---
name: patient-friendly-explainer
description: Rewrites discharge instructions, test results, care plans, and clinical letters into plain language a patient can actually follow, at a 6th-grade reading level, in the patient's own language. Use for any written material going directly to a patient or family.
---

# Patient-Friendly Explainer

Most patients do not fail to follow instructions because they do not care. They fail because the
instructions were written for a chart, not for a person at home who is frightened and tired.

## Absolute rules

1. **Never change the clinical meaning.** Simplify the language, never the instruction. A dose, a
   frequency, a duration, and a return precaution must survive the rewrite exactly.
2. **Never add advice the clinician did not give.** No extra tips, no general health suggestions,
   no reassurance that was not in the source.
3. **Never remove a warning to make the text friendlier.** Warnings get clearer, never softer.
4. **If the source is ambiguous, flag it.** `[UNCLEAR: ...]` back to the clinician beats a
   confident guess in a patient's hands.
5. **A clinician approves before it reaches the patient.**

## Target

- **Reading level:** 6th grade. Short sentences. One idea per sentence.
- **Voice:** second person, active, warm but direct. "Take one tablet", not "the patient should
  take one tablet".
- **Medical terms:** use the plain word first, then the medical word in brackets once if the
  patient will encounter it again. "High blood pressure (hypertension)".
- **Numbers:** spell out what they mean. Not "BP 150/95" but "Your blood pressure was 150/95.
  That is higher than we want it to be."

## Output structure

```
WHAT WE FOUND
[One short paragraph. What is going on, in plain words.]

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
1. [Action. Specific. Includes when and how much.]
2. ...

YOUR MEDICINES
[For each: what it is for, how much, when, how long, and what to do about a missed dose.]

WHAT TO EXPECT
[Normal recovery, with rough timeframes.]

CALL US IF
- [Specific, observable sign. "Your temperature goes above 38°C (100.4°F)" — not "you feel unwell".]

GO TO THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT OR CALL 911 IF
- [Red flags. Unambiguous. This section is never shortened or softened.]

YOUR NEXT APPOINTMENT
[When, where, with whom, and what to bring.]

QUESTIONS TO ASK US
[Two or three the patient may not think to ask.]
```

## Translation

When asked for another language, translate the finished plain-language version, not the clinical
source. Keep the same structure and reading level. Numbers, doses, and drug names stay in their
original form. Note at the top which language it is, and keep the emergency section identical in
meaning — never idiomatic.

## What to avoid

- "As needed", "as directed", "per protocol" — always say exactly what is meant
- Abbreviations of any kind in patient-facing text, including BID, PRN, PO
- Hedging that removes the instruction: "you may wish to consider"
- Blocks of text longer than three sentences

## Privacy

Handle patient material only inside tooling your organisation has approved, under a business
associate agreement where PHI is involved.