Review of Benefits to Practitioners of Using Good Patient-Practitioner Communication

Introduction: Good communication between doctors and patients is an important element of care, with benefits for both patients and doctors. However, research also suggests that there are numerous and common problems related to poor communication that adversely affect patient outcomes. Unfortunately, similar research does not exist in orthotics and prosthetics. Hence, we reviewed the literature regarding good communication between doctors and patients to identify potential benefits for orthotists and prosthetists that may motivate them to use good communication in their clinical practice. Methods: A literature search was performed using PubMed, Ovid Medline, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Google Scholar, as well as hand searching the references of included articles. Articles were reviewed, and the benefits of good communication to the medical provider were identified and extracted. The medical benefits identified were then considered in the context of a typical orthotic/prosthetic encounter. Results: A total of 71 articles were included in this review, yielding 17 benefits to medical practitioners of using good patient-practitioner communication. These benefits were then classified into five beneficial themes that potentially apply to orthotics and prosthetics clinical practice: lessens the risk of litigation, makes efficient and effective use of appointment time, improves patient outcomes, improves patient satisfaction and increases referrals, and improves practitioner job satisfaction. Conclusions: Our review of the literature suggests that benefits exist to the medical provider of using good patient-practitioner communication that are likely relevant to orthotic and prosthetic practitioners.