In context: physician-patient communication and managed care.
Communication between a physician and his or her patient is a critical component of medical care delivery. The quality of communication affects patient satisfaction and health outcomes. Managed care has heightened the awareness of communication because of the direct links among communication, outcomes, and malpractice liability. This article describes patient satisfaction, the relationship between communication and biological outcomes, the role that communication plays in malpractice prevention, the communication challenges present in the managed health care environment, and the need for communication skills training.
Levinson
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Section of General Internal Medicine, University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA. wendy@medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu
D003142:Communication; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D008318:Malpractice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations