Clinician Communication Series: Connect, Inform, Follow Through

Summary

Connect, Inform, Follow Through is a self-paced course from the Clinician Communication Series which offers strategies for establishing a connection in which patients feel heard, understood, respected, and involved in their care decisions. Clinicians can enhance their connection with patients by applying communication approaches that build trust and facilitate an effective exchange of information.

Learning Objectives

After completing the program, learners will be able to:

• Describe how intrapersonal communication skills impact the patient care experience
• Apply communication approaches with patients to establish a patient-provider connection
• Demonstrate communication skills to effectively share information through eliciting and engaging patients in their care
• Identify communication strategies to enhance patient follow-through by co-creating plans and building patient confidence in their healthcare goals

Upon successful completion of the program, learners earn a certificate of completion.

This online self-paced course is available until February 28, 2026 and contains less than one hour of recorded presentations.

This 30 minute asynchronous course consists of three subject areas that directly influence a patient’s experience: establishing connections between patients and the care team, exchanging information throughout their experience, and following through with a plan. The course also includes a short assessment.

This course is designed for administrators, healthcare professionals, physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other healthcare providers.

Sheri Nemec, MS, CPXP Course Director Sheri Nemec is a consultation and relationship manager for Quality and serves as a liaison for consulting activity between Mayo Clinic Quality and external healthcare organizations. Prior to this role, Sheri served as Patient Experience Manager for Mayo Clinic. She has worked with Mayo Clinic since 2001 supporting a variety of areas including staff and leadership development, quality, and patient experience. Sheri completed her Master of Counseling Degree at Minnesota State University Mankato. She is a Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP) and a Certified Change Management Practitioner. Sheri holds an academic rank of Instructor in Healthcare Administration in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.

Brooke Werneburg, MA, NBC-HWC Faculty Brooke Werneburg is the Experience Manager for Mayo Clinic Experience- Training, Education, and Coaching and is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine. Since 2007, Brooke has lead education efforts for clinicians in enhancing communication experiences, trained staff in wellbeing strategies and coached patients towards desired behavior changes at Mayo Clinic. Fostering communication skills in the patient-clinician relationship has allowed Brooke to impact the healthcare experience leading to enhanced overall satisfaction for both clinicians and patients. Brooke holds a Master of Organizational Leadership degree from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and is a nationally board-certified coach.