Patient Communication Techniques - Healthcare Professionals

Are we good at empathy?• Physicians ‘missed’ empathic opportunitiesin 72% patient visits• Visits with ‘missed’ empathic opportunitiesaveraged 3 minutes LONGER than visitsin which empathy had been expressed• In 53% of visits with missed opportunities,the patient brought up the same concernmore than onceLevinson W et al. A study of patient clues and physician responses in primary careand surgical settings. JAMA 2000;284:1021-7