When healthcare professionals aren’t on the same page, quality of care suffers. This year, the Society’s Public Advisory Roundtable (ATS PAR) will bring them together at its annual symposium on the important but often underestimated topic of communication.
Session D88 “The Importance of Communication in Creating Partnerships for Patient-Centered Care” will review recent advances that can enhance communication between clinicians, patients and family members, and improve quality of care and outcomes. The session will take place from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday in room 108-110-112 on the street level of the Colorado Convention Center.
Teresa Barnes, chair of ATS PAR
“Communication is key to good quality of care and better patient outcomes. This symposium will help physicians and clinicians better interact with patients, caregivers and families to create partnerships that improve the patient experience,” said Teresa Barnes, chair of ATS PAR and vice president of patient outreach and advocacy at the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis, who will co-chair the symposium with ATS Immediate-Past President J. Randall Curtis, MD, MPH. “And, as is always the case for these ATS PAR symposia, the patient perspective will be an important part of the program.”
Among the topics to be discussed are patient self-management, adherence to treatment, family care-giving and decision-making, prognosis, advance care planning and innovative models for teaching communication skills. Faculty members will also talk about the research that needs to be done to further enhance communication in these areas.
J. Randall Curtis, MD, MPH
“Recent studies show that clinicians are not well-trained in communication, and that patients and families feel strongly that communication is a fundamental component of high-quality healthcare,” said Dr. Curtis, who is professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Washington and head of the Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Harborview Medical Center. “This symposium will review current practice and optimal practice in a number of diverse areas of clinical communication, and provide clinicians with tools for improving their communication skills.”
Dr. Curtis, who conducts clinical research on assessing and improving end-of-life care in the ICU and for patients with chronic lung disease, will focus on communicating with families about surrogate decision-making in the ICU. During the program, a patient speaker will talk about how these issues affect the lives of those with pulmonary diseases, critical illnesses and sleep disorders, and ATS PAR will also present its annual awards for clinical excellence.
The symposium will also feature presentations by Cynthia S. Rand, PhD; Jean Kutner, MD; Douglas B. White, MD; and Anthony L. Back, MD.