Physicians’ attention to patients’ communication cues can improve patient satisfaction with care and perception of physicians’ empathy

Background The pathway that links good communication skills and better health outcomes is still unclear. However, it is known that the way that physicians and patients communicate with each other has direct consequences on more “proximal outcomes”, such as perceptions of physician empathy and patient satisfaction. However, which specific communication skills lead to those patient outcomes is still unknown. In this study, the authors aimed to analyze which specific patient and physician communication skills are correlated to patients’ satisfaction with care and patient-perceived physician empathy. Methods The authors classified and quantified verbal and nonverbal communication of second-year internal medicine residents and their patients through video recordings of their consultations. Patients also rated their satisfaction with care and the physician's empathy for them. Results Using a linear regression model, the authors identified that patients’ and physicians’ expressions of disapproval, physicians’ disruptions, and patients’ use of content questions negatively correlated to patients’ satisfaction and patient-perceived physician empathy. Conversely, patient affective behaviors and the physician's provision of advice/suggestion were positively correlated to at least one of the patient-measured outcomes. Conclusion Our findings point to the importance of physicians’ attentiveness to patients’ communication cues. Training physicians to interpret those cues could help develop more satisfactory and empathic therapeutic relationships.