Communicating Patient Feedback to Residents

What?

The goals of this intervention are to:

• Develop a mechanism for identifying resident-specific patient feedback.
• Develop a mechanism to share patient feedback with residents and residency leadership.

Why?

Hospitals and clinics may survey patients regarding patient perceptions of individual providers (e.g., communication, effectiveness). [1] However, this feedback is often not communicated back to providers, particularly residents. Receipt of positive patient feedback may help residents to feel appreciated at work and/or to derive meaning from their patient interactions. Sharing positive patient feedback may also enhance the performance of medical teams. [2]

Meaning in Work	Meaningful patient interactions require time and effort, but are largely disincentivized/unrewarded. They therefore compete with more visible task work. By recognizing residents’ efforts to build these relationships, programs may tip the balance of priorities towards more meaningful work.
Organizational Culture and Values	Sharing positive patient feedback with residents demonstrates a supportive culture that values residents’ time and efforts. Making this feedback simultaneously visible to leadership provides extra opportunities for recognition by those whose opinions residents hold in high esteem.

How?

Step 1. Determine if your hospital collects patient feedback

1.There may be an office, such as Patient Relations or the Office of Patient Experience, that collects these data.

2.If not, suggest that they do so and/or initiate a process within your department. The Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) is a common mechanism for patients to provide feedback specific to their providers and healthcare experience. [3]

3.Other techniques include directed telephone surveys, in office surveys, or electronic instruments delivered via email.

Step 2. Develop a mechanism to identify feedback collected regarding resident physicians

1. If there is an office that collects these data:

• Consider providing these individuals with a list of resident physicians within your department
• Ask them to forward any feedback specific to your residents to a point person within your department, e.g., program coordinator, program director, or education staff.

2. If there is not, your point person will have to collect this feedback and screen it. At the University of Michigan, one of the APDs physically collects copies of this feedback from all of the participating clinics, and screens evaluations for those that are pertinent to residents.

Step 3. Implement a process for sharing positive feedback with residents

1.This can be simple. At the University of Michigan, one of the APDs sends this feedback in an email to the associated resident, and cc’s the other program directors and department chair.

2.Other options exist for more publicly sharing this information, e.g., residency-wide email, verbal announcement at conference, printed and posted notice in a shared work space.

3.Consider creating an annual award for repeated positive feedback.

Helpful Resources

Coaches/Successful Implementations

University of Michigan

Coach: Gurjit Sandhu, PhD, Vice Chair of Resident Professional Development

References

Huynh, H.P., Legg, A.M., Ghane, A., Tabuenca, A., and Sweeny, K. Who is satisfied with general surgery clinic visits? J Surg Res 2014;192(2):339-347.

Makoul, G. Krupat, E., and Chang, C.H. Measuring patient views of physician communication skills: development and testing of the Communication Assessment Tool. Patient Educ Couns 2007;67(3):333-342.

Riskin, A., Bamberger, P., Riskin-Guez, K., Sela, R., Foulk, T., Cooper, B., Ziv, A., Pessach-Gelblum, L., and Bamberger, E. Expressions of Gratitude and Medical Team Performance. Pediatrics 2019; 143(4).