An Introduction to the Science of Compassion.

Modern medicine has long been focused on the hard science that drives change through numbers- based analysis and data-driven metrics. This has certainly allowed for significant progress to be made in healthcare, resulting in better treatment options, better patient safety, and better outcomes. Sometimes it seems that soft science principles, those ideas and data based on human behavior, are considered merely optional. A review of relevant studies shows many of the ways this omission has directly contributed to low satisfaction rates for both patients and providers. Soft skills can still be science and data based. This paper includes patient comments and introduces the concept of compassion science, which uses data collected within the fields of trauma and cognitive science to improve care and outcomes for oncology patients, increase trust and satisfaction levels for both patients and providers, and decrease the overall cost of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]