The Impact Of Physician Communication On Family Inpatient Experience

Patient satisfaction is affected by physician communication styles and communication at the bedside. The investigators are conducting a randomized controlled trial involving both providers and families to determine if providers sitting down while talking with families, will improve one aspect of quality care delivered during an inpatient stay as measured by patient/family satisfaction. The investigators will additionally study the affects of the intervention on the following outcomes: family assessment of provider communication, readmission rates, and length of stay.

Study Overview

• Status: Withdrawn
• Conditions: Parental/Patient Satisfaction
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Sitting; Behavioral: Standing

• Study Type: Interventional
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02118
      • Boston Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: No older than 17 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Providers: all attendings, residents, and medical students involved in the care of patients on the pediatric inpatient wards during the study period.
• Families (Parents or legal guardians and children):
• (1) inpatient admissions to the pediatrics medical service at Boston Medical Center
• (2) whose parents or guardian have agreed to participate in family centered walk rounds
• (3) patients age 17 or younger who have family members present at the bedside each morning of hospitalization
• (4) English speaking.

Exclusion Criteria:

• (1) All patients/families that as part of admission justification involves social assessment and concern by the patient care team, including patients with neonatal abstinence syndrome, child maltreatment, and concern for neglect.
• (2) All patients transferred to or from PICU as part of their inpatient care
• (3) All patients transferred from an outside institution to the inpatient ward for further care secondary to progression of disease.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Provider sitting; Providers seated during communication through hospitalization	Behavioral: Sitting; Providers will sit during inpatient family-centered walk rounds throughout the communication during rounds. The participating members of the care team (attending physician, resident and medical student) will remain seated while communicating with the patient and caregiver.
Experimental: Provider standing (control); Providers standing during communication through hospitalization	Behavioral: Standing; Providers will stand during inpatient family-centered walk rounds throughout the communication during rounds. The participating members of the care team (attending physician, resident and medical student) will remain standing while communicating with the patient and caregiver.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Patient/family satisfaction	Questionnaire obtains basic provider information	4mo
Patient/family Satisfaction	Caregiver questionnaire obtains baseline information on caregiver and patients	4 mo
Patient/family satisfaction	PSQ-18: Assesses parental satisfaction with medical care	4 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Length of stay	Chart review of length of inpatient hospitalization during intervention	4 months
Readmission rate	Chart review and parental contact regarding readmission for same reason of initial hospitalization	5 mo
Family discharge preparedness	Brief PREPARED instrument	4 mo
Follow-up appointment attendance	Chart review and communication with caregivers regarding keeping follow-up appointment	5 mo
Family assessment of doctor-patient communication skills	Crossley Communication Questionnaire	4 mo

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Boston Medical Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): June 1, 2011
• Study Completion (Actual): August 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 16, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 17, 2011
• First Posted (Estimate): February 18, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): October 10, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 7, 2016
• Last Verified: October 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 34423