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Communication Toolkit: Using Information to Get High Quality Care

The Communication Toolkit: Using Information to Get High Quality Care was developed to help employers, labor unions and others frame and deliver messages to employees about the meaning and importance of getting evidence-based health care. As employers and unions seek ways to control costs and improve the health of the workforce, encouraging employees to be informed and make evidence-based decisions about their health care becomes extremely important. This toolkit takes the concepts of making health care decisions on evidence and translates them into language that employees can understand. The materials included in the toolkit were developed based on extensive research and testing with employees, employers, unions and others. This research included reviews of current literature, interviews with employers and focus groups with employees.

The toolkit contains resources for the employer, including background on how to communicate more effectively with employees as well as a collection of materials for you to download and adapt for use with your own workforce.

Click here to view a segment on the authors and collaborators.

Resources for the Employer

How to Use the Toolkit: The Basics: This document provides an overview of the purpose of the toolkit, what is included in the toolkit and how to customize the documents for your workforce.

Communications Challenges: Communication Challenges provides a summary of what was learned about the challenges employers may face when communicating with their workforce.

Technical Help: This document provides details on how to customize the text and replace the sample photos included in the document.

Links: This page contains a list of links and resources to help you communicate with your workforce about evidence-based health care.

Tools to Communicate with Employees

The following materials are for you to download and adapt for use with your own workforce. They are organized into the four different topic areas about communicating on evidence-based health care.

Topic 1: Understanding the basics of health care quality and the importance of evidence-based information

  • Good quality health care: What it is and why you can't take it for granted
  • How do we know which types of health care works best?
  • Information about health care quality: What it is
  • Tips on how to find information about health care quality
  • How you can use information about health care quality to get better care: Seven examples
Topic 2: Cost and quality — how to choose quality and make wise use of money spent on health care
  • Making wise use of money spent on health care: Let's put quality first
  • To get better health care, be informed and involved
  • Tips for getting the care that works best for your condition
  • Tips for getting the right amount of care (as much as you need but no unnecessary care)
Topic 3: Tips for getting good quality care before, during and after a health care appointment
  • Summary of tips for getting good quality health care before, during and after a health care appointment
  • Tips on what to do before your health care appointment
  • Tips on what to do during your health care appointment
  • Tips for following through on treatment and managing your health
Topic 4: Help in using the internet to find health information you can trust
  • Health information on the internet: A checklist to help you judge which websites to trust
  • A list of recommended websites that have trustworthy health information


Copyright 2008 National Business Group on Health
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E-mail: info@businessgrouphealth.org