House Staff Communication Training and Patient Experience Scores

Abstract

Objective:To assess whether communication training for house staff via role-playing exercises (1) is well received and (2) improves patient experience scores in house staff clinics.Methods:We conducted a pre–post study in which the house staff for 3 adult hospital departments participated in communication training led by trained faculty in small groups. Sessions centered on a published 5-step strategy for opening patient-centered interviews using department-specific role-playing exercises. House staff completed posttraining questionnaires. For 1 month prior to and 1 month following the training, patients in the house staff clinics completed surveys with Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG-CAHPS) questions regarding physician communication, immediately following clinic visits. Preintervention and postintervention results for top-box scores were compared.Results:Forty-four of a possible 45 house staff (97.8%) participated, with 31 (70.5%) indicating that the role-playing exercise increased their perception of the 5-step strategy. No differences in patient responses to CG-CAHPS questions were seen when comparing 63 preintervention surveys to 77 postintervention surveys.Conclusion:Demonstrating an improvement in standard patient experience surveys in resident clinics may require ongoing communication coaching and investigation of the “hidden curriculum” of training.

Chief complaints and feedback from clinic satisfaction tool: Thematic analysis of a new outpatient communication tool

“…The CST is part of a developing arena of research into improving communication between patients and physicians in the outpatient setting. Other efforts have worked to implement other entrance surveys, language congruency, communication skills training, visual aids and many other interventions in the clinic. What distinguishes the CST from other interventions is the low cost (a single additional sheet of paper per patient), minimal required staff training and minimal change to the flow of a clinical encounter.…”

“…25,26 The CST is part of a developing arena of research into improving communication between patients and physicians in the outpatient setting. Other efforts have worked to implement other entrance surveys, 27 language congruency, [28][29][30] communication skills training, [31][32][33][34][35][36] visual aids 37 38,39 For our institution and other spine-focused clinics, these re- design education content that directly addresses the most common patient needs, and address the weaknesses highlighted by patients in our practices.…”

Medical Ethics Education for Neurology Residents: Where Do We Go from Here?

“…Oladeru et al piloted a patient-centered communications curriculum for neurology, neurosurgery, and urology residents which used a brief didactic lecture and video followed by a cycle of role playing in which trainees rotated through the roles of clinician, patient, and observer, with interspersed feedback from observers. 39 Surveys of participating trainees demonstrated a change in attitude toward patient-centered communication strategies, although the researchers were not able to demonstrate a change in patient satisfaction scores.…”

A framework and toolkit of interventions to enhance reflective learning among health-care professionals: the PEARL mixed-methods study

“…At postgraduate level, the effects of communication skills training appear to be weak or evanescent. [74][75][76][77][78][79] In one randomised controlled trial (RCT) of staff training in end-of-life care, 80 communication skills were associated with worse depression among patients in the intervention group.…”