Tell Me More®

Tell Me More®

Tell Me More® is a quick connection tool that invites patients, and their families, to help their healthcare team get to know them better, and to help interdisciplinary teams get to know one another better.

Tell Me More® is available for any care setting, including hospitals and clinics, for Gold Partners Council members of certain levels.  Please reach out to Judith Friedland, Director of Partner Engagement, to learn more about implementing this meaningful program into your institution.

Tell Me More® can also be adapted for healthcare corporations to support their employees in creating strong and meaningful connections with patients or customers, as well as their own colleagues, to see the human being that is in front of them.

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Compassion is good medicine

First implemented in 2014, the goal of Tell Me More® (TMM) is simple: to allow patients, caregivers, and hospital staff to connect with each other on a more human level. It was originally designed by medical students to strengthen the critical bond that exists between people who are patients and the individuals who care for them. Tell Me More® allows patients and caregivers to get to know each other beyond their diagnoses and job descriptions.

Tell Me More® expressions are hung bedside in patients’ rooms, and now can be worn on caregiver and staff badges, and displayed in public areas. They serve as easy conversation-starters, promoting a culture of compassion and humanity throughout the hospital.

This inspiring video shows how one artist uses the Gold Foundation’s communication tool Tell Me More® at Northwell Health’s Lenox Hill Hospital to connect with patients.

Gold Partners Council member Northwell Health has been a leader in implementing Tell Me More in its hospitals.

What others are saying…

“When I took a few extra minutes to learn about the patient’s story, it helped me focus on what I love about my job instead of all the paperwork and scheduling and the things that make it feel like work. The patients aren’t work, they are my inspiration every day.” – A radiation therapist who participated in Tell Me More® with patients

“Even if just for one second, it encourages everyone to see a patient as an individual and not just a condition that we want to treat and discharge home.”

“The program is unique in that it encourages the opportunity to visit with patients, just to talk and hold their hands and share stories, and not have to examine them or do procedures on them.”

Research

The impact of Tell Me More® has been studied at hospitals and in medical schools. Here are a few of the published studies:

Tell Me More® As A Tool for Provider Connectedness With Hospitalized Patients: A Mixed-Methods Study Journal of Patient Experience, August 2024, Bryana Belin, Ishi Aron, Shyam Bhagat, Alice Fornari, Taranjeet K Ahuja

Enhancing patient-centered care for limited English proficiency patients through Tell Me More®: A student-driven initiative to explore the patient as a person and develop students’ communication skills. Patient Experience Journal, November 2022, Angelia Liu, Alicia W. Leong, Alice Fornari, Taranjeet Kalra Ahuja

Tell Me More®: A medical student focused humanistic communication model to enhance student professional identity formation through meaningful patient encounters Patient Education and Counseling, July 2021, Tanzim Bhuiya, Xiaoyue Zhong, Gabrielle Pollack, Alice Fornari, Taranjeet Kalra Ahuja

Tell Me More: Promoting compassionate patient care through conversations with medical students Patient Experience Journal, November 2018, Danielle Qing, Anjali Narayan, Kristin Reese, Sarah Hartman, Taranjeet Kalra Ahuja, Alice Fornari

History 

Learn more about the origin of this wonderful program.

Use Tell Me More® to connect with your patients

Please reach out to Judith Friedland, Director, Gold Corporate Council and Partner Engagement, to bring Tell Me More® to your health system, hospital, or school.