Takeaway
Medical visits today often involve care gap inquiries. The way we ask patients about them can help transform a rote task into a curious and satisfying conversation.
Connecting with Patients | December 16, 2025 | 1 min read
By Jeffrey Millstein, MD, Penn Medicine
Consider these two questions:
1. “Did you know you’re overdue for your mammogram?”
2. “Is there anything making it difficult for you to get your mammogram?”
Both aim to help a patient adhere to evidence-based guidelines for breast cancer screening. The difference? The first one checks a box and addresses a quality metric. The second is a curious inquiry that seeks to identify barriers to care.
The first could be asked by anyone—or by anything—machine or automated message. While addressing an important matter, it’s impersonal and uninspiring. The second feels like it’s coming from a concerned advocate and may spark patients to reflect on why they’ve postponed this element of care.
These days, care gap checklists have become a consistent ask of providers during primary care encounters. If approached in a task-oriented fashion, this can become burdensome and unsatisfying. Transforming these checklist items into motivational queries can help bring them back into the more satisfying realm of genuine doctoring.
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This piece expresses the views solely of the author. It does not necessarily represent the views of any organization, including Johns Hopkins Medicine.