Making PENCIL Simple Was the Hard Part

A physician colleague recently reviewed a PENCIL Care Plan. He appreciated its thoroughness, but felt the approach seemed fairly traditional compared with websites and apps combining care instructions, symptom checklists, and advanced artificial intelligence.

His observation reminded me of one of the hardest parts of building PENCIL Care Plans: making them super simple.

A one-page written care plan may look straightforward. Getting it there took considerable work.

As physicians, we spend years learning the language of medicine. Turning that knowledge into something a patient can easily understand requires us to examine every sentence. Can I explain this in familiar words? Is the next step clear? Have I preserved the medical meaning and the information needed for safety?

Working toward an appropriate reading level while maintaining clinical accuracy was daunting. Each plan needed to help someone understand their condition, medication, or procedure, and know how to put that guidance into practice at home.

That work shaped PENCIL’s four pillars: relatable, readable, actionable, and recognizable. Patients should see themselves in the plan, understand the words, know what to do, and recognize the format when they receive another one.

We use technology to help build these plans. Its value becomes tangible when a patient can read the finished page and say, “I understand what to do next.”

The simplicity of that page reflects the thought behind it: choosing the right information, organizing it carefully, and explaining it clearly.

The ultimate healthcare system is one that turns sophistication into simplicity.