Peer-Coaching for Family Physicians to Close the Intention-to-Action Gap.

Area of Science:

• Primary Care Medicine
• Health Professions Education
• Quality Improvement Science

Background:

• Peer coaching shows promise for improving clinical performance feedback for family physicians.
• Few peer-coaching quality improvement (QI) programs have been implemented and evaluated in primary care settings.
• This study explored a peer-coaching program's potential to enhance family physicians' use of clinical performance data for QI.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design, implement, and evaluate a peer-coaching program for family physicians.
• To assess the feasibility and acceptability of peer coaching in a primary care organization.
• To explore how peer coaching influences the use of clinical performance data for quality improvement.

Main Methods:

• Ten peer coaches were trained using an evidence-informed facilitated feedback model.
• Data were collected via surveys, a coach focus group, and interviews with coached physicians (coachees).
• Inductive reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data.

Main Results:

• Twenty-five family physicians were coached over three months; most desired more sessions and felt confident in making practice changes.
• The coaching approach, emphasizing empathy, was found acceptable.
• Coaches assisted with data interpretation, emotional responses, accountability, and problem-solving, leading to diverse QI goals.

Conclusions:

• Peer coaching is a feasible method to support family physicians in data-driven learning and practice improvement.
• Further research is necessary to ascertain the impact of peer coaching on practice outcomes and physician well-being.