Simulated Patient Experience Workshop as a Model for Feedback and Continuous Improvement in Practicing Physicians

Patient-physician communication is a critical component of care in the emergency department (ED) and can be challenging within the fast-paced ED environment. Hospitals often use surveys on patient experience to evaluate physician communication skills and determine a need for improvement. As simulation has proven effective in improving physician communication skills, we developed a simulation workshop specifically for emergency physicians. Our design used simulated patient experiences, a group debrief, and scenarios that included critical communication elements that correlate with patient experience. The physicians were surveyed before and after the course. The simulated patients completed evaluation checklists and patient experience surveys for each of the physician participants. Patient experience ratings increased from 76% to 90% between the predebrief and postdebrief scenarios and 100% of participants would recommend this course to a colleague. A moderate correlation was observed between the prior year average of clinical patient experience scores for each physician and the initial simulated participant experience ratings (r(6) = .52, P = .18). This workshop is a feasible and well-received method to utilize simulated patients to provide critical feedback and improve patient experience.