Video-based coaching may improve communication skills among clinicians
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Video-based coaching was a feasible strategy for improving clinicians’ communications skills, according to findings published in BMC Medical Education.
“Positive patient-clinician relationships boil down to effective communication, and we need to do a better job of teaching communication skills,” Bich N. Dang, MD, an assistant professor in the section of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine, told Healio. “Teaching communication skills early on in medical school or clinical training is likely to have the largest benefit given the timescale for impact.”
Between October 2018 and October 2019, Dang and colleagues surveyed 23 clinicians at one primary care clinic and one HIV primary care clinic in Texas who participated in a video-based coaching intervention to improve their patient-centered communication skills.
The intervention used trained communication coaches and live feed technology to provide less than 15 minutes of theory-informed coaching at the same time daily. Two coaches used webcams to observe live video feeds of clinician visits in rooms nearby. As coaches watched and recorded the visit, they time-stamped illustrative clips. During feedback sessions, coaches used these video clips to promote discussion and self-reflection. They also used role play and guided practice techniques when providing communication tips.
Dang and colleagues then surveyed the participants on the quality and delivery of the program. Among the study cohort, 15 participants were internal medicine residents, four were fellows, three were attendings and one was a nurse practitioner. In total, 61% of the participants were men.
Clinicians completed one coaching session at the primary care clinic and four sessions at the primary care clinic serving patients with HIV, according to Dang. They rated the video-based coaching intervention as highly feasible and acceptable, with mean item scores ranging from 6.4 to 6.8 points out of a total possible score of 7 points. Moreover, the clinicians said they did not find the intervention burdensome, and patients did not mind the video recording during their visits, according to Dang and colleagues.
The researchers also reported that clinicians felt the coaches were credible and supportive, their feedback was useful and the video clips allowed for self-reflection. Clinicians said the same-day feedback was useful and preferred practicing their communications skills with real patients over “standardized patients” with scripts.
Overall, 91% of clinicians reported that they would probably or definitely recommend the coaching intervention to colleagues. These clinicians also reported that the length of the feedback sessions was “just right.”
“Trust and rapport in a clinician are extremely important for positive health behaviors in patients,” Dang said. “I think now [with the COVID-19 pandemic], the patient-clinician relationship is even more important.”