This article examines, in detail, the quality of doctor-patient interaction. Doctor-patient communication is such a powerful indicator of health care quality that it can determine patients' self-management behavior and health outcomes. The medical visit (i.e., the medical encounter) plays a pivotal role in the health care process. In fact, doctor-patient communication is one of the most essential dynamics in health care, affecting the course of patient care and patient compliance with recommendations for care. Unlike many other analyses (that often look at only one or two specific aspects of doctor-patient relationships), this analysis is more encompassing; it looks at doctor-patient communication from multiple perspectives.

This article analyzes telemedicine, the use of distant communication technologies within the context of clinical health care, and the effects it has on health communication. The main effect is that telemedicine has the capacity to substantially transform health care in both positive and negative ways and to radically modify personal face-to-face communication (Turner, 2003). This has tremendous implications for health communication scholars in that they can extend the telemedicine debate by integrating fresh insights into more acceptable approaches that will refine and humanize mediated channels of health communication. There are several key areas of telemedicine that need to be discussed (i.e., e-health services, clinical encounters, etc.), all of which are identified in this article. In addition to describing the past and current applications of telemedicine, this article provides a better understanding of unique needs, resources, problems, and opportunities germane to telemedicine services.

This paper applies the principles of glocalization theory to Disney's successful adaptation in Hong Kong. Glocalization refers to the interface of the global and the local. After Hong Kong Disneyland's lack of success within a year of its opening in 2005, Disney executives attempted to cater to the local Chinese context. From a glocalization perspective, four major changes were made: (1) reduction of prices; (2) adaptation to local visitors' customs; (3) change of décors and settings; and (4) adaptation of labor practices. Ever since, Hong Kong Disneyland has proved successful: park attendance and revenues from growth have increased.

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Telemedicine, the use of advanced communication technologies in the healthcare context, has a rich history and a clear evolutionary course. In this paper, the authors identify telemedicine as operationally defined, the services and technologies it comprises, the direction telemedicine has taken, along with its increased acceptance in the healthcare communities. The authors also describe some of the key pitfalls warred with by researchers and activists to advance telemedicine to its full potential and lead to an unobstructed team of technicians to identify telemedicine's diverse utilities. A discussion and future directions section is included to provide fresh ideas to health communication and computer-mediated scholars wishing to delve into this area and make a difference to enhance public understanding of this field.