Based on the patient-centered clinical method (Brown, Weston, & Stewart, 19
89; Levenstein, McCracken, McWhinney, Stewart, & Brown, 1986; Stewart, 1995
; Weston, Brown, & Stewart, 1989), a method of scoring patient-doctor encou
nters that were either audiotaped or videotaped was developed. This scoring
procedure has several advantages over the commonly used methods (Bales, 19
50; Kaplan, Greenfield, & Ware, 1989; Roter, 1977; Roter, Cole, Kern, Barke
r, & Grayson, 1990; Stewart, 1984): (a) It does not require that the taped
interview between the patient and the doctor be transcribed; and (b) it is
theory based, that is, it was developed specifically to assess the behavior
s of patients and doctors ascribed by the patient-centered clinical method
(Stewart, 1995).
The scoring procedure was described fully in a working paper titled "Assess
ing Communication Between Patients and Doctors: A Manual for Scoring Patien
t-Centered Communication" (Brown, Stewart, & Tessier, 1995). Interrater rel
iability of an earlier version of the scoring was established among three r
aters at r = .687, .835, and .803 (Brown, Stewart, McCracken, McWhinney, &
Levenstein, 1986). A more recent study (Stewart et al., 2000), using the cu
rrent version, established an interrater reliability of .83 and an intrarat
er reliability of .73. The validity of the scoring procedure was establishe
d by a high correlation (.85) with global scores of experienced communicati
on researchers (Stewart et al., 2000).
The measure allows scores to range theoretically from 0 (not at all patient
-centered) to 100 (very patient-centered) communication and includes three
main components. The first component, exploring both the disease and illnes
s experience, involves physicians' understanding two conceptualizations of
ill health that need to be explored with patients-disease and illness. The
second component, understanding the whole person, involves physicians explo
ring the context of a patient's life setting (e.g., family, work, social su
pports) and stage of personal development (e.g., life cycle). The third com
ponent of the model deals with finding common ground. An effective manageme
nt plan requires that physicians and patients reach a mutual understanding
and mutual agreement in three key areas: the nature of the problems and pri
orities, the goals of treatment and management, and the roles of the doctor
and patient.