Telehealth equity and access communication skills pilot simulation for practicing clinicians

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Services Research
• Digital Health

Background:

• Telehealth has expanded, necessitating effective communication strategies.
• Ensuring equitable patient access to healthcare via telehealth is a growing concern.
• Practicing clinicians require targeted training to address communication barriers in telehealth.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a telehealth training simulation program for practicing clinicians.
• To assess the program's impact on communication skills related to equity and access.
• To measure participant satisfaction with the simulation-based training.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involving practicing clinicians participating in a one-hour telehealth simulation.
• Pre- and post-intervention assessment using a checklist for communication domains on equity and access.
• Secondary measurement of participant satisfaction via survey.

Main Results:

• Clinicians demonstrated measurable improvements in incorporating equity and access communication skills.
• Participants reported the simulation session as useful.
• The training experience received positive recommendations from participants.

Conclusions:

• Simulation-based telehealth training shows potential for enhancing clinicians' focus on equitable patient access.
• Further research is needed to explore the long-term retention of learned skills.
• Investigating the generalizability of this training to other telehealth competencies and settings is warranted.