Patient-Provider Communication

Abstract

Patient-provider communication is the domain in health communication focused on the relationship between a clinical provider and the patient. Traditionally, research on patient-provider communication has focused on face-to-face interaction during clinical encounters, but more recent scholarship has expanded to include communication that occurs outside the clinical encounter, especially electronic communication modalities such as secure messaging between clinicians and patients. Patient-provider communication is of interest across multiple disciplines including medicine and medical education, sociology, anthropology, (socio)linguistics, and communication studies, among others. Clinically, effective patient-provider communication enables clinicians the ability to gather information, facilitate diagnosis, give instructions and advice with the goal of building and maintaining a strong therapeutic relationship, all of which are widely recognized as essential ingredients of high-quality care. Effective patient-provider communication has been associated with improved patient health outcomes that range from improved emotional health and overall functioning; biological health, including reduced pain, anxiety, blood pressure; and behavioral health, including increased adherence to recommended treatment, lower malpractice litigation, increased ability for self-management and for making medical decisions, and higher satisfaction with care. Because of these positive outcomes, communication skills are widely taught in both undergraduate and graduate medical education with an eye toward measuring improvement and modifying behavior over time. Methodologically, common approaches to studying patient-provider communication range from quantitative studies looking to explore relationships among context, participants, and communication; qualitative studies that seek to investigate personal experiences of health and illness and health care through the lens of communication; and mixed and multiple method studies that combine quantitative and qualitative studies or employ multiple research methods. Theoretically, patient-provider communication also adopts a wide focus. Topics range from the impact of authority in the form of knowledge and power asymmetries in the clinical encounter, how relationships and social support encourage or mitigate health outcomes and personal experiences of illness, and a naturalistic approach that prioritizes study of how clinicians and patients orient to, define, and create the clinical situation in real time. Overall, patient-provider communication is a robust area of research with both basic and applied significance.