The recipe for success in patient-provider relationships and communication, according to new research out of Stanford University are intentional preparation, intent listening, agreeing on priorities, creating a connection, and understanding emotional cues.

Positive patient experience depends on a strong patient-provider relationship. Patients who report their providers, connect with them at a deeper level, display their clinical expertise, heard their questions and concerns, and explained concepts in simple layperson terms tend to report better experiences.

The Stanford study’s lead researchers are Donna Zulman, MD, and Abraham Verghese, MD.

Zulman, an assistant professor of medicine and the director of Stanford Presence 5, one of several Presence initiatives, said that they were looking for practices to improve the experiences of patients and lead to better care for them. At the same time they were aiming to improve experiences of clinicians and help them rediscover the joy of medicine.

Researchers identified 31 strategies to help improve patient-provider relationships. We look at the five key approaches:

• Prepare with intention: Clinicians should become familiar with the patient they are about to meet and create a set plan for each clinical encounter.

• Listen intently and completely: Clinicians should have listening skills such as leaning forward when the patient is speaking and sitting down and should avoid interrupting the patient.

• Agree on what matters most: Clinicians should ask the patients about their healthcare goals and values and be sure to integrate those priorities into their care plans.

• Connect with the patient’s story: Clinicians may put their clinical protocol into the context of a patient’s everyday life and personal background to understand the factors that influence the individual patient’s health and wellness.

• Explore emotional cues: Looking out for body language that might convey a certain emotion from the patient will help cue the provider to display empathy.