Patient-centered communication in the physician-patient relationship

As a result of increasing demands for more patient-centeredness in the German health care system, physician-patient communication has been subject to transformation. Physicians are being requested to take into account their patients' communicative needs, including information, shared decision making, and emotional support, more vigorously than they had been in the past. A cooperative model of the physician-patient relationship is considered most suitable for fulfilling these needs and for empowering patients to make informed decisions regarding their own health care. However, a large body of evidence exists-particularly regarding communication between cancer patients and their doctors-that shows that patients' needs are not adequately addressed or met. This potential for optimization is all the more important because targeting patients' needs during doctor-patient communication not only improves patients' satisfaction with the communication, quality of life, and well-being, but may also produce better treatment outcomes.