Impact of communication training on physician expression of empathy in patient encounters.

OBJECTIVE To examine whether an educational intervention that focused on physician communication training influenced physician empathic expression during patient interactions. METHODS This study used a quantitative research method to investigate the influence of communication training on physician-expressed empathy using two measures (global and hierarchical) of physician empathic behavior. RESULTS The differences in global empathy scores in the physician training group from baseline to follow-up improved by 37%, and hierarchical scores of physician empathic expression improved by up to 51% from baseline scores for the same group. CONCLUSIONS The results strongly supported the hypotheses that training made a significant difference in physician empathic expression during patient interactions demonstrated by both outside observer measures of global ratings and hierarchical ratings of physician empathic behavior. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS These findings have significant implications for program design and development in medical education and professional training with the potential to improve patient outcomes.