The Effects of the Communication Techniques of Concern Elicitation and Mutual Agenda Setting on the Satisfaction, Self-Efficacy, and Understanding of a Patient After a Provider Encounter

The goal of this investigation is to explore the relationship of health provider communication techniques and their impact on patient understanding, satisfaction, and self-efficacy. This investigation looked at the two specific communication techniques of concern elicitation and mutual agenda setting which occur during the beginning of a medical visit. Encounters were recorded with patient knowledge and transcribed to be analyzed. Following a coding manual created from both previous research and original input, the transcripts were organized and read through to process data. Focusing on the two communication techniques—concern elicitation and mutual agenda setting—I looked at the beginning of the encounter to note any usage of the techniques. Using a series of independent samples t-tests, I found that patient understanding was significantly correlated with concern elicitation. At the same time, the length of visits that used concern elicitation and mutual agenda setting was not significantly greater than the length of visits in which these techniques were not used. This implies using these communication techniques clinical practice does not risk losing precious time. This investigation can also give support to more in depth research on various other communication techniques and their potential benefits in bridging the disparity in health literacy