When writing to patients medical terminology should not be used

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Page 2

From: Eradicating Jargon-Oblivion—A Proposed Classification System of Medical Jargon

Technical terminology Words likely learned in medical school including disease names, symptoms, anatomy, procedures, treatments, and laboratory tests Disease names    Myocardial infarction    Bronchiolitis Symptoms    Dysphagia    Ataxia    Syncope Anatomy    Adenoids    Prostate Procedures/treatments    Coronary artery bypass graft    Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy Tests    Bilirubin

   Urinalysis

Alphabet soup Acronyms and abbreviations Acronyms for technical terminology    CABG    CBC    UA Lost in translation acronyms

    NPO (for nothing by mouth)


    EKG (for electroCardiogram)     LFTs (for liver function tests, which actually do not indicate liver function) Abbreviations    Cath    Coags

   Endo

Medical vernacular Words that may be familiar to most but are not universally known or understood Disease names    Sepsis    Ulcer Anatomy    Scapula    Lymph nodes Treatments/tests    Steroids    Cultures Descriptions    Inflammation    Mental status changes    Acute vs. chronic    Sexually active Vital signs/terminology    Febrile    Saturations

    Blood pressure

Medicalized English Words which are known but have a different meaning in the context of medicine than in everyday use Accidental antonyms    Negative (negative blood culture)    Positive (positive nodes)    Progressing (tumor is progressing) Different meanings in medicine    Tenderness (Do you have any tenderness?)    Appreciate (I do not appreciate your murmur)    Focus/focal (So the primary focus of your pain is your knee?)

   Impressive (The rash is not impressive to me)

Unnecessary synonyms Universally understood terms we overcomplicate by replacing known terms with unknown synonyms Upper/lower extremity (arm/leg) Pruritus (itching) Ambulating (walking) Oral intake (eating and drinking) Erythema (redness) Ecchymosis (bruising)

Fracture (break)

Euphemisms Attempts to soften language we may find difficult to say, but which provide less clarity Cautious coding    Spot on the liver    Seedlings    Shadows on the X-ray Death avoidance    Passed On    Expired    Coded Waste management    Voiding

   Stooling

Judgmental jargon Phrases which may reflect bias or appear derogatory Loaded lingo    Deny (drug use, sexual activity)    Chief complaint    Failed treatment Internal codenames    Rock    Bounce-back    Flea

   GOMER