Physician-Patient Communication

This chapter focuses on the various aspects of physician-patient communication. It begins with a discussion of relationship-centered medicine, which considers the relationship as part of the therapeutic picture, depending not just on the patient's attributes (values, background, etc.) but also on those of the physician in a dynamic relation with the patient. It then discusses the theoretical and philosophical basis of the therapeutic relationship, the assessment of physician-patient communication, quantitative approaches to interaction analysis, correlates of physician-patient communication, and the clinical outcomes of communication.