Determining Correlates of Perceived Effective Communication between Attending Physicians and House Officers

Effective interactions between attending physicians and house officers in a teaching hospital are of great importance to patient care quality and successful medical education. The Capstone team worked with the Chief of Medicine at the New York University Hospitals Center to study communication between the two groups in an effort to identify physician and patient attributes that correlate with positive interactions. To do this, the team developed a survey instrument based on a literature review of effective physician communication. The survey was administered over the phone to attending physicians and house officers regarding their interactions over a particular, randomly selected, inpatient. Then, chart reviews were performed to extrapolate relevant patient demographic factors. Physician and patient data was aggregated and statistically analyzed in order to determine correlates of perceived effective communication between the attending physicians and house officers. Based on these results, the Capstone team was able to recommend strategies that can be used to enhance physician working relationships.