Only 12% of Adults have Sufficient Health Literacy to Participate in Care
A new study from the Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2010, finds that the vast majority of adults lack the basic capacity to "obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions."  It is estimated that low health literacy leads to increased costs of an extra $73 billion annually.  Keep this in mind when communicating with your patients - and review your discharge instructions, etc. to make sure you are speaking in terms a lay person can understand.