House Staff Communication Training and Patient Experience Scores

• Main Authors: Oladoyin A Oladeru MPH, Musleehat Hamadu MPH, Paul D Cleary PhD, Adam B Hittelman MD, PhD, Ketan R Bulsara MD, Maxwell SH Laurans MD, MBA, Daniel B DiCapua MD, Evie G Marcolini MD, Jeremy J Moeller MD, FRCPC, Babar Khokhar MD, MBA, Jeannette W Hodge, Auguste H Fortin MD, MPH, Janet P Hafler EdD, Michael C Bennick MD, David Y Hwang MD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2017-03-01
• Series: Journal of Patient Experience
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2374373517694533

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.