The importance of rapport in taking the expanding medical history

The American Academy of Communication in Healthcare (@AACHonline) tweeted an American Medical News story about the challenges of taking a medical history and importance of rapport in collecting those histories. Physicians are being asked to collect more social and health information from patients in shorter interviews, all while updating new electronic records, often with a computer in the room. The article explore the importance of developing trust between physician and patient and cultivating educational elements into the history-taking process.It is a difficult but important task, as the history-taking is an important element in diagnosis and in educating and working with the patient to develop treatment plans. The article discusses specific strategies such as question-asking and repeating back what the patient says to better understand the patient's concerns.