Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Patients should silence their phones in the exam room

Suzanne Koven, MD
Physician
March 11, 2014
Share
Tweet
Share

I wrote a column recently about the role computers play in the doctor patient relationship, and my concern that screens shift physicians’ focus away from their patients. This column is part of a large conversation going on nationally and beyond about what I’d call “distracted doctoring.”

A Wall Street Journal opinion piece by my colleague Dr. Victoria McEvoy addresses the issue of whether all the digital box checking now required of doctors as part of “quality assurance” is helpful. She asks, “Would you rather your doctor won the ‘quality’ contest by doing good list management and robust box checking or spent that time listening to you?”

But amid all this talk about distracted doctoring, I’ve heard less about “distracted patient-ing.” An experience I had this other day got me thinking about whether smart phone screens (and sounds) interfere with patients’ (and doctors’) attentiveness in the exam room.

A patient and I were discussing a symptom that was very frightening to her — she’d passed out — and potentially indicative of a serious medical problem. Every few seconds a sound emitted from her handbag: ping! ping! And every time her purse pinged, the woman turned her head to peek over at her phone, which lay in the open bag. I found it hard to focus, and I can’t imagine she found it any easier.

Still, I was a little reluctant to ask the woman to silence her phone — and I’ve been reluctant to ask many other patients to do the same.

Why?

For one thing, I was trying to be mindful of that fact that this was her time and should be conducted as much on her terms as possible. I have an elderly patient who does not have a smart phone but who flips through a magazine during her visits with me. I used to find this annoying, but I came to see it as her way of maintaining a bit of control over a situation in which she feels out of control (it’s hard to feel in control when you’re in a flimsy gown and the other person in the room is wearing a suit). Maybe my patient kept her phone on during our visit to tell me: my ping, my choice.

Also, it’s hard to begrudge a patient their phone when I’ve got this huge computer monitor on my desk (and a beeper on my belt and a phone on my wall).

Plus, I know well how hard it is to turn off a phone, even for a little while, when you never know when your kid (your plumber, the school nurse …) is trying to reach you urgently.

But the pinging distracted both of us nonetheless.

So I’ll say here what I didn’t say then: please show me those baby, prom, and wedding pictures, consult the list of questions you’ve listed digitally, then silence your phone and put it away. I’ll put mine away, too. At least there will be two fewer sources of distraction in what’s become an increasingly distracting medical office.

Suzanne Koven is an internal medicine physician and a Boston Globe columnist.  She blogs at In Practice at Boston.com, where this article originally appeared. She is the author of Say Hello To A Better Body: Weight Loss and Fitness For Women Over 50.

Prev

Whine or win: How retail clinics will affect pediatricians

March 11, 2014 Kevin 7
…
Next

A physician approach to a missing child

March 11, 2014 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Whine or win: How retail clinics will affect pediatricians
Next Post >
A physician approach to a missing child

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Suzanne Koven, MD

  • A hospital leader speaks out against the transgender military ban

    Suzanne Koven, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor about work

    Suzanne Koven, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Why your doctor isn’t prescribing medical marijuana yet

    Suzanne Koven, MD

More in Physician

  • ER threats aren’t rare anymore—they’re routine

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • Love on life support: a powerful reminder from the ICU

    Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD
  • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • From basketball to bedside: Finding connection through March Madness

    Caitlin J. McCarthy, MD
  • The invisible weight carried by Black female physicians

    Trisza Leann Ray, DO
  • A female doctor’s day: exhaustion, sacrifice, and a single moment of joy

    Dr. Damane Zehra
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • “Think twice, heal once”: Why medical decision-making needs a second opinion from your slower brain (and AI)

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Do Jewish students face rising bias in holistic admissions?

      Anonymous | Education
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • ER threats aren’t rare anymore—they’re routine

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • JFK warned us about physical fitness. Sixty years later, we’re still not listening.

      Alexandre Bourcier, MD | Conditions
    • The silent threat in health care layoffs

      Todd Thorsen, MBA | Tech
    • Why true listening is crucial for future health care professionals [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Love on life support: a powerful reminder from the ICU

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • Surviving kidney disease and reforming patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 22 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • “Think twice, heal once”: Why medical decision-making needs a second opinion from your slower brain (and AI)

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Do Jewish students face rising bias in holistic admissions?

      Anonymous | Education
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • ER threats aren’t rare anymore—they’re routine

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • JFK warned us about physical fitness. Sixty years later, we’re still not listening.

      Alexandre Bourcier, MD | Conditions
    • The silent threat in health care layoffs

      Todd Thorsen, MBA | Tech
    • Why true listening is crucial for future health care professionals [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Love on life support: a powerful reminder from the ICU

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • Surviving kidney disease and reforming patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Patients should silence their phones in the exam room
22 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...