Patients and providers bring completely different expectations to clinical encounters. When these expectations differ due to cultural reasons, beliefs, or values, communication is necessary to ensure each participant is satisfied with the result of the encounter. Using the traditional notion of “cura” can illuminate how these encounters occur, and what providers and patients can do to have a successful interaction. Patients and providers’ agendas must be understood by each party, patients must feel they are seen as individuals, and each must be aware of cultural differences that bring separate lenses to the encounter. Trust lies at the heart of the encounter, which provides a chance for each to understand the other’s culture. Each party must communicate their expectations of care to improve the nature of their interactions in the clinical setting.

“Partnership for Patients: Better Care Low Costs” and “Meaningful Use of HIT” are HHS initiatives designed for shifting control and power from caregivers to patients, to make care truly “patient-centered.” There is a pressing need to develop methods of inviting/engaging/enabling patients to increase the quality and frequency of reports to help improve health care quality. We propose a Visual Learning and Communication System (VLCS) to meet this need. Embedded in VLCS is a Visual Error Reporting System (VERS). The objectives are to (a) help prevent adverse events in the first place, (b) detect errors, (c) ameliorate their effects, and (d) empower patients to propose interventions for safety improvement. Visualization has the potential to be an excellent conduit for seamless flow of meaningful information to and from other stakeholders and to foster a common culture of quality and value and make information useful for patients and providers at the point of care.

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