High-quality communication between physicians and patients that addresses the patient’s health status and related goals can lead to a measurably better quality of care. Research shows that preparation for medical decision-making that factors in patients’ values, preferences and health goals – advance care planning – leads to better care. Advance care planning can also improve the overall experience of patients and their families, and leads to more time spent at home and out of hospitals – something that is particularly important for patients with serious illness.
Despite this, only 29 percent of physicians report having received any formal training on how to have high-quality conversations with patients about serious illness and advance care planning. New online resources have been created to narrow this gap so that every clinician can have the highest quality communication with the patients they serve.
In order to address this need, the Center to Advance Palliative Care, Ariadne Labs, and VitalTalk, have collaborated to launch the Communications Skills Pathfinder, which aims to help frontline clinicians and health systems navigate and choose the communication training models that best suit their needs in physician-patient communications.
The Communications Skills Pathfinder, an online portal, is geared towards a wide audience – all clinical specialties and disciplines. It provides an easy to navigate guide that outlines the array of communication tools and resources available, including some that are no cost. Resources range from introductory online content on communicating with patients on goals of care to in-person, instructor-led communications training to support implementing an organization-wide communications strategy. There is also in-depth training for clinicians interested in becoming faculty communications trainers.
The Communications Skills Pathfinder is the first-stop portal that connects clinicians to a deep breadth of available media, tools, and resources for both the clinician and their patients in having better conversations on serious illness and advance care planning.
In addition to the Communication Skills Pathfinder, our Patient Care Program efforts have supported a new online learning curriculum: Building Physician Skills in Basic Advance Care Planning, from Respecting Choices. This modular online curriculum builds the advance care planning skills of physicians and advanced practitioners and is a resource to help clinicians integrate advance care planning into their everyday clinical practice. The curriculum includes three modules designed to help physicians introduce advance care planning to patients, guide clinicians in having these conversations and help clinicians incorporate advance care planning as a sustainable part of their clinical practice.
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