Dataset Information

Impact of Pre-visit Contextual Data Collection on Patient-Physician Communication and Patient Activation: a Randomized Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Patient contextual data (PCD) are often missing from electronic health records, limiting the opportunity to incorporate preferences and life circumstances into care. Engaging patients through tools that collect and summarize such data may improve communication and patient activation. However, differential tool adoption by race might widen health care disparities.

Objective

Determine if a digital tool designed to collect and present PCD improves communication and patient activation; secondarily, evaluate if use impacts outcomes by race.

Design, setting, and participants

A pragmatic, two-armed, non-blinded, randomized controlled trial conducted during 2019 in a primary care setting.

Intervention

The PCD tool (PatientWisdom) invited patients to identify preferences, values, goals, and barriers to care. Patients were randomized to a standard pre-visit email or facilitated enrollment with dedicated outreach to encourage use of the tool.

Main outcomes and measures

Outcomes of interest were post-visit patient communication and patient activation measured by the Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) and Patient Activation Measure (PAM), respectively. Outcomes were evaluated using treatment-on-the-treated (TOT) and intention-to-treat (ITT) principles.

Key results

A total of 301 patients were enrolled. Facilitated enrollment resulted in a five-fold increase in uptake of the PCD tool. TOT analysis indicated that the PCD tool was associated with notable increases in specific CAT items rated as excellent: "treated me with respect" (+ 13 percentage points; p = 0.04), "showed interest in my ideas" (+ 14 percentage points; p = 0.03), "showed care and concern" (+ 16 percentage points; p = 0.02), and "spent about the right amount of time with me" (+ 11 percentage points; p = 0.05). There were no significant pre/post-visit differences in PAM scores between arms (- 4.41 percentage points; p = 0.58). ITT results were similar. We saw no evidence of the treatment effect varying by race in ITT or TOT analyses.

Conclusions and relevance

The inclusion of PCD enhanced essential aspects of patient-provider communication but did not affect patient activation. Outcomes did not differ by race.

Trial registration

Clincaltrials.gov identifier: NCT03766841.

SUBMITTER: Holt JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8606508 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Impact of Pre-visit Contextual Data Collection on Patient-Physician Communication and Patient Activation: a Randomized Trial.

Holt Jeana M JM Cusatis Rachel R Winn Aaron A Asan Onur O Spanbauer Charles C Williams Joni S JS Flynn Kathryn E KE Somai Melek M Talsma AkkeNeel A Laud Purushottam P Makoul Gregory G Crotty Bradley H BH

Journal of general internal medicine 20210209 11

<h4>Background</h4>Patient contextual data (PCD) are often missing from electronic health records, limiting the opportunity to incorporate preferences and life circumstances into care. Engaging patients through tools that collect and summarize such data may improve communication and patient activation. However, differential tool adoption by race might widen health care disparities.<h4>Objective</h4>Determine if a digital tool designed to collect and present PCD improves communication and patient ...[more]

PMID: 33559067

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Project description:BackgroundPatient-centered care is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values. To provide patient-centered care, clinicians need to know and incorporate patients' context into their communication and care with patients. Patient contextual data (PCD) encompass social determinants of health and patients' needs, values, goals, and preferences relevant to their care. PCD can be challenging to collect as a routine component of the time-limited primary care visit.ObjectiveThis study aims to determine if patient-provider communication and patient activation are different for patient users and patient nonusers of an electronic health record (EHR)-integrated PCD tool and assess if the impact of using PCD on patient-provider communication and patient activation differs for Black and White patients.MethodsWe describe a randomized controlled trial of a prospective cohort of non-Hispanic White and Black patients who receive primary care services at a midwestern academic health care system in the United States. We will evaluate whether providing PCD through a consumer informatics tool enhances patient-provider communication, as measured by the Communication Assessment Tool, and we will evaluate patient activation, as measured by the Patient Activation Measure for PCD tool users and nonusers. Furthermore, owing to racial disparities in care and communication, we seek to determine if the adoption and use of the tool might narrow the differences between patient groups.ResultsThe trial was funded in November 2017 and received local ethics review approval in February 2019. The study began recruitment in April 2019 and enrollment concluded in October 2019 with 301 participants. The analysis was completed in May 2020, and trial results are expected to be published in winter 2020.ConclusionsRecently, there has been increased attention to the role of health information technology tools to enable patients to collaborate with providers through the sharing of PCD. The adoption of such tools may overcome the barriers of current EHRs by directly engaging patients to submit their contextual data. Effectively, these tools would support the EHR in providing a more holistic understanding of the patient. Research further supports that individuals who have robust digital engagement using consumer informatics tools have higher participation in treatment follow-up and self-care across populations. Therefore, it is critical to investigate interventions that elicit and share patients' social risks and care preferences with the health care team as a mechanism to improve individualized care and reduce the gap in health outcomes.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03766841; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03766841.International registered report identifier (irrid)RR1-10.2196/20309.

Project description:BackgroundAlthough telemedicine use has increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, the impact of telemedicine versus in-person postoperative visits on patient satisfaction has not been studied prospectively. We hypothesized that telemedicine visits would be noninferior to in-person visits in terms of postoperative colorectal surgery patient satisfaction.MethodsWe conducted a randomized trial of consecutive adult patients undergoing transabdominal colorectal surgery from September 2020 to February 2021. Eligible participants were randomized 1:1 to either receive a telemedicine visit (Arm T) or an in-person visit (Arm I) for their first postoperative appointment. Subsequently, participants in Arm T completed a second postoperative visit in person, and participants in Arm I completed a second postoperative visit via telemedicine. All participants completed a patient satisfaction survey electronically within 24 hours after each postoperative visit. The primary endpoint was total patient satisfaction score. Secondary endpoints included patient-reported safety score, length of visit, and willingness of patients to recommend the practice to their peers. Fisher's exact test, χ2 analysis, and Student's t test were used to compare outcomes.ResultsA total of 46 patients were analyzed with 23 each in Arm T and Arm I. The mean age of our study cohort was 50.6 (standard deviation 17.7) years and 52% were female. No significant differences were found between groups in terms of baseline characteristics. With respect to our primary endpoint of total satisfaction score, patient satisfaction scores in Arm T were non-inferior to those in Arm I. Similarly, there was no significant difference in satisfaction scores after the second postoperative visit when the visit types were reversed. We did not find any significant differences between groups in terms of our secondary endpoints.ConclusionPostoperative telemedicine visits were a safe and time-efficient option that maintained high patient satisfaction compared with in-person postoperative visits.

Project description:Although previous studies suggest an association between provider burnout and suboptimal self-reported communication, no studies relate physician burnout to observed patient-physician communication behaviors.To investigate the relationship between physician burnout and observed patient-physician communication outcomes in patient-physician encounters.Longitudinal study of enrollment data from a trial of interventions to improve patient adherence to hypertension treatment.Fifteen urban community-based clinics in Baltimore, MD.Forty physicians and 235 of their adult hypertensive patients, with oversampling of ethnic minorities and poor persons. Fifty-three percent of physicians were women, and the average practice experience was 11.2 years. Among the 235 patients, 66% were women, 60% were African-American, and 90% were insured.Audiotape analysis of communication during outpatient encounters (one per patient) using the Roter Interaction Analysis System and patients' ratings of satisfaction with and trust and confidence in the physician.The median time between the physician burnout assessment and the patient encounter was 15.1 months (range 5.6-30). Multivariate analyses revealed no significant differences in physician communication based on physician burnout. However, compared with patients of low-burnout physicians, patients of high-burnout physicians gave twice as many negative rapport-building statements (incident risk ratio 2.06, 95% CI 1.58-2.86, p < 0.001). Physician burnout was not significantly associated with physician or patient affect, patient-centeredness, verbal dominance, or length of the encounter. Physician burnout was also not significantly associated with patients' ratings of their satisfaction, confidence, or trust.Physician burnout was not associated with physician communication behaviors nor with most measures of patient-centered communication. However, patients engaged in more rapport-building behaviors. These findings suggest a complex relationship between physician burnout and patient-physician communication, which should be investigated and linked to patient outcomes in future research.

Project description:BackgroundIn China, the utilization of medical resources is tense, and most hospitals are highly congested because of the large population and uneven distribution of medical resources. Online health communities (OHCs) play an important role in alleviating hospital congestions, thereby improving the utilization of medical resources and relieving medical resource shortages. OHCs have positive effects on physician-patient relationships and health outcomes. Moreover, as one of the main ways for patients to seek health-related information in OHCs, physician-patient communication may affect patient compliance in various ways. In consideration of the inevitable development of OHCs, although they have several shortcomings, identifying how physician-patient communication can impact patient compliance is important to improve patients' health outcomes through OHCs.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the impact of physician-patient communication on patient compliance in OHCs through the mediation of the perceived quality of internet health information, decision-making preference, and physician-patient concordance, using an empirical study based on the self-determination theory.MethodsA research model was established, including 1 independent variable (physician-patient communication), 3 mediators (perceived quality of internet health information, decision-making preference, and physician-patient concordance), 1 dependent variable (patient compliance), and 4 control variables (age, gender, living area, and education level). Furthermore, a Web-based survey involving 423 valid responses was conducted in China to collect data, and structural equation modeling and partial least squares were adopted to analyze data and test the hypotheses.ResultsThe questionnaire response rate was 79.2% (487/615) and the validity rate was 86.9% (423/487); reliability and validity are acceptable. The communication between physicians and patients in OHCs positively affects patient compliance through the mediation of the perceived quality of internet health information, decision-making preference, and physician-patient concordance. Moreover, physician-patient communication exhibits similar impacts on the perceived quality of internet health information, decision-making preference, and physician-patient concordance. Patients' decision-making preference shows the weakest impact on patient compliance compared with the other 2 mediators. Ultimately, all 3 mediators play a partially mediating role between physician-patient communication and patient compliance.ConclusionsWe conclude that physician-patient communication in OHCs exhibits a positive impact on patient compliance; thus, patient compliance can be improved by guiding physician-patient communication in OHCs. Furthermore, our findings suggest that physicians can share high-quality health information with patients, discuss benefits, risks, and costs of treatment options with patients, encourage patients to express their attitudes and participate in health-related decision making, and strengthen the emotional connection with patients in OHCs, thereby decreasing patients' misunderstanding of information and increasing concordance between physicians and patients. OHCs are required to not only strengthen the management of their published health information quality but also understand users' actual attitudes toward information quality and then try to reduce the gap between the perceived and actual quality of information.

Project description:Despite the documented benefits of colorectal cancer screening, patient participation rates remain low. Physician recommendation has been identified as a significant predictor of screening completion.The aim of this study is to investigate how primary care physicians perceive colorectal cancer screening communication tasks, as well as to explore the form and content of actual screening discussions.The research design includes a mailed physician survey and a separate observational study in a sample of videotaped medical encounters. PARTICIPANTS AND DATA SOURCES: The participants were 270 primary care physicians who completed a mailed questionnaire (57.9% response rate) and 18 physician-patient encounters that included discussions of colorectal cancer screening.The questionnaire focused on perceived importance and accomplishment of communication tasks relevant to colorectal cancer screening. Two of the authors reviewed transcripts of videotaped physician encounters to determine whether the same communication tasks assessed in the survey were accomplished. Interrater reliability was high across all of the mutually exclusive coding categories (Kappa > .90).Physicians rated colonoscopy as the most important screening option to discuss; self-reports indicate that colonoscopy (84.8%) is more frequently mentioned than fecal occult blood test (FOBT; 49.4%), flexible sigmoidoscopy (34.1%), or computed tomography (CT) imaging (18.1%). Explaining benefits and risks, describing test procedure and frequency, eliciting patient preferences, and making a plan for screening were all viewed as very important. Self-reported accomplishment of these communication tasks was considerably higher than that observed in our separate videotape sample.Most physicians recognize and espouse the importance of recommending colorectal cancer screening to eligible patients. However, findings from both the physician survey and observational study suggest that physicians tend to overestimate the extent of discussions about screening. Interventions may be warranted to improve clinical practice.

Project description:BackgroundExcellent communication is a necessary component of high-quality health care. We aimed to determine whether a training module could improve patients' perceptions of physician communication behaviors, as measured by change over time in domains of patient experience scores related to physician communication.Study designWe designed a comprehensive physician-training module focused on improving specific "etiquette-based" physician communication skills through standardized simulations and physician coaching with structured feedback. We employed a quasi-experimental pre-post design, with an intervention group consisting of internal medicine hospitalists and residents and a control group consisting of surgeons. The outcome was percent "always" scores for questions related to patients' perceptions of physician communication using the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey and a Non-HCAHPS Physician-Specific Patient Experience Survey (NHPPES) administered to patients cared for by hospitalists.ResultsA total of 128 physicians participated in the simulation. Responses from 5020 patients were analyzed using HCAHPS survey data and 1990 patients using NHPPES survey data. The intercept shift, or the degree of change from pre-intervention percent "always" responses, for the HCAHPS questions of doctors "treating patients with courtesy" "explaining things in a way patients could understand," and "overall teamwork" showed no significant differences between surgical control and hospitalist intervention patients. Adjusted NHPPES percent excellent survey results increased significantly post-intervention for the questions of specified individual doctors "keeping patient informed" (adjusted intercept shift 9.9% P = 0.019), "overall teamwork" (adjusted intercept shift 11%, P = 0.037), and "using words the patient could understand" (adjusted intercept shift 14.8%, p = 0.001).ConclusionA simulation based physician communication coaching method focused on specific "etiquette-based" communication behaviors through a deliberate practice framework was not associated with significantly improved HCAHPS physician communication patient experience scores. Further research could reveal ways that this model affects patients' perceptions of physician communication relating to specific physicians or behaviors.

Dataset Information

Impact of Pre-visit Contextual Data Collection on Patient-Physician Communication and Patient Activation: a Randomized Trial.

Background

Objective

Design, setting, and participants

Intervention

Main outcomes and measures

Key results

Conclusions and relevance

Trial registration

Publications

Impact of Pre-visit Contextual Data Collection on Patient-Physician Communication and Patient Activation: a Randomized Trial.

Similar Datasets

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