Patient-physician communication is an integral part of
clinical practice. When done well, such communication
produces a therapeutic effect for the patient, as has been
validated in controlled studies. Formal training programs
have been created to enhance and measure specific communication
skills. Many of these efforts, however, focus on
medical schools and early postgraduate years and, therefore,
remain isolated in academic settings. Thus, the communication
skills of the busy physician often remain
poorly developed, and the need for established physicians
to become better communicators continues. In this
article, the authors briefly review the why and how of
effective patient-physician communication. They begin
by reviewing current data on the benefits of effective communication
in the clinical context of physicians caring for
patients. The authors then offer specific guidance on how
to achieve effective communication in the patient-physician
relationship.