Improving Discharge Communication in the Emergency Department Through Information Structuring

Improving Discharge Communication in the Emergency Department Through Information Structuring: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02468869

Enrollment

196

Registered

2015-06-11

Start date

2015-04-30

Completion date

2017-04-30

Last updated

2018-10-23

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Empathy Skills, Information Structuring Skills

Keywords

Recall, Discharge communication, Satisfaction, Adherence, Information structuring, Empathy skills

Brief summary

The goal of the proposed study is to assess the potential of information structuring for improving discharge communication. Specifically, the investigators aim to examine the advantages of an information-structuring skills training for physicians (compared to an empathy skills training) on discharge communication and associated patient outcomes, such as patients' information recall and adherence to physician recommendations. The investigators hypothesize that patients receiving structured discharge information from their trained physicians will be able to recall more information and show higher adherence to recommendations relative to controls (i.e., patients receiving discharge information from doctors trained in empathy skills).

Interventions

BEHAVIORALCommunication skills training empathy skills

BEHAVIORALCommunication skills training information structuring skills

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Outpatients with chest pain * Outpatients with abdominal pain

Exclusion criteria

* Patients younger than 18 years of age (limited ability to provide informed consent) * Patients with limited ability to communicate in German, the default language at the hospital (confounder related to language proficiency) * Patients with dementia (confounder arising from pathological memory deficits)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Patients' recall of the information provided during discharge communication	3 times: immediately after discharge, one week after discharge, one month after discharge

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Adherence to recommendations	2 times: one week and one month after discharge	—
Patient satisfaction in four dimensions	Immediately after discharge	(1) comprehension, (2) structuredness (3) recommendation of the physician to family and friends (4) informativeness

Countries

Switzerland

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026