Saving lives: The role of communication

Effective communication is an essential element in safe healthcare. It sits at the heart of almost every action taken by healthcare professionals. Doctors, for example, conduct nearly 200,000 medical interviews over the course of their career. 

So with healthcare professionals spending so much of their day communicating, safe patient care depends on them having the right standard of communication skills. But what can organizations do to ensure healthcare professionals have these communication skills?

The ability of healthcare professionals to effectively communicate with both patients and staff is a core element of a strong care system. But communication in hospitals and other medical environments is complex. 

Patients are likely to encounter two to three different shifts of staff each day, in addition to various other healthcare professionals making rounds, administering tests and providing treatment. Failure to communicate critical information can have a catastrophic impact on patient safety and patient experience.

According to Joint Commission International, inadequate communication between providers and patients can lead to patient harm or even death (Joint Commission International, 2018). Moreover, communication failures in the US were partly responsible for 30% of all malpractice claims, resulting in 1,744 deaths and $1.7 billion in malpractice costs over five years (CRICO Strategies, 2016). 

Healthcare professionals are entrusted with caring for patients at their most vulnerable and must communicate clearly, accurately, honestly, and appropriately. Yet, a study of 125 patient complaints at a Singapore hospital discovered that in patient-doctor interactions, physicians were described as speaking brusquely and tactlessly and giving inadequate information (Kee, Khoo, Lim, & Koh, 2018). Moreover, in 2014-2015, poor communication, including quality and accuracy of information, was found to be a factor in one third of all healthcare complaints in the UK (Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, 2015).

However, when patients feel that their doctor explains things clearly and demonstrates appropriate empathy and understanding, patients tend to follow through with medical recommendations, self-manage chronic conditions and adopt the desired preventive health behaviors (Institute for Healthcare Communication, 2019).

Given communication’s critical role in delivering quality care and patient safety, patients under the care of healthcare professionals who have limited language proficiency may be at increased risk. 

With increasing health workforce mobility and the rise in healthcare professionals required to work in languages other than their mother tongue, communication becomes more salient. According to OECD data, 25% of physicians and 6% of nurses in the United States were foreign trained in 2017 (OECD, 2019).

The response has been to require internationally educated healthcare professionals to pass an English language test.

However, general English language tests do not assess the specific skills required for successful healthcare communication. These include knowledge of profession-specific language, attention to personal and interpersonal dynamics, the ability to show empathy and inspire trust, situational awareness, and cultural competence. 

The Occupational English Test (OET) is the world’s only international English language test designed specifically to meet the unique communication needs of the healthcare workplace.

Test materials are developed in consultation with subject-matter experts and replicate the English language skills required in healthcare settings to deliver high quality care and patient safety. 

OET assess all areas of language ability – reading, writing, listening and speaking – all within healthcare contexts. The OET Speaking sub-test is unique as it not only assesses linguistic criteria but also clinical communications criteria. The following critical clinical communication skills are assessed via face-to-face role plays:

1. Relationship-building
2. Understanding and incorporating the patient’s perspective
3. Providing structure
4. Information-gathering 
5. Information-giving 
    

OET therefore bridges the gap between candidates’ linguistic performance in a test and their communicative performance in the actual workplace. 

A 2013 study found: 

“OET test takers are perceived as effective communicators able to communicate on matters that are both technical and emotional, and who can use lay language so that patients can easily understand what they are saying” (Vidakovic & Khalifa, 2013).

OET is accepted in the US by ECFMG | FAIMER and various state nursing boards. To learn more about the relationship between communication skills and better patient safety outcomes, download the OET Patient Safety Whitepaper. 
 

OET is the English test for healthcare professionals. We're recognised and trusted by healthcare boards and councils in the UK, the US, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and more. OET continues to meet the needs of the international healthcare sector now and into the future.