanding and empowerment. This greater autonomy, in turn, will promote shared medical decision making and mitigate safety risks for patients as they become partners in their own health management.

https://spie.org/news/3492-visualization-to-improve-patient-learning-and-communication