Patient Compliance: How Can We Improve Our Batting Average?

Volumes of published articles "coach" us on the mastery of persuasive skills. Even though we all agree that communication is key to our success, many of us have never been able to get to "first base" in conquering a method or mode that is reasonably simple, yet surprisingly effective. How many seminars or journal articles have we waded through trying to find the answer, yet when we return to the office environment, we revert right back to our old routine? Why?