Doctor-patient interaction at the outpatient stage: effective communication as a factor of treatment quality

Objective. To study the problems of effective communication between the doctor and the patient at the outpatient stage of medical care and suggest some ways to solve them. Materials and methods. An online survey of 309 people (119 doctors and 190 patients) was conducted. The questionnaires concerning the appearance of the doctor, his verbal and non-verbal skills contained 34 questions each. Such research methods as analysis, synthesis, questionnaires, as well as the statistical method are used in this study. Results. Patients most often complain about doctors’ indifferent attitude to their problems, when communicating with medical staff. Many respondents are dissatisfied that the doctors do not emphasize the importance of a healthy lifestyle, which, in their opinion, is due to the fact that most doctors do not realize the significance of a lifestyle modification in disease prevention. Patients' responses also often noted a lack of nonverbal reinforcement of words during the consultation. It may seem an insignificant element of professional communication, but it turned to be of a great importance for many patients. Conclusions. When providing medical care at the outpatient and polyclinic stage, the level of a primary healthcare physician’s communication competencies is of great importance. Physicians’ good communication skills not only allow to create comfortable and trusting relationships with patients, but also increase the quality of medical care significantly, which will improve the treatment results.