Texas Children's Health Plan will be closed on Friday, July 4th, in observance of Independence Day. In our absence, you can reach our after-hours nurse help line at 1-800-686-3831. We will resume normal business hours on Monday, July 7th. Wishing you a safe and happy Independence Day!
El Plan de Salud Infantil de Texas estará cerrado el viernes 4 de julio por el Día de la Independencia. Durante nuestra ausencia, puede comunicarse con nuestra línea de ayuda disponible las 24 horas, los 7 días de la semana, al 1-800-686-3831. Reanudaremos nuestro horario habitual el lunes 7 de julio. ¡Le deseamos un feliz y seguro 4 de julio!
Cold and flu seasonTemporada de influenza y resfriados
ALERT:Stay healthy this cold and flu season!Learn more
ALERTA: ¡Mantente sano durante esta temporada de influenza y resfriados!Más información
Texas Children’s Health Plan Highlights Patient Communication
Date: June 17, 2024
Attention: All Providers
Call to action: Texas Children’s Health Plan (TCHP) would like to highlight the topic of patient communication this month with our providers. One aspect of patient communication, Motivational Interviewing, has been known to aid in promoting healthy habits and optimizing self-care. “Health coaching, its origin from motivational interviewing, enhances patient self-management of chronic conditions by improving patient compliance and outcomes, and reducing costs.” Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19745624/
Background information: Based on the 2023 Experience of Care and Health Outcomes (ECHO) survey results, patients feel that their children’s doctors are not listening to them carefully and are not explaining their health status in a clear and understandable manner. In addition, patients feel disrespected and not enough time was spent with them. Please reference this table for detailed results from the 2023 ECHO Survey.
How this impacts providers: To enhance patient communication for our members,TCHP strongly encourages provider’s participation in a CE/CME course focused on Motivational Interviewing offered by Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) available here. The learning objectives include the following:
Assess how motivational interviewing (MI) differs from traditional provider-patient communication and why it can effectively motivate positive behavior changes.
Integrate MI best practices into routine clinical encounters to promote healthy habits and optimum self-care.
Next step for Providers: As learned in the course, providers should integrate best practices in communication to promote trust, positivity, and comfort in discussions in the provider-patient relationship.
