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Background: Numerous empirical studies from various populations and settings link patient treatment adherence to physician-patient communication. Meta-analysis allows estimates of the overall effects both in correlational research and in experimental interventions involving the training of physicians' communication skills. Objectives: Calculation and analysis of \"r effect sizes\" and moderators of the relationship between physician's communication and patient adherence, and the effects of communication training on adherence to treatment regimens for varying medical conditions. Methods: Thorough search of published literature (1949-August 2008) producing separate effects from 106 correlational studies and 21 experimental interventions. Determination of random effects model statistics and the detailed examination of study variability using moderator analyses. Results: Physician communication is significantly positively correlated with patient adherence; there is a 19% higher risk of nonadherence among patients whose physician communicates poorly than among patients whose physician communicates well. Training physicians in communication skills results in substantial and significant improvements in patient adherence such that with physician communication training, the odds of patient adherence are 1.62 times higher than when a physician receives no training. Conclusion: Communication in medical care is highly correlated with better patient adherence, and training physicians to communicate better enhances their patients' adherence. Findings can contrib- ute to medical education and to interventions to improve adherence, supporting arguments that communication is important and resources devoted to improving it are worth investing in. Communication is thus an important factor over which physicians have some control in helping their patients to adhere.

\"ACH's methodology is detailed in this step-by-step guide. You'll learn communication skills that will enable you to: * Provide more accurate diagnoses and effective treatments -- and improve patient outcomes * Boost patient adherence and lower hospital readmission rates * Make fewer errors and reduce malpractice risks * Increase patient satisfaction and build teamwork among providers * Further develop your communication skill set -- and help others do the same. In this volume, you'll discover special sections on teamwork, coaching, shared decision-making, feedback, conflict engagement, diversity, and communicating through hierarchy. The book also provides institutional initiatives to help you implement change in your organization and outlines a field-tested blueprint for healthier communication across the entire industry.\"-- Provided by publisher.

Background Health communication research and guidelines often recommend that medical terminology be avoided when communicating with patients due to their limited understanding of medical terms. However, growing numbers of e‐patients use the Internet to equip themselves with specialized biomedical knowledge that is couched in medical terms, which they then share on participatory media, such as online patient forums. Objective Given possible discrepancies between preconceptions about the kind of language that patients can understand and the terms they may actually know and use, the purpose of this paper was to investigate medical terminology used by patients in online patient forums. Design Using data from online patient–patient communication where patients communicate with each other without expert moderation or intervention, we coded two data samples from two online patient forums dedicated to thyroid issues. Results Previous definitions of medical terms (dichotomized into technical and semi‐technical) proved too rudimentary to encapsulate the types of medical terms the patients used. Therefore, using an inductive approach, we developed an analytical framework consisting of five categories of medical terms: dictionary‐defined medical terms, co‐text‐defined medical terms, medical initialisms, medication brand names and colloquial technical terms. The patients in our data set used many medical terms from all of these categories. Discussion and conclusions Our findings suggest the value of a situated, condition‐specific approach to health literacy that recognizes the vertical kind of knowledge that patients with chronic diseases may have. We make cautious recommendations for clinical practice, arguing for an adaptive approach to medical terminology use with patients.

Background: eHealth literacy is significantly associated with patients’ online information behavior, physician-patient relationship, patient adherence, and health outcomes. As an important product of the internet, online health communities (OHCs) can help redistribute idle medical resources, increase medical resource utilization, and improve patient adherence. However, studies on eHealth literacy in OHCs are limited. Therefore, this study examined patients’ eHealth literacy regarding health information–seeking behavior and physician-patient communication in OHCs. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between eHealth literacy in OHCs and patient adherence by employing social cognitive theory. Methods: This was an empirical study, in which a research model consisting of 1 independent variable (patients’ eHealth literacy), 3 mediators (physician-patient communication in OHCs, patient health information–seeking behavior in OHCs, and patients’ perceived quality of health information in OHCs), 1 dependent variable (patient adherence), and 4 control variables (age, gender, living area, and education level) was established to examine the associations. Multi-item scales were used to measure variables. An anonymous online survey involving 560 participants was conducted through Chinese OHCs in July 2018 to collect data. Partial least squares and structural equation modeling were adopted to analyze data and test hypotheses. Results: The survey response rate was 79.6% (446/560). The reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity were acceptable. Age, gender, living area, and education level were positively associated with patient adherence, and gender was positively associated with physician-patient communication and patients’ perceived quality of internet health information in OHCs. Patients’ eHealth literacy was positively associated with patient adherence through the mediations of physician-patient communication, internet health information–seeking behavior, and perceived quality of internet health information in OHCs. Conclusions: Results indicate that physician-patient communication, internet health information–seeking behavior, and the perceived quality of internet health information are significantly associated with improving patient adherence via a guiding of eHealth literacy in OHCs. These findings suggest that physicians can understand and guide their patients’ eHealth literacy to improve treatment efficiency; OHCs’ operators should this strengthen the management of information quality, develop user-friendly features, and minimize the gap between the actual and perceived information quality.

Introduction The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) in Qatar manages 31 health centres serving a diverse population of over 1.7 million people. PHCC is fully committed to providing people‐centred care. Patients are routinely asked to complete satisfaction surveys. The surveys have shown continued shortcomings in patients' perceptions of communication with staff. PHCC decided to carry out an improvement collaborative among all centres on improving communication with patients. A realist review was carried out to identify possible communication interventions that improve the outcome of patient satisfaction with communication. Most research studies in the review were carried out in Western countries where patient expectations and experiences may differ. Therefore, focus groups of patients and staff were carried out to learn how patients and staff in Qatar perceive communication in the health centres. Methods The purpose of the focus groups was to learn directly how patients and health centre staff experience communication with each other and if the issues experienced could potentially be addressed by the interventions identified in the evidence base. 18 focus groups were carried out, 9 each with patients and multiprofessional staff. Questions were derived from issues raised in research on patient–healthcare professional communication in primary care. Results Patients' main concern was how they are welcomed to a health centre, particularly their desire to be greeted with a smile and welcomed courteously. They also discussed confusion about how the health centres work and a lack of understanding of health‐related information. Staff groups also raised the importance of welcoming patients; they also discussed patients' lack of understanding of healthcare subjects. Some issues were consistent with research findings; others were unique to the Qatar setting. Patients focused on their expectations to be seen quickly, whereas staff were aware of the demands on the service and difficulties in meeting patient expectations. Conclusions The focus groups identified key issues related to patient–healthcare professional communication in primary care centres in Qatar. These issues were used to set priorities for the improvement collaborative on patient‐centred communication involving all the health centres. Patient and Public Contribution PHCC has created and fully implemented a Patient and Family Advisory Group (PFAG), which is a group of patients that closely works with PHCC's leadership to ensure that the patients' voice is heard and that proper collaboration is taking place between patients and PHCC at all levels of its operations (see https://www.phcc.gov.qa/patients-clients/community-engagement). The PFAG was aware of the findings of the patient satisfaction surveys and PHCC's intent to work with patients on improving communication with health centre staff. PHCC also has established a Patient Friends programme in which patients are invited to participate in different activities taking place within PHCC and at each of the health centres. PFAG members and Patient Friends were included among the patients invited to participate in the focus groups. Patients were active participants in half the focus groups. In each of the patient focus groups, the purpose was clearly explained, and patients were invited to add whatever points of discussion they wished to add in addition to the moderator's questions. Patient Friends from all health centres later attended a conference at which findings of the focus groups were openly presented as the basis for the collaborative on improving communication. The Patient Friends then participated equally with staff groups in selecting the patient‐centred communication subjects for improvement via the collaborative and worked as partners with health centre teams on communication improvement projects. Clinical Trial Registration Not applicable. Summary Focus groups with patient and staff groups, which together represent about 70 nationalities, were a useful method for learning how each group perceives communication in primary care settings in Qatar. Patients and staff identified many of the same communication issues. Patients were clear about their expectations to be seen and treated quickly, whereas staff groups were aware of the demand on the primary care system and the difficulties in meeting patient expectations. The focus groups identified potential subjects for improvement of patient–staff communication, including how patients are welcomed when they arrive at a health centre and for a consultation, and patients' needs to better understand their health concerns and management through asking questions and explaining back to a clinician their understanding of what has been explained to them.

\"Medicine is an ancient profession that advances as each generation of practitioners passes it down to the next. It remains a distinguished, flawed and rewarding vocation-but it may be coming to an end as we know it. Computer algorithms promise patients better access, safer therapies and more predictable outcomes. Technology reduces costs, designs more effective and personalized treatments and diminishes fraud and waste. Balanced against these miraculous developments is the risk that medical professionals will forget their primary responsibility is to their patients, not to a template of care. Written for anyone who has considered a career in health care-and for any patient who has had an office visit where a provider spent more time doing data-entry than examining them-this book weighs the benefits of emerging technologies against the limitations of traditional systems to envision a future where both doctors and patients are better-informed consumers of health care tools\"-- Provided by publisher.

Although successful communication is at the heart of the clinical consultation, communication between Aboriginal patients and practitioners such as doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, continues to be problematic and is arguably the biggest barrier to the delivery of successful health care to Aboriginal people. This paper presents an overarching framework for practitioners to help them reorientate their communication with Aboriginal patients using ‘clinical yarning’. Clinical yarning is a patient-centred approach that marries Aboriginal cultural communication preferences with biomedical understandings of health and disease. Clinical yarning consists of three interrelated areas: the social yarn, in which the practitioner aims to find common ground and develop the interpersonal relationship; the diagnostic yarn, in which the practitioner facilitates the patient’s health story while interpreting it through a biomedical or scientific lens; and the management yarn, that employs stories and metaphors as tools for patients to help them understand a health issue so a collaborative management approach can be adopted. There is cultural and research evidence that supports this approach. Clinical yarning has the potential to improve outcomes for patients and practitioners.