Effective communication is not an add-on to good clinical skills for a provider; it is an essential part of high-quality care. Our guest this week, Richard Frankel, PhD, is professor of medicine and geriatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. He is a researcher whose interests include face-to-face communication, the role of technology and its effects on quality, safety, and outcomes of care. As a medical educator for the past 40 years, he is internationally respected for his contributions and achievements in fostering humanism in medical education, practice and research.

The Take-Away: Physicians need to develop their communication skills as well as their diagnostic and clinical skills in order to ensure positive outcomes.