Put a Face to a Name (Part A): The Effects of Photographic Aids on Patient Satisfaction, Clinician Communication, and Quality of Care

NCT ID: NCT01658644

Last Updated: 2014-04-07

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 256 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2012-08-31
• Study Completion Date: 2013-05-31

Brief Summary

Communication is critical within healthcare, and is the root cause of most errors. With increased adoption and use of new information technologies and mediated communication systems, such as Electronic Health Records (EHR), that support visual content, hospitals can begin to look at the potential of photographic aids to improve patient satisfaction, clinician communication, and ultimately quality of care. Having pictures of clinicians and patients may improve communication by improving knowledge of who is part of the care team and may reduce electronic ordering or documentation on the wrong patient.

Despite the importance of communication between clinicians and the many advances within information and communication technologies, there is a lack of literature documenting systems that are effective at improving communication. Our research study will provide an overview on the communication models and technologies used in Canadian hospitals and add insights to the impacts of these technological adoption.

Research Question: How does the use of photographic influence patients' hospital experience?

Specifically, do photographic aids (photographs of clinicians' faces) influence:

1. Patient's ability to identify their clinical care team members

2. Patient's ability to identify their care team members and know their individual roles

3. Patient's satisfaction with their hospital experience

Detailed Description

The investigators will conduct interviews of a cross-sectional sample of patients for up to one year. There will be 2 visits during the study. The first visit should last for 15 minutes (to get consent), the second visit should last somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes. The research team created a structured survey tool designed to characterize patients' knowledge of the names and roles of their health care professionals and understanding of their plan of care, which includes some semi-structured questions to assess patient satisfaction with their hospital experience. This survey tool will be administered to participating patients each weekday during the study period, prior to their discharge from the hospital.

At the first visit, depending on whether the participant was previously assigned to group A, B or C, participants will be provided with a piece of paper listing the names of the members of their clinical care team (group B), or a piece of paper with a list of names and photographs of the members of their clinical care team (group C), or no paper at all (group A) which is currently the typical communication experience at the hospital.

There is no compensation for participation in the study.

Conditions

Effects of Photographic Aids (Photos of Faces) on Patient Recall of Their Clinical Care Team; Effects of Photographic Aids (Photos of Faces) on Clinician-patient Communication; Effects of Photographic Aids (Photos of Faces) on Overall Patient Satisfaction

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Group A

Patients participating in group A, will not be exposed to any interventions, they will partake in the typical hospital and communication experience.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Group B (text handout)

Patients assigned to group B will be provided with a paper or electronic version displaying a list of the names and roles of their clinical care staff; each name will NOT be accompanied by the respective photograph of each clinician. This document will be presented to the patient at the earliest possible time after admission to the hospital.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Provision of Clinical Care Handout

Intervention Type: OTHER

Patients assigned to groups B or C will be provided with a paper or electronic version displaying either a list of the names and roles of their clinical care staff (group B), or a list of names and roles accompanied by the respective photograph of each clinician (group C). This document will be presented to the patient at the earliest possible time after admission to the hospital.

Group C (text & image handout)

Patients assigned to group C will be provided with a paper or electronic version displaying a list of the names and roles of their clinical care staff; each name will also be accompanied by the respective photograph of each clinician. This document will be presented to the patient at the earliest possible time after admission to the hospital.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Provision of Clinical Care Handout

Intervention Type: OTHER

Patients assigned to groups B or C will be provided with a paper or electronic version displaying either a list of the names and roles of their clinical care staff (group B), or a list of names and roles accompanied by the respective photograph of each clinician (group C). This document will be presented to the patient at the earliest possible time after admission to the hospital.

Interventions

Provision of Clinical Care Handout

Patients assigned to groups B or C will be provided with a paper or electronic version displaying either a list of the names and roles of their clinical care staff (group B), or a list of names and roles accompanied by the respective photograph of each clinician (group C). This document will be presented to the patient at the earliest possible time after admission to the hospital.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Must be admitted as an in-patient in the GIM ward at Toronto General Hospital.
• The ability of the patient to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

• Patients with significant confusion, delirium or dementia will be screen by asking orientation to place and time.

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University Health Network, Toronto

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Locations

Toronto General Hospital

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Countries

Canada

References

Appel L, Abrams H, Morra D, Wu RC. Put a face to a name: a randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of providing clinician photographs on inpatients' recall. Am J Med. 2015 Jan;128(1):82-9. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2014.08.035. Epub 2014 Sep 28.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 25261009 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

12-0392-BE

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id