Physicians interrupt 69% of patient interviews within
18 seconds of the patient beginning to speak. As a result,
in 77% of the interviews, the patient’s true reason
for visiting was never elicited (Lee, 2000).
Patients are less likely to sue practitioners with
good bedside manners. In fact, 2/3rds of all malpractice
cases were tied to breakdowns in communication. Conversely,
medical practitioners with better communication skills
were less likely to be involved in malpractice cases
(Hickson, et. al, 1992).
Patients are dissatisfied with the way that physicians
communicate, citing them as lacking concerns and empathy
(Korsch et. al, 1968; Lane, 1983; Schulman, 1978;
Zimmerman & Arnold, 1990).
Residents of a nursing care facility were more satisfied
with nursing assistants that had specific listening
training as opposed to those who weren’t trained
(Trahan & Rockwell, 1999).
Health care practitioners who use more patient-centered
communication, including listening, have patients
who are more satisfied with their practitioners and
their overall medical care (Wanzer, Booth-Butterfield
& Gruber, 2004).
Effective listening is a significant predictor for
patient satisfaction (Wanzer, Booth-Butterfield &
Gruber, 2004).
In health care settings, the largest indicators of
patient satisfaction with physician’s communication
skills are immediacy behaviors, empathy, and listening
(Wanzer, Booth-Butterfield, & Gruber, 2004)
Patients are more satisfied with oncologists who
use shared decision-making strategies, including active
listening, when deciding treatment (Brown, et. al,
2002).
Physicians who use a biopsychosocial approach with
patients, including expressing empathy, involving
patients in decision-making, asking open-ended questions,
and listening attentively, take no more time per average
office visit and produce increased patient satisfaction,
which leads to better and more responsible decisions,
and increases the patient’s willingness to carry
out the prescribed treatment (du Pre, 2001).
The most important communication skill in the doctor-nurse
relationship, as well as the nurse-patient relationship,
is listening (Worobey & Cummings, 1984). Further,
nurses identify listening as highly important when
dealing with doctors, patients, and hospital administrators
(Worobey & Cummings, 1984).
Active listening on the part of both the physician
and the patient increased compliance and the perception
of a supportive atmosphere (Hausman, 2001).
Naturopathic patients rated their physician significantly
higher in empathy than patients of conventional physicians
(Arnold & Shirreffs, 1998).
