Family Conferences in the Neonatal ICU: Observation of Communication Dynamics and Contributions.

OBJECTIVES: Clinicians in the neonatal ICU must engage in clear and compassionate communication with families. Empirical, observational studies of neonatal ICU family conferences are needed to develop counseling best practices and to train clinicians in key communication skills. We devised a pilot study to record and analyze how interdisciplinary neonatal ICU clinicians and parents navigate difficult conversations during neonatal ICU family conferences. DESIGN: We prospectively identified and audiotaped a convenience sample of neonatal ICU family conferences about "difficult news." Conversations were analyzed using the Roter interaction analysis system, a quantitative tool for assessing content and quality of patient-provider communication. SETTING: An urban academic children's medical center with a 45-bed level IV neonatal ICU. SUBJECTS: Neonatal ICU parents and clinicians. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We analyzed 19 family conferences that included 31 family members and 23 clinicians. The child's mother was included in all conferences, and a second parent, usually the father, was present in 13 conferences. All but one conference included multiple medical team members. On average, physicians contributed 65% of all dialogue, regardless of who else was present. Over half (56%) of this dialogue involved giving medical information; under 5% of clinician dialogue involved asking questions of the family, and families rarely (5% of dialogue) asked questions. Conversations were longer with the presence of nonphysician clinicians, but this did not increase the amount of dialogue about psychosocial information or increase parent dialogue. CONCLUSIONS: We collected a novel repository of audio-recorded neonatal ICU family meetings that offers insights into discussion content and process. These meetings were heavily focused on biomedical information even when interdisciplinary clinicians were present. Clinicians always talked more than parents, and no one asked many questions. Maximizing the participation of interdisciplinary clinicians in neonatal ICU family meetings may require explicit strategies. Methods to increase family engagement should be targeted.

Listening in on difficult conversations: an observational, multi-center investigation of real-time conversations in medical oncology.

BACKGROUND: The quality of communication in medical care has been shown to influence health outcomes. Cancer patients, a highly diverse population, communicate with their clinical care team in diverse ways over the course of their care trajectory. Whether that communication happens and how effective it is may relate to a variety of factors including the type of cancer and the patient's position on the cancer care continuum. Yet, many of the routine needs of cancer patients after initial cancer treatment are often not addressed adequately. Our goal is to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement in cancer communication by investigating real-time cancer consultations in a cross section of patient-clinician interactions at diverse study sites. METHODS/DESIGN: In this paper we describe the rationale and approach for an ongoing observational study involving three institutions that will utilize quantitative and qualitative methods and employ a short-term longitudinal, prospective follow-up component to investigate decision-making, key topics, and clinician-patient-companion communication dynamics in clinical oncology. DISCUSSION: Through a comprehensive, real-time approach, we hope to provide the fundamental groundwork from which to promote improved patient-centered communication in cancer care.

Comparative effectiveness of standard versus patient-centered collaborative care interventions for depression among African Americans in primary care settings: the BRIDGE Study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of standard and patient-centered, culturally tailored collaborative care (CC) interventions for African American patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) over 12 months of follow-up. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Twenty-seven primary care clinicians and 132 African American patients with MDD in urban community-based practices in Maryland and Delaware. STUDY DESIGN: Cluster randomized trial with patient-level, intent-to-treat analyses. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Patients completed screener and baseline, 6-, 12-, and 18-month interviews to assess depression severity, mental health functioning, health service utilization, and patient ratings of care. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Patients in both interventions showed statistically significant improvements over 12 months. Compared with standard, patient-centered CC patients had similar reductions in depression symptom levels (-2.41 points; 95 percent confidence interval (CI), -7.7, 2.9), improvement in mental health functioning scores (+3.0 points; 95 percent CI, -2.2, 8.3), and odds of rating their clinician as participatory (OR, 1.48, 95 percent CI, 0.53, 4.17). Treatment rates increased among standard (OR = 1.8, 95 percent CI 1.0, 3.2), but not patient-centered (OR = 1.0, 95 percent CI 0.6, 1.8) CC patients. However, patient-centered CC patients rated their care manager as more helpful at identifying their concerns (OR, 3.00; 95 percent CI, 1.23, 7.30) and helping them adhere to treatment (OR, 2.60; 95 percent CI, 1.11, 6.08). CONCLUSIONS: Patient-centered and standard CC approaches to depression care showed similar improvements in clinical outcomes for African Americans with depression; standard CC resulted in higher rates of treatment, and patient-centered CC resulted in better ratings of care.

"This is a decision you have to make": using simulation to study prenatal counseling.

INTRODUCTION: Prenatal decision making during extremely preterm labor is challenging for parents and physicians. Ethical and logistical concerns have limited empirical descriptions of physician counseling behaviors in this setting and constricted opportunities for communication training. This pilot study examines how simulation might be used to engage neonatologists in reflecting on their usual prenatal counseling behaviors. METHODS: Neonatology physicians counseled a couple (standardized patients) with the female patient having impending delivery at 23 3/7 weeks. Encounters were videotaped. Physicians completed postencounter surveys and debriefing interviews. Mixed-methods analysis explored the outcomes of clinical verisimilitude and counseling behaviors. RESULTS: All 10 neonatology physicians found that the simulation was highly realistic and that their behaviors paralleled neonatologist self-report in other studies. Physicians contributed more than 80% of encounter dialogue and mostly focused on biomedical information related to the acute perinatal period. Physicians spent nearly a quarter of each encounter in building relationships and expressing empathy. Most physicians initiated discussion about quality versus quantity of life but infrequently elicited the parents' related goals and values. When medical factors and family preferences were held constant, physicians assumed variable responsibility for making decisions about resuscitation. Most physicians declined parent requests for treatment recommendations, although all of those physicians felt more than 75% certain about what should be done. CONCLUSIONS: Simulation can reproduce the decisional context of prenatal counseling for extremely premature labor. These results have implications for communication training in any setting where physicians and patients without established relationships must discuss acute diagnoses and make high-stakes medical decisions.

A randomized trial to improve patient-centered care and hypertension control in underserved primary care patients.

BACKGROUND: African Americans and persons with low socioeconomic status (SES) are disproportionately affected by hypertension and receive less patient-centered care than less vulnerable patient populations. Moreover, continuing medical education (CME) and patient-activation interventions have infrequently been directed to improve the processes of care for these populations. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of patient-centered interventions targeting patients and physicians with the effectiveness of minimal interventions for underserved groups. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial conducted from January 2002 through August 2005, with patient follow-up at 3 and 12 months, in 14 urban, community-based practices in Baltimore, Maryland. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-one primary care physicians and 279 hypertension patients. INTERVENTIONS: Physician communication skills training and patient coaching by community health workers. MAIN MEASURES: Physician communication behaviors; patient ratings of physicians' participatory decision-making (PDM), patient involvement in care (PIC), reported adherence to medications; systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) and BP control. KEY RESULTS: Visits of trained versus control group physicians demonstrated more positive communication change scores from baseline (-0.52 vs. -0.82, p = 0.04). At 12 months, the patient+physician intensive group compared to the minimal intervention group showed significantly greater improvements in patient report of physicians' PDM (ß = +6.20 vs. -5.24, p = 0.03) and PIC dimensions related to doctor facilitation (ß = +0.22 vs. -0.17, p = 0.03) and information exchange (ß = +0.32 vs. -0.22, p = 0.005). Improvements in patient adherence and BP control did not differ across groups for the overall patient sample. However, among patients with uncontrolled hypertension at baseline, non-significant reductions in systolic BP were observed among patients in all intervention groups-the patient+physician intensive (-13.2 mmHg), physician intensive/patient minimal (-10.6 mmHg), and the patient intensive/physician minimal (-16.8 mmHg), compared to the patient+physician minimal group (-2.0 mmHg). CONCLUSION: Interventions that enhance physicians' communication skills and activate patients to participate in their care positively affect patient-centered communication, patient perceptions of engagement in care, and may improve systolic BP among urban African-American and low SES patients with uncontrolled hypertension.

The effects of patient-provider communication on 3-month recovery from acute low back pain.

BACKGROUND: patient-provider communication has been indicated as a key factor in early recovery from acute low back pain (LBP), one of the most common maladies seen in primary care; however, associations between communication and LBP outcomes have not been studied prospectively. METHODS: working adults (n = 97; 64% men; median age, 38 years) with acute LBP completed baseline surveys, agreed to audio recording of provider visits, and were followed for 3 months. Using the Roter Interaction Analysis System, 10 composite indices of communication were compared with 1- and 3-month patient outcomes. RESULTS: patients (n = 30) with significant pain and dysfunction persisting at 3 months provided more biomedical information (t[75], 2.61; P < .05) and engaged in more negative rapport building (t[75], 2.33; P < .05) but showed no increase in psychosocial/lifestyle communication during the initial visit (P > .05). Providers asked these patients more biomedical questions (r = 0.35 with dysfunction), more psychosocial/lifestyle questions (r = 0.30), made more efforts to engage the patient (t[75], 4.49; P < .05), and did more positive rapport building (t[75], 2.13; P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: providers adapt their communication patterns to collect more information and establish greater rapport with high-risk patients, but patients focus more on biomedical than coping concerns. To better elicit psychosocial concerns from patients, providers may need to administer brief self-report measures or adopt more structured interviewing techniques.

A cluster randomized trial of standard quality improvement versus patient-centered interventions to enhance depression care for African Americans in the primary care setting: study protocol NCT00243425.

BACKGROUND: Several studies document disparities in access to care and quality of care for depression for African Americans. Research suggests that patient attitudes and clinician communication behaviors may contribute to these disparities. Evidence links patient-centered care to improvements in mental health outcomes; therefore, quality improvement interventions that enhance this dimension of care are promising strategies to improve treatment and outcomes of depression among African Americans. This paper describes the design of the BRIDGE (Blacks Receiving Interventions for Depression and Gaining Empowerment) Study. The goal of the study is to compare the effectiveness of two interventions for African-American patients with depression--a standard quality improvement program and a patient-centered quality improvement program. The main hypothesis is that patients in the patient-centered group will have a greater reduction in their depression symptoms, higher rates of depression remission, and greater improvements in mental health functioning at six, twelve, and eighteen months than patients in the standard group. The study also examines patient ratings of care and receipt of guideline-concordant treatment for depression. METHODS/DESIGN: A total of 36 primary care clinicians and 132 of their African-American patients with major depressive disorder were recruited into a cluster randomized trial. The study uses intent-to-treat analyses to compare the effectiveness of standard quality improvement interventions (academic detailing about depression guidelines for clinicians and disease-oriented care management for their patients) and patient-centered quality improvement interventions (communication skills training to enhance participatory decision-making for clinicians and care management focused on explanatory models, socio-cultural barriers, and treatment preferences for their patients) for improving outcomes over 12 months of follow-up. DISCUSSION: The BRIDGE Study includes clinicians and African-American patients in under-resourced community-based practices who have not been well-represented in clinical trials to improve depression care. The patient-centered and culturally targeted approach to depression care is a relatively new one that has not been tested in most previous studies. The study will provide evidence about whether patient-centered accommodations improve quality of care and outcomes to a greater extent than standard quality improvement strategies for African Americans with depression. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00243425.

Does the presence of psychosocial "yellow flags" alter patient-provider communication for work-related, acute low back pain?

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether patterns of patient-provider communication might vary depending on psychosocial risk factors for back disability. METHODS: Working adults (N = 97; 64% men; median age = 38 years) with work-related low back pain completed a risk factor questionnaire and then agreed to have provider visits audiotaped. Verbal exchanges were divided into utterances and coded for content, then compared among low-, medium-, and high-risk patients. RESULTS: Among high-risk patients only, providers asked more biomedical questions, patients provided more biomedical information, and providers used more language to engage patients and facilitate communication. There were no group differences in psychosocial exchanges. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians may recognize the need for more detailed assessment of patients with multiple psychosocial factors, but increases in communication are focused on medical explanations and therapeutic regimen, not on lifestyle and psychosocial factors.

A randomized controlled trial of interventions to enhance patient-physician partnership, patient adherence and high blood pressure control among ethnic minorities and poor persons: study protocol NCT00123045.

BACKGROUND: Disparities in health and healthcare are extensively documented across clinical conditions, settings, and dimensions of healthcare quality. In particular, studies show that ethnic minorities and persons with low socioeconomic status receive poorer quality of interpersonal or patient-centered care than whites and persons with higher socioeconomic status. Strong evidence links patient-centered care to improvements in patient adherence and health outcomes; therefore, interventions that enhance this dimension of care are promising strategies to improve adherence and overcome disparities in outcomes for ethnic minorities and poor persons. OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the design of the Patient-Physician Partnership (Triple P) Study. The goal of the study is to compare the relative effectiveness of the patient and physician intensive interventions, separately, and in combination with one another, with the effectiveness of minimal interventions. The main hypothesis is that patients in the intensive intervention groups will have better adherence to appointments, medication, and lifestyle recommendations at three and twelve months than patients in minimal intervention groups. The study also examines other process and outcome measures, including patient-physician communication behaviors, patient ratings of care, health service utilization, and blood pressure control. METHODS: A total of 50 primary care physicians and 279 of their ethnic minority or poor patients with hypertension were recruited into a randomized controlled trial with a two by two factorial design. The study used a patient-centered, culturally tailored, education and activation intervention for patients with active follow-up delivered by a community health worker in the clinic. It also included a computerized, self-study communication skills training program for physicians, delivered via an interactive CD-ROM, with tailored feedback to address their individual communication skills needs. CONCLUSION: The Triple P study will provide new knowledge about how to improve patient adherence, quality of care, and cardiovascular outcomes, as well as how to reduce disparities in care and outcomes of ethnic minority and poor persons with hypertension.

Physician burnout and patient-physician communication during primary care encounters.

BACKGROUND: 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. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between physician burnout and observed patient-physician communication outcomes in patient-physician encounters. DESIGN: Longitudinal study of enrollment data from a trial of interventions to improve patient adherence to hypertension treatment. SETTING: Fifteen urban community-based clinics in Baltimore, MD. PARTICIPANTS: 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. MEASUREMENTS: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSIONS: 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.

Interactive and evaluative correlates of dialogue sequence: a simulation study applying the RIAS to turn taking structures.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores novel characterizations of turn taking structure and its interaction and evaluative correlates. METHODS: The Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) was applied to videotapes of 51 physicians with a simulated patient (SP) to create a variety of novel turn taking measures including turn frequency, rate of interactivity, density, duration, and statement pacing. RESULTS: Visits averaged 52 speaker turns with an interactivity rate of 3.9 turns per visit minute. For physicians, turn duration averaged 13.7 s with a turn density of 4.2 statements paced at one statement every 3 s. For the SP, turn duration was 3 s with a turn density of 1.4 statements paced at one statement every 2 s. More turns, briefer turn duration and faster physician pacing were significantly related to positive ratings of affective demeanor, interpersonal satisfaction and collaborative decision-making. These measures, and interactivity, were also associated with a RIAS-based patient-centeredness score and more overall patient talk. CONCLUSION: Turn taking structures can be characterized in novel ways lending depth and richness to our understanding of dialogue, relationships to the patient-centeredness of a visit, and evaluative judgments of physician performance. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The study findings suggest specificity to the interviewing admonishment "talk less and listen more" by enhancing the interactivity of the dialogue and guarding against doctors tendency toward long monologues.

Spatial and temporal trends of precipitation chemistry in the United States, 1985-2002.

A Seasonal Kendall Trend (SKT) test was applied to precipitation-weighted concentration data from 164 National Atmospheric Deposition Program National Trends Network (NADP/NTN) sites operational from 1985 to 2002. Analyses were performed on concentrations of ammonium, sulfate, nitrate, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN, sum of nitrogen from nitrate and ammonium), and earth crustal cations (ECC, sum of calcium, magnesium, and potassium). Over the 18-year period, statistically significant (p< or =0.10) increases in ammonium concentrations occurred at 93 sites (58%), while just three sites had statistically significant ammonium decreases. Central and northern Midwestern states had the largest ammonium increases. The generally higher ammonium concentrations were accompanied by significant sulfate decreases (139 sites, 85%), and only one significant increase which occurred in Texas. In the west central United States there were significant nitrate increases (45 sites, 27%), while in the northeastern United States there were significant decreases (25 sites, 15%). Significant DIN decreases were observed in the northeastern United States (11 sites, 7%); elsewhere there were significant increases at 75 sites (46%). ECC decreased significantly at 65 sites (40%), predominantly in the central and southern United States, and increased at 11 sites (7%). The concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium in precipitation have changed markedly over the time period studied. Such trends indicate changes in the mix of gases and particles scavenged by precipitation, possibly reflecting changes in emissions, atmospheric chemical transformations, and weather patterns.

Longitudinal care improves disclosure of psychosocial information.

BACKGROUND: While longitudinal primary care is thought to promote patient rapport and trust, it is not known if longitudinality helps overcome barriers to communication that may occur when the patient and physician are of different ethnicities and/or sexes. OBJECTIVE: To examine if longitudinal pediatric care ameliorates disparities in parent disclosure of psychosocial information associated with ethnic and gender discordance between parent and physician. DESIGN: Longitudinal, observational study of parent-physician interaction at early visits and over the course of 1 year. PARTICIPANTS: Parents (90% African American and 10% white mothers or female guardians) and their infant's assigned primary care physician (white first- and second-year pediatric residents). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Parents' psychosocial information giving measured by the Roter Interaction Analysis System. RESULTS: Sex- and race-related barriers to disclosure of psychosocial information were evident early in the parent-physician relationship. At early visits, African American mothers made 26% fewer psychosocial statements than white mothers; this discrepancy was not affected by physician sex. At early visits, white mothers made twice as many psychosocial statements when seeing white female compared with white male physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Patient-centeredness is an important factor promoting psychosocial information giving for African American and white mothers, regardless of physician sex. Longitudinal relationships facilitate mothers' disclosure to physicians of a different ethnicity or sex, but only if physicians remain patient-centered.

Mechanisms behind the failure of residents' longitudinal primary care to promote disclosure and discussion of psychosocial issues.

CONTEXT: Longitudinality (care by a single physician over time) and continuity (receipt of most care from a single physician) are believed to enhance patient-physician relationships and facilitate disclosure of emotional distress, but some studies suggest this potential goes unrealized. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether care in a pediatric residents' continuity clinic promotes, over time, increased discussion, disclosure, and detection of parents' social and emotional distress and to understand physicians' communication behaviors underlying changes with time. DESIGN: Longitudinal, observational study of parent-physician interaction over the course of 1 year. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred ninety parents (90% African American) and their infants' primary care physicians (31 [4 Asians and 27 whites] first- and second-year pediatric residents). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency with which parents and physicians raised topics related to parental mood and family or social functioning; proportion of distressed parents discussing mood or functioning; and physicians' detection of parent distress. RESULTS: Physician initiation of psychosocial topics fell in the course of longitudinal relationships (odds of initiation in visits > or =6 vs odds of initiation in visits 1-5 = 0.46 [95% confidence limits, 0.31%, 0.67%]); parent initiation did not change over time nor was it increased by greater levels of continuity. Length of relationship was not associated with increased physician detection of parental distress or with increased rates of disclosure by distressed parents. Physicians' positively framed leading questions, and their avoidant responses to prior parental disclosures were significantly associated with decreased odds of problem disclosure. In contrast, visits in which parents or physicians raised psychosocial topics were characterized, on average, by 40% higher levels of physicians' "patient-centeredness" (increases of about 100 utterances per visit [95% confidence limits, 65.7%, 133.9%]). CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal relationships between residents and patients may not be sufficient to promote the discussion, disclosure, and detection of psychosocial issues. Training in communication skills may help residents achieve the potential and goals of longitudinal care.