Stop Asking How Much Information Your Patient Wants Before Discussing Serious News.

Discussing serious news is a fundamental communication skill, and many clinicians have been taught to ask their patients how much detail they want to hear before sharing difficult information. Over the past decade, we have taught hundreds of medical students how to discuss serious news and reviewed hundreds of their recorded conversations. We've found that asking how much detail a patient wants to hear often results in confusion and is not an effective way to understand their communication preferences.