New info center aims for patient education at Univ. of Tenn. Medical Center

Doctors often throw large amounts of complex information at patients in a short amount of time, leading the newly diagnosed to turn to “Dr. Google” for a second opinion on their conditions.

Most individuals, however, lack the ability to determine whether that information is credible and trustworthy, and to interpret what they read appropriately.

The confusion can lead to missed tests, unnecessary trips to the emergency room and poor compliance with treatment regimens—all of which add up to an estimated $106 billion to $238 billion in additional costs to the U.S. economy per year.

The University of Tennessee Medical Center is opening a health information center that will provide an alternative for patients to learn about their conditions. The hospital held a ribbon-cutting for the new center Monday.

The Knoxville-based academic medical center will be staffed by certified health information specialists who will be available to both its patients and to residents and students in training there. A conference room also will host community health events.

Joseph Landman, president and CEO of UT Medical Center, said the center will serve as a resource for patients after they've had the opportunity to digest the information they've received from their doctors.

“It's not just education for those being trained on your campus,” he said. “We have a responsibility for educating the community.”

The center is the first of its kind in the region and also unique in that the medical librarians will be encouraged to round with the medical staff, said James Neutens, dean of UT's Graduate School of Medicine.

UT raised more than $4 million in donations to fully fund the health information center. “It's very difficult for healthcare providers to divert funds away from clinical activities,” Landsman said.

Yet the return on investment is potentially significant. Patients with inadequate health literacy incur four times as many medical expenses as those who have proficient health literacy, the American Medical Association estimates. And the opportunity is huge: another study from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy found that only 12% of Americans have proficient health literacy.

Follow Beth Kutscher on Twitter: @MHbkutscher