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The presence of companions during emergency department evaluation and its impact on perceptions of clinician-patient communication.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:Research in outpatient setting suggests that the presence of companions during a medical encounter can improve clinician-patient communication. It is not known if the presence of companions has a similar effect in the acutely stressful context of the ED. This study tested whether the presence of companions in the ED relate to stronger clinician-patient communication. We further explored effect modification by demographic factors (race/ethnicity, education and language) thought to compromise communication. METHODS:Participants were drawn from an observational cohort study of patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (n=876) recruited from an urban academic medical centre between 2013 and 2016. Patient interviews occurred both in the ED and post-ED discharge; communication was assessed using the Interpersonal Processes of Care Survey with possible range of scores of 14-70. Companions were categorised as close others (ie, partner/spouse or child), non-close others (eg, neighbour) or no one. RESULTS:Perceptions of clinician-patient communication were high (mean=57.1, SD=10.6;). There was no association between companions (close/non-close/no one) and clinician-patient communication, p=0.262. Demographic factors were unrelated to communication. There was a significant interaction between education and companions. Having a close other in the ED was associated with stronger clinician-patient communication only for patients with high school education or less, p=0.027. CONCLUSIONS:Neither the presence of companions nor demographic factors were related to clinician-patient communication. The interaction effect suggesting that patients completing high school or less have the most to gain from the presence of close others warrants further exploration.

SUBMITTER: Cornelius T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6335085 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The presence of companions during emergency department evaluation and its impact on perceptions of clinician-patient communication.

Cornelius Talea T Moise Nathalie N Birk Jeffrey L JL Edmondson Donald D Chang Bernard P BP

Emergency medicine journal : EMJ 20180821 11

<h4>Objectives</h4>Research in outpatient setting suggests that the presence of companions during a medical encounter can improve clinician-patient communication. It is not known if the presence of companions has a similar effect in the acutely stressful context of the ED. This study tested whether the presence of companions in the ED relate to stronger clinician-patient communication. We further explored effect modification by demographic factors (race/ethnicity, education and language) thought ...[more]

PMID: 30131354

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Project description:Emergency department (ED) crowding is an increasing problem associated with adverse patient outcomes. ED expansion is one method advocated to reduce ED crowding. The objective of this analysis was to determine the effect of ED expansion on measures of ED crowding.This was a retrospective study using administrative data from two 11-month periods before and after the expansion of an ED from 33 to 53 adult beds in an academic medical center. ED volume, staffing, and hospital admission and occupancy data were obtained either from the electronic health record (EHR) or from administrative records. The primary outcome was the rate of patients who left without being treated (LWBT), and the secondary outcome was total ED boarding time for admitted patients. A multivariable robust linear regression model was used to determine whether ED expansion was associated with the outcome measures.The mean (±SD) daily adult volume was 128 (±14) patients before expansion and 145 (±17) patients after. The percentage of patients who LWBT was unchanged: 9.0% before expansion versus 8.3% after expansion (difference = 0.6%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.16% to 1.4%). Total ED boarding time increased from 160 to 180 hours/day (difference = 20 hours, 95% CI = 8 to 32 hours). After daily ED volume, low-acuity area volume, daily wait time, daily boarding hours, and nurse staffing were adjusted for, the percentage of patients who LWBT was not independently associated with ED expansion (p = 0.053). After ED admissions, ED intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, elective surgical admissions, hospital occupancy rate, ICU occupancy rate, and number of operational ICU beds were adjusted for, the increase in ED boarding hours was independently associated with the ED expansion (p = 0.005).An increase in ED bed capacity was associated with no significant change in the percentage of patients who LWBT, but had an unintended consequence of an increase in ED boarding hours. ED expansion alone does not appear to be an adequate solution to ED crowding.

Project description:Clear communication with patients upon emergency department (ED) discharge is important for patient safety during the transition to outpatient care. Over one-third of patients are discharged from the ED with diagnostic uncertainty, yet there is no established approach for effective discharge communication in this scenario. From 2017 to 2019, the authors developed the Uncertainty Communication Checklist for use in simulation-based training and assessment of emergency physician communication skills when discharging patients with diagnostic uncertainty. This development process followed the established 12-step Checklist Development Checklist framework and integrated patient feedback into 6 of the 12 steps. Patient input was included as it has potential to improve patient-centeredness of checklists related to assessment of clinical performance. Focus group patient participants from 2 clinical sites were included: Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, and Northwestern University Hospital, Chicago, Illinois.The authors developed a preliminary instrument based on existing checklists, clinical experience, literature review, and input from an expert panel comprising health care professionals and patient advocates. They then refined the instrument based on feedback from 2 waves of patient focus groups, resulting in a final 21-item checklist. The checklist items assess if uncertainty was addressed in each step of the discharge communication, including the following major categories: introduction, test results/ED summary, no/uncertain diagnosis, next steps/follow-up, home care, reasons to return, and general communication skills. Patient input influenced both what items were included and the wording of items in the final checklist. This patient-centered, systematic approach to checklist development is built upon the rigor of the Checklist Development Checklist and provides an illustration of how to integrate patient feedback into the design of assessment tools when appropriate.

Dataset Information

The presence of companions during emergency department evaluation and its impact on perceptions of clinician-patient communication.

Publications

The presence of companions during emergency department evaluation and its impact on perceptions of clinician-patient communication.

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