Despite the decreasing amount of time physicians are spending with patients (two-thirds of their time is spent on paperwork), and warnings against getting "too close" to patients for fear of burnout, recent research shows there is a strong business case for building connections and displaying compassion.
Patients who experience compassion from their health care professionals recover better from chronic diseases, speak more openly about their symptoms, report higher adherence to medication prescriptions, and have better HCAHPS scores.
See this recent article on crafting a compassionate and empathetic culture, and some cool research by Drs. Laura McClelland (Virginia Commonwealth University), Allison Gabriel (University of Arizona), and Matthew DePuccio (Virginia Commonwealth University) that inform these conclusions!