Telehealth requires expansion of physicians’ communication competencies training

Abstract

We are in the midst of transformation of health systems where remote consulting (via video, telephone, email, and mobile messaging) is soon to become the dominant mode of consultation. Most of the literature on telehealth omits mentioning the need for telehealth communication competencies. Yet evidence base has been growing about how critical this training is – whether from clinical communication research or litigation claims analysis. In this article, we are calling for an urgent expansion of communication skills curricula to encompass these new telehealth domains from medical schools, specialty trainings to CMEs.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

L. S. van Galen

L. S. van Galen, MD, PhD, is a Research Fellow in Digital Health at the Centre for Population Health Sciences, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and at the Section of Acute Medicine at the VU University Medical Centre, the Netherlands.

C. J. Wang

C. J. Wang, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Paediatrics and Medicine, and Director of the Centre for Policy, Outcomes, and Prevention at Stanford University.

P. W. B. Nanayakkara

P. W. B. Nanayakkara, MD, PhD, FRCP, is the Head of the Section Acute Medicine and Director of the Emergency Residency Programme at the VU University Medical Centre, the Netherlands.

K. Paranjape

K. Paranjape, MS, MSA, is a Vice President in the Diagnostics Information Solutions group at Roche.

M. H. H. Kramer

M. H. H. Kramer, MD, PhD, FRCP, is a Professor of Internal Medicine and Executive Board Member of the VU University Medical Centre, the Netherlands.

J. Car

J. Car, MD, PhD, MSc, FFPH, FRCP, is the Director of the Centre of Population Health Sciences, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and the Director of the Global eHealth Unit, Imperial College, UK.