ABSTRACT
The study of communication inmedical consultations has enjoyed a rich history of research and theory development. Much of this work reflects a “process-outcome” perspective as investigators try to identify factors affecting the way health care providers and patients communicate with one another and the outcomes (e.g., clinician and patient satisfaction with the encounter, patient adherence to physicians’ recommendations, improved health) associated with these patterns of exchange (for reviews, see Kaplan, Greenfield, &Ware, 1989; Ong, DeHaes, Hoos, & Lammes, 1995, Roter & Hall, 1993; Street, 2001). Inherent in this research is the idea that the success of the medical consultation and the quality of medical care delivery in large part depend on the clinician’s and patient’s skills as communicators (Kurtz, Silverman, & Draper, 1998).
