Good communication skills are essential for high quality, effective and safe medical practice. These skills are used for information gathering, diagnosis, treatment and patient education. Recent research shows that when the doctor uses effective communication skills, both doctor and patient benefit. As a result, medical schools and specialist colleges are emphasizing their importance.
Good doctor patient communication has been shown to have a positive impact on a number of health outcomes in previous studies. In a study that explored the effects of communication-skills training on the process and outcome of care associated with a reduction in emotional distress in patient. Better doctor patient communication was shown to be associated with better emotional and physical health, higher symptom resolution, and better control of chronic diseases that included better blood pressure, blood glucose and pain control.
Patient satisfaction with health care services highly correlated with good doctor patient communication skills. Patient very satisfied if they have been given explanation of the symptom cause, likely duration, and lack of unmet expectations from doctors. This give some expectations of what the patient are having and they can decide whether to comply with doctor advices or not.
Communication with patients can be improved and patient care enhanced if health care providers can bridge the divide between the culture of medicine and the beliefs and practices that make up patients' value systems. These may be