Hospital doctors who walked into a patient's room and found a chair already waiting beside the bed sat down 63% of the time. When the chair stayed in its usual spot, often a closed cupboard, they sat during just 8% of visits.
The randomized trial, run at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center, covered 125 encounters between hospitalized patients and 51 physicians. Patients also rated their doctors' communication more highly when the chair was in place, and the visits did not last any longer.
