Reflecting on 2024, it was a year of innovation, celebration, and firsts for VitalTalk. We began transitioning from a physician-centric model to a clinician-centric one, developed wraparound support services for clinicians, created online courses that extend beyond our core content, piloted a new live course on bedside teaching, and released an updated book titled, Navigating Communication with Seriously Ill Patients, reflecting a revised multidisciplinary approach.

We partnered with key faculty to develop new online courses that will allow us to reach a broader range of clinicians. This expands the learning continuum by offering an earlier starting point or a ramp-up toward taking our long-standing and more advanced communication skills course (MTC). While online learning may seem contrary to VitalTalk’s clinician-led, small-group, community-based approach, we have initiated follow-up community of practice sessions (CoP). All VitalTalk courses remain highly behavioral, and CoP sessions enhance the transfer of learning from the classroom to the bedside. One key question we considered while developing online courses was the evaluation outcomes compared to in-person or live courses. We were pleased to discover that the outcomes from learner evaluations for our in-person, live, and online courses were consistent- 95% of learners reported acquiring new skills they could immediately apply with patients and would recommend the course to another clinician. By adding new modalities for accessing our content, we have served 800 more clinicians.

We intentionally expanded our clinical audience beyond physicians. Nurses can now earn continuing education credits when taking our Building Connection course. We began developing a course on navigating serious conversations specifically designed for nurses, which will be available soon. Tiered pricing is now offered for nurses and social workers.

In response to the current opioid epidemic, we began building our first course to improve clinicians’ communication skills when patients are dealing with a substance use issue in addition to their presenting illness. This is a complex and necessary topic to tackle. This course will expand our clinical audience to include social work and behavioral health.

Among our physician specialties, we launched our first-ever shorter course for pediatrics and are in the development of our first-ever course for surgeons. We partnered with one of our longtime faculty members, Dr. Gretchen Schwarze, to create a course aimed at improving communication between surgeons and patients/surrogates, called BestCase/WorstCase, when there is a high degree of uncertainty about whether surgery is the best option. This scenario planning approach engages the patient and families in a transparent decision-making process that considers their values and what is most important to them. It can reduce unwanted surgeries, especially for older adults with comorbidities.

Thank you to the John A. Hartford and Cambia Health Foundations for supporting our efforts to meet the needs of clinical learners and enhance patient care. Our ongoing growth and innovation would not be possible without our faculty community, which actively engages in teaching, content development, and mentoring. Your forward-thinking approach and curiosity illustrate what it truly means to be a learning community committed to continuous improvement.

Regards,
Lynsey Seabrook