Do our talks with patients meet their expectations? Yes, for the most part they do. Results of this study, however, reveal specific areas that require greater attention.

While it's encouraging that physicians by and large understand their patients and communicate with them meaningfully, we wondered whether communication could improve further. Our purpose in this study was to gain detailed insight into patients' preferences in physician communication and, through patients' subjective perspectives and observed real practice consultations, learn how well physicians communicate according to those preferences. (aut. ref.)