On-site communication skills education increases appointment-specific client satisfaction in four companion animal practices in Texas.

Objective: To assess the impact of a 15-month, in-practice communication skills intervention on client visit satisfaction.

Sample: 4 purposely selected veterinary clinics, 9 veterinarians, and 930 appointment-specific client satisfaction surveys.

Procedures: The study was designed as a multipractice, preintervention-postintervention study. Practice teams participated in a 15-month communication skills intervention that included interactive group workshops and one-on-one communication coaching with the entire practice. Client Satisfaction Questionnaires were completed 3 months before (mean, 55 questionnaires/veterinarian) and after (mean, 48 questionnaires/veterinarian) the intervention. The impact of the intervention and factors associated with client visit satisfaction were evaluated with mixed logistic regression.

Results: Client satisfaction scores were dichotomized owing to extreme negative skewness. In total, 57% (284/496) of clients were completely satisfied on pretest questionnaires, and 67% (290/434) were completely satisfied on postintervention questionnaires. The odds of clients being completely satisfied were significantly higher after the communication skills intervention (OR = 1.56; P = .002). When controlling for the intervention, predictors of client visit satisfaction included appointment type (odds of being completely satisfied were significantly higher for recheck appointments than for preventative care appointments [OR = 1.71; P = .02] and health problem appointments [OR = 1.99; P = .003]) and duration of the veterinarian-client relationship (probability increased by 0.52 with each 1-year increase in relationship duration; P = .008).

Clinical Relevance: Results suggested that the client-centered, skills-based communication intervention resulted in increased client visit satisfaction. Findings contribute to current evidence that client-centered communication and duration of the veterinarian-client relationship promote client satisfaction during veterinary visits.