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1 " The concept of multitasking evolved from the computer field to explain a microprocessor performing two jobs at one time. It turns out that microprocessors are mostly linear and so are really performing only one task at a time. Computers give the illusion of simultaneous action by jumping between competing activities in a complex and rapid-paced algorithm. "
― Danielle Ofri , What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear
2 " I was relieved to come across a more expansive population study of nearly seventy thousand patients that showed that the medical care given to overweight patients is no different than what non-overweight patients receive.14 Despite an ingrained societal bias against obesity—one that affects physicians as well as patients—the medical profession seems to be able to deliver comparable treatment. "
3 " Furthermore, the intern could click on those seventeen “reassurance statements” and listen to what she’d actually said. She might find that she used the same phrase—”There’s nothing to worry about”—over and over, which probably began to sound like a platitude to the patient. She could click on the nine “patient concerns” and realize that the patient had only two real concerns but kept repeating them because the intern kept saying, “There’s nothing to worry about. "
4 " Giving patients the information that they need—not necessarily the standard of care in 1964—goes a long way toward relieving the anxiety and fear that worsen pain. But what was impressive was the magnitude of the effect. The group with the extra discussion needed half the amount of pain medication that the control group needed. "
5 " It is, of course, laudable that patient satisfaction has become a high priority, but sometimes window-dressing efforts like fancy coffee in the waiting room get priority over things that might have an actual effect on health care, such as giving nurses paid time off for continuing education. "
