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22 PATIENT EXPERIENCE 13 questions physicians want patients to ask By Mackenzie Bean U .S. News & World Report interviewed seven physicians about how patients can be more proactive about their own care. Here are 13 questions physicians said they'd want patients to ask them, as listed by U.S. News: 1. What preventive care services are right for me? 2. Which internet resources can I trust for medical information? 3. How does my family history affect my risk for certain conditions? 4. Why are you prescribing this medication? 5. Will flying post-surgery affect my recovery? 6. How could high blood pressure affect my health down the road? 7. How does sleep affect my health? 8. What do you do for your personal wellness? 9. How many patients with my condition have you treated? 10. Does my child really need an antibiotic for this? 11. My real fear is X — how concerned should I be? 12. Can we talk about end-of-life care? 13. When should I come see you again? n Study: Hospital acquisitions hurt patient experience By Mackenzie Bean H ospital acquisitions are linked to worse patient experience and do not improve care quality, suggest the findings of a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. For the study, researchers analyzed Medicare claims and Hospital Compare quality data for more than 2,200 hospitals between 2007 and 2016. Of these hospitals, 246 were acquired by another hospital or health system between 2009 and 2013. Researchers discovered a modest decline in patient expe- rience scores among recently acquired hospitals. They also found no signs that hospital acquisitions led to improved quality scores. Acquired hospitals demonstrated no signifi- cant changes in 30-day readmission or mortality rates. The study findings contradict a common argument many hospital executives use to justify mergers and acquisi- tions: that they will improve quality performance, report- ed The Wall Street Journal. n 3 reasons premed students should take an anthropology class By Mackenzie Bean P remed students may benefit from taking an anthropology course to better understand the nuanced social aspects of patient care, reported U.S. News & World Report. Anthropology — or the study of humans and human behavior — can reveal a lot about the social and cultural factors that may influence patients' access to or relation- ship with healthcare. Therefore, a background in anthropology can give pre- med students the basic skills to: • Tailor healthcare to the needs of individuals and com- munities. • Learn how to ask better questions to get a full view of the patient's condition. • Empathize with patients and better understand how illnesses may affect their lives. These skills will help future physicians improve patient care interactions and address some of the social issues affecting healthcare, U.S. News noted. n Henrico Doctors' Hospital unveils autism-and sensory- friendly pediatric ER By Anuja Vaidya H enrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, Va., unveiled its newly designed autism- and sensory-friendly pediatric emergency room on Dec. 19, 2019. The hospital is the first facility in central Virginia to offer an ER that caters to pediatric patients with sensory concerns. The ER now features a communication notebook with pictures to let patients know what to expect at each step of the pro- cedure, a dimmer switch to lower overhead lighting as well as a sensory cart filled with calming toys and products. It also includes weighted blankets and noise-canceling headphones. The staff have been trained on interacting with patients with sensory needs. The hospital collaborated with the St. Joseph's Villa Sarah Dooley Center for Autism in Richmond to create the au- tism-friendly pediatric ER. n