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Pop quiz: how many pills per day should you take if your prescription says, “Take 2 pills twice daily.” If you’re not sure if that’s a total of two pills per day or four pills per day, you’re not alone.*

In a recent study of adults from different backgrounds, nearly half misunderstood at least one out of five prescription labels. Those with low health literacy rates frequently misunderstood four out of five labels.

Poorly worded materials, or those written at a high reading level, can have disastrous–even deadly–effects on patients. The best way to fix the problem is for health systems and health departments to train public health professionals to write clearly.

Begin by incorporating these four areas into your training program:

1. Stop using medical terminology.

Make it a policy not to use terms like “renal” or “influenza” in communication with patients. They’re not clear and frequently misinterpreted.

Jargon is the scourge of all industries, but nowhere is it more damaging than in healthcare. Misunderstanding what a health worker is saying regarding treatment might make the difference between life and death in a patient.

Health literacy rates are remarkably low in this country–according to the Health Literacy Fact Sheet 9 out of 10 people don’t have the skills necessary to manage health and prevent disease.

Patients may understand far less than you think they do. According to a study from the Department of Emergency Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, a group of 249 adults understood less than half of the terms they were asked, including:

The typical patient walking out of a doctor’s appointment can remember only about half of what they were just told. The combination of a flood of information, new terminology and, in some cases, shock can make it difficult for anyone to absorb everything.

This fact is at odds with common assumptions about health literacy. Members of healthcare teams are often incorrect supposing that patients with low health literacy are poor, elderly, uneducated or non-native English speakers. While those kinds of populations may indeed have difficulty understanding treatment and prevention, it’s still a dangerous misconception that leads to a remarkably low health literacy rate. Government research shows that 9 out of 10 people lack the skills they need to manage their health and prevent disease.