Shadow coaching improves patient experience with care, but gains erode later (12 August 2021)

Summary

Healthcare organisations strive to improve patient care experiences. One way is to use one-on-one provider counselling (shadow coaching) to identify and target modifiable provider behaviours.

Quigley et al. examined whether shadow coaching improves patient experience across 44 primary care practices in a large urban US health centre.

They found that shadow coaching improved providers' overall performance and communication immediately after being coached. However, these gains disappeared after 2.5 years. Regularly planned shadow coaching "booster" sessions might maintain or even increase the improvement gained in patient experience scores, but research examining additional coaching and optimal implementation is needed.