Medical care
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Physicians' patient-centered communication in the medical consultation is generally expected to improve patient outcomes. However, empirical evidence is contradictory so far, and most studies were done in primary care. ⋯ Medical specialists' facilitating behavior was associated with greater satisfaction in patients who were less confident in communicating with their doctor. Patient-centered communication was not associated with patients' health status or adherence in general, but facilitating behavior was positively related to the adherence of patients with a foreign primary language. In general, patients appeared to be more satisfied after an encounter with a more-facilitating and a less-inhibiting physician, but these associations diminished when controlling for background characteristics. We conclude that the absence of strong associations between patient-centered communication and patient-reported outcomes may be explained by medical specialists being responsive to patients' characteristics.