Disseminating effective clinician communication techniques: Engaging clinicians to want to learn how to engage patients

doi:10.1016/j.pec.2017.05.015

Patient Education and Counseling

Volume 100, Issue 10, October 2017, Pages 1951-1954

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2017.05.015 Get rights and content

Abstract

Patient-clinician communication that promotes patient engagement enhances health care quality. Yet, disseminating effective communication interventions to practicing clinicians remains challenging. Current methods do not have large and sustainable effects. In this paper, we argue that both top-down approaches (mandated by institutions) should be coupled with bottom-up approaches that address clinician motivation, confidence, and barriers. We need to engage clinicians in the same way we ask them to engage patients – strategically and with empathy. We discuss potentially innovative strategies to integrate top-down and bottom-up approaches in ways that fit clinicians’ busy schedules and can inform policy.

Section snippets

Challenges of changing clinician behavior

Successful large-scale dissemination of communication skills training depends upon changing clinician behavior, always a challenging endeavor. Cabana [22], in his model of behavior change, cited the following factors as barriers to clinician guideline adherence: lack of time, lack of knowledge, not believing guidelines are correct, and not believing that following guidelines will improve patient outcomes. A variety of methods have been used to teach clinicians new behaviors. These include

Raising the bar on teaching clinician communication skills

Ideally, policy makers should disseminate using theoretical approaches. One example is Green’s Utilization-focused surveillance framework [25] in which policy makers incorporate the views of stakeholders, users, and developers to learn how best to influence how a medical system values and incentivizes communication. After obtaining input, policy makers work within these systems to incorporate new modes of improving communication to produce more engaged and satisfied patients and clinicians and

Conflicts of interest

None.

Declaration

All authors have approved the final article.

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DiscussionDisseminating effective clinician communication techniques: Engaging clinicians to want to learn how to engage patients

Abstract

Section snippets

Challenges of changing clinician behavior

Raising the bar on teaching clinician communication skills

Conflicts of interest

Declaration

Clin. Geriatr. Med.

Eur. J. Cancer

Am. J. Prev. Med.

Lancet

Patient Educ. Couns.

A New Definition of Patient Engagement: What is Engagement and Why is it Important?

Effect of clinician communication skills training on patient satisfaction. A randomized, controlled trial

Ann. Intern. Med.

The relationship of physician medical interview style to patient satisfaction

J. Fam. Pract.

Relations between physicians’ behaviors and analogue patients’ satisfaction, recall, and impressions

Med. Care

Assessing the effects of physician-patient interactions on the outcomes of chronic disease