Cleveland Clinic study shows communication skills training improves patient satisfaction

A communication skills training course for physicians helped improve patient satisfaction scores, reduce burnout and improve physician empathy, according to a study by Cleveland Clinic.

The study, which was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, aimed to examine the impact of experiential relationship-centered physician communication skills training on patient satisfaction and physician experience.

Study participants included 1,537 attending physicians who attended an eight-hour experiential communication skills training course as well 1,951 physicians who did not attend the course. The training course was developed by Cleveland Clinic Center for Excellence in Healthcare Communication between Aug. 1, 2013 and April 30, 2014

Here are three findings from the study.

1. Physicians who completed the training course received higher CG-CAHPS scores. Those physicians also had significant improvement in HCAHPS scores in the "respect" domain.

2. After taking the course, physicians showed significant improvement in empathy and burnout, including all measures of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Some of these gains were sustained for at least three months.

3. Before taking the course, only 20 percent of physicians "strongly agreed" that the course would be a valuable use of their time, compared to 58 percent after the course. Less than 1 percent of physicians found that it was not valuable, according to the study.