Quality of communication during telephone triage at Dutch out-of-hours centres

OBJECTIVE

To assess the quality of communication skills of triagists, working at out-of-hours (OOH) centres, and to determine the correlation between the communication score and the duration of the telephone consultation.

METHODS

Telephone incognito standardised patients (TISPs) called 17 OOH centres presenting different clinical cases. The assessment of communication skills was carried out using the RICE-communication rating list. The duration of each telephone consultation was determined.

RESULTS

The mean overall score for communication skills was 35% of the maximum feasible. Triagists usually asked questions about the clinical situation correctly and little about the patients' personal situation, perception of the problem or expectation. Advice about the outcome of triage and self-care advice was usually given without checking for patients' understanding and acceptance of the advice. Calls were often handled in an unstructured way, without summarizing or clarifying the different steps within the consultation. There was a positive correlation of 0.86 (p<0.01) between the overall communication score and the duration of the telephone consultation.

CONCLUSION

Assessment of communication skills of triagists revealed specific shortcomings and learning points to improve the quality of communication skills during telephone triage.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Training in telephone consultation should focus more on patient-centred communication with active listening, active advising and structuring the call. Apart from adequate communication skills, triagists need sufficient time for telephone consultation to enable high quality performance.

Quality of clinical aspects of call handling at Dutch out of hours centres: cross sectional national study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the quality of telephone triage by following the consecutive phases of its care process and the quality of the clinical questions asked about the patient's clinical condition, of the triage outcome, of the content of the home management advice, and of the safety net advice given at out of hours centres.

DESIGN

Cross sectional national study using telephone incognito standardised patients.

SETTING

The Netherlands.

PARTICIPANTS

17 out of hours centres.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Percentages of clinical obligatory questions asked and items within home management and safety net advice, both in relation to pre-agreed standards, and of care advice given in relation to the required care advice.

RESULTS

The telephone incognito standardised patients presented seven clinical cases three times each over a period of 12 months, making a total of 357 calls. The mean percentage of obligatory questions asked compared with the standard was 21%. Answers to questions about the clinical condition were not always correctly evaluated from a clinical viewpoint, either by triagists or by general practitioners. The quality of information on home management and safety net advice varied, but it was consistently poor for all cases and for all out of hours centres. Triagists achieved the appropriate triage outcome in 58% of calls.

CONCLUSION

In determining the outcome of the care process, triagists often reached a conclusion after asking a minimal number of questions. By analysing the quality of different phases within the process of telephone triage, evaluation of whether an appropriate triage outcome has been arrived at by means of good clinical reasoning or by an educated guess is possible. In terms of enhancing the overall clinical safety of telephone triage, apart from obtaining an appropriate clinical history, adequate home management and safety net advice must also be given.

Assessing communication skills of clinical call handlers working at an out-of-hours centre: development of the RICE rating scale

BACKGROUND

Out-of-hours centres provide telephone support to patients with medical problems. In most of these centres specially-trained nurses handle incoming telephone calls. They assess patients' needs, the degree of urgency, and determine the level of care required. Assessment of the medical problem and the quality of 'care-by-phone' depend on the medical and communication skills of the call handlers.

AIM

To develop a valid, reliable, and practical rating scale to evaluate the communication skills of call handlers working at an out-of-hours centre and to improve quality of communication.

DESIGN OF STUDY

Qualitative study with focus groups followed by validation of the rating scale and measurement of reliability (internal consistency).

SETTING

Out-of-hours centres in the Netherlands.

METHOD

A focus group developed the rating scale. Experts with experience in training and evaluating communication skills of medical students and GPs commented on the scale to ensure content validity. The reliability of the rating scale was tested in a pilot in which ten specially-trained assessors scored six telephone calls each.

RESULTS

The scale, known as the RICE rating scale, has 17 items divided over four different phases of the telephone consultation: Reason for calling; Information gathering; Conclusion; and Evaluation (RICE). Content validity of the scale was assessed by two experts. Reliability of the scale tested in the pilot was 0.73 (Cronbach's alpha).

CONCLUSION

Establishing a rating scale to assess the communication skills of call handlers which meets common scientific demands, such as content validity and reliability, proved successful. This instrument can be used to give feedback to call handlers.