Four Evidence-Based Communication Strategies to Enhance Patient Care

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The ability to communicate well is foundational to family medicine. Skillful communication helps family physicians establish relationships, solicit and share important information, and work effectively with patients, family members, and the public.¹ However, when physicians are faced with the time pressures of a busy clinical work day, careful communication often gets lost in the shuffle. For example, a cross-sectional survey in the offices of 29 family physicians found that when soliciting patient concerns at the outset of a visit, physicians typically redirected patients' opening statements after a mean of 23.1 seconds.² Once redirected, patients rarely return to their list of concerns, leading to unvoiced agenda items that are never addressed during clinic visits.² Another study of 35 outpatient primary care visits found that some of patients' more common unvoiced agenda items include “worries about a possible diagnosis and what the future holds; patients' ideas about what is wrong; side effects; not wanting a prescription; and information relating to social context.”³ These unvoiced agenda items often lead to related problematic outcomes.³

As a physician, you want to do all you can to provide your patients with the care they want and need. Fortunately, evidence suggests that employing some relatively straightforward communication strategies can help your patients feel heard, encourage them to provide you with accurate and relevant information, and help you guide them through the complexities of the diagnostic process without derailing your schedule.

KEY POINTS

• Through skillful communication, family physicians can help patients feel heard, encourage them to provide relevant and accurate information, and ease their fears and concerns about their health.

• Evidence suggests that four communication strategies may help family physicians achieve these goals and improve patient satisfaction without significantly affecting the duration of a visit.

1. TAKE A SEAT

The simple act of sitting down can make a conversation feel less hurried, more open, and friendlier. In fact, evidence suggests that taking a seat with your patients (as opposed to standing) can improve patient satisfaction by improving patient perception of the visit. Although it is typical for physicians to sit for at least part of an office visit, hospital rounding often involves a hurried entry into the patient's room followed by a...