The emotional state of a cancer patient affects his or her ability to understand medical information and make medical decisions. Communication techniques that recognize patients’ emotions are more likely to elicit their concerns, alleviate anxiety, and enhance understanding. In previous work, we observed that oncologists frequently miss patients’ emotional cues and do not respond adequately. Intensive face-to-face communication skills training improves these skills, yet such courses are time consuming and costly. We developed Study of Communication in Oncologist Patient Encounters (SCOPE), an online, interactive learning platform that provides oncologists with professionally coded feedback on their own audio-recorded conversations. In a previous randomized controlled trial (RCT), SCOPE increased oncologists’ responses to empathic opportunities and led to greater patient trust. To enable greater dissemination, we modified this intervention (Enhanced SCOPE program) to include a smartphone app that allows easy audio recording of clinic visits. To maximize intervention effect, we also added feedback from real patients to oncologists about communication behavior.
