Beyond service education: Impacting the human experience with sustained training utilizing the Experience Model of Communication

Patients scheduling or checking in for medical appointments often share with frontline employees’ details of their stories, including their worries, prior negative experiences, and hopes. These interactions require employees to not only complete their task, but also to be mindfully present, picking up on important social cues and showing appropriate emotional congruence and empathic understanding. Based on a review of recorded patient calls, a gap was identified in the communication skills of desk and scheduling staff at this large academic medical center, and a sustained training program was created to fill this gap. The training is centered on an evolving set of theoretical principles and skills that have come to be known as the Experience Model of Communication (XMOC). We wanted to understand if training in XMOC, a set of skills essential for healthcare providers, would also be beneficial for frontline staff. The training was evaluated with pre/post surveys, listening sessions, an annual evaluation, and quarterly tracking of patient experience scores, and findings suggest that the training content has had a positive impact. We continue to build and evaluate the training program to identify and refine the elements that make up XMOC and the most effective ways to transfer that learning to the staff who benefit. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Staff & Provider Engagement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework (https://www.theberylinstitute.org/ExperienceFramework). Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

Predictors of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations among postmenopausal women: the Women's Health Initiative Calcium plus Vitamin D clinical trial.

BackgroundIt is unclear how well surrogate markers for vitamin D exposure (eg, oral intake of vitamin D and estimates of sunlight exposure), with and without consideration of other potential predictors of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations, similarly rank individuals with respect to 25(OH)D blood concentrations.ObjectiveThe objective was to determine how much variation in serum 25(OH)D concentrations (nmol/L) could be explained by a predictive model with the use of different vitamin D surrogate markers (latitude of residence, mean annual regional solar irradiance estimates, and oral sources) and other individual characteristics that might influence vitamin D status.DesignA random sample of 3055 postmenopausal women (aged 50-70 y) participating in 3 nested case-control studies of the Women's Health Initiative Calcium plus Vitamin D Clinical Trial was used. Serum 25(OH)D values, assessed at year 1 (1995-2000), and potential predictors of 25(OH)D concentrations, assessed at year 1 or Women's Health Initiative baseline (1993-1998), were used.ResultsMore than half of the women (57.1%) had deficient (<50 nmol/L) concentrations of 25(OH)D. Distributions of 25(OH)D concentrations by level of latitude of residence, mean annual regional solar irradiance, and intake of vitamin D varied considerably. The predictive model for 25(OH)D explained 21% of the variation in 25(OH)D concentrations. After adjustment for month of blood draw, breast cancer status, colorectal cancer status, fracture status, participation in the hormone therapy trial, and randomization to the dietary modification trial, the predictive model included total vitamin D intake from foods and supplements, waist circumference, recreational physical activity, race-ethnicity, regional solar irradiance, and age.ConclusionsSurrogate markers for 25(OH)D concentrations, although somewhat correlated, do not adequately reflect serum vitamin D measures. These markers and predictive models of blood 25(OH)D concentrations should not be given as much weight in epidemiologic studies of cancer risk