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The Use of Recommended Communication Techniques by Maryland Family Physicians and Pediatricians

BACKGROUND: Health literacy experts and the American Medical Association have developed recommended communication techniques for healthcare providers given that effective communication has been shown to greatly improve health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the number and types...

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Autores principales: Weatherspoon, Darien J., Horowitz, Alice M., Kleinman, Dushanka V., Wang, Min Qi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4391842/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25856371
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119855
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author Weatherspoon, Darien J.
Horowitz, Alice M.
Kleinman, Dushanka V.
Wang, Min Qi
author_facet Weatherspoon, Darien J.
Horowitz, Alice M.
Kleinman, Dushanka V.
Wang, Min Qi
author_sort Weatherspoon, Darien J.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Health literacy experts and the American Medical Association have developed recommended communication techniques for healthcare providers given that effective communication has been shown to greatly improve health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the number and types of communication techniques routinely used by Maryland physicians. METHODS: In 2010, a 30-item survey was mailed to a random sample of 1,472 Maryland family physicians and pediatricians, with 294 surveys being returned and usable. The survey contained questions about provider and practice characteristics, and 17 items related to communication techniques, including seven basic communication techniques. Physicians’ use of recommended communication techniques was analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and ordinary least squares regression. RESULTS: Family physicians routinely used an average of 6.6 of the 17 total techniques and 3.3 of the seven basic techniques, whereas pediatricians routinely used 6.4 and 3.2 techniques, respectively. The use of simple language was the only technique that nearly all physicians routinely utilized (Family physicians, 91%; Pediatricians, 93%). Physicians who had taken a communications course used significantly more techniques than those who had not. Physicians with a low percentage of patients on Medicaid were significantly less likely to use the recommended communication techniques compared to those providers who had high proportion of their patient population on Medicaid. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the use of recommended communication techniques was low. Additionally, many physicians were unsure of the effectiveness of several of the recommended techniques, which could suggest that physicians are unaware of valuable skills that could enhance their communication. The findings of this study suggest that communications training should be given a higher priority in the medical training process in the United States.
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spelling pubmed-43918422015-04-21 The Use of Recommended Communication Techniques by Maryland Family Physicians and Pediatricians Weatherspoon, Darien J. Horowitz, Alice M. Kleinman, Dushanka V. Wang, Min Qi PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Health literacy experts and the American Medical Association have developed recommended communication techniques for healthcare providers given that effective communication has been shown to greatly improve health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the number and types of communication techniques routinely used by Maryland physicians. METHODS: In 2010, a 30-item survey was mailed to a random sample of 1,472 Maryland family physicians and pediatricians, with 294 surveys being returned and usable. The survey contained questions about provider and practice characteristics, and 17 items related to communication techniques, including seven basic communication techniques. Physicians’ use of recommended communication techniques was analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and ordinary least squares regression. RESULTS: Family physicians routinely used an average of 6.6 of the 17 total techniques and 3.3 of the seven basic techniques, whereas pediatricians routinely used 6.4 and 3.2 techniques, respectively. The use of simple language was the only technique that nearly all physicians routinely utilized (Family physicians, 91%; Pediatricians, 93%). Physicians who had taken a communications course used significantly more techniques than those who had not. Physicians with a low percentage of patients on Medicaid were significantly less likely to use the recommended communication techniques compared to those providers who had high proportion of their patient population on Medicaid. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the use of recommended communication techniques was low. Additionally, many physicians were unsure of the effectiveness of several of the recommended techniques, which could suggest that physicians are unaware of valuable skills that could enhance their communication. The findings of this study suggest that communications training should be given a higher priority in the medical training process in the United States. Public Library of Science 2015-04-09 /pmc/articles/PMC4391842/ /pubmed/25856371 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119855 Text en © 2015 Weatherspoon et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Weatherspoon, Darien J.
Horowitz, Alice M.
Kleinman, Dushanka V.
Wang, Min Qi
The Use of Recommended Communication Techniques by Maryland Family Physicians and Pediatricians
title The Use of Recommended Communication Techniques by Maryland Family Physicians and Pediatricians
title_full The Use of Recommended Communication Techniques by Maryland Family Physicians and Pediatricians
title_fullStr The Use of Recommended Communication Techniques by Maryland Family Physicians and Pediatricians
title_full_unstemmed The Use of Recommended Communication Techniques by Maryland Family Physicians and Pediatricians
title_short The Use of Recommended Communication Techniques by Maryland Family Physicians and Pediatricians
title_sort use of recommended communication techniques by maryland family physicians and pediatricians
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4391842/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25856371
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119855
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