Dr Stephen Trzeciak, MD, MPH is a physician scientist, Chief of Medicine at Cooper University Health Care, and Professor and Chair of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, New Jersey. Dr. Trzeciak is a practicing intensivist (specialist in intensive care medicine), and a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical researcher with more than 100 publications in the scientific literature, primarily in the field of resuscitation science. Dr. Trzeciak's publications have been featured in prominent medical journals, such as: Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Circulation, and The New England Journal of Medicine. His scientific program has been supported by research grants from the American Heart Association, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, with Dr. Trzeciak serving as Principal Investigator.

Currently, Dr Trzeciak’s research is focused on a new field called “Compassionomics”, in which he is studying the scientific effects of compassion on patients, patient care, and those who care for patients. He is an author of the best-selling book: Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence that Caring Makes a Difference. Broadly, Dr. Trzeciak’s mission is to make health care more compassionate through science.

Presentation Synopsis
Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence that Caring Makes a Difference

Recent data indicate that healthcare is in the midst of a compassion crisis. But a pivotal question is this: Does compassion really matter?

Healthcare workers have always had a moral and ethical imperative to treat patients with compassion, and compassion is a cornerstone of the “art” of medicine. But is compassion just in the art of medicine, or are there also evidence-based effects of compassion belonging in the science of medicine?

In this presentation, Dr. Trzeciak will share the findings of his two-year journey through the scientific literature to test the hypothesis that compassion matters – for patients, for patient care, and for those who care for patients. Compelling research shows that compassion has measurable beneficial effects on patients across a wide variety of conditions, and also moves patients to take better care of themselves. Numerous studies show that compassion for patients is also associated with higher quality healthcare and lower costs of care.

Rigorous research supports that compassion can be a powerful therapy for the giver, too. Science shows that more caring in healthcare – and the meaningful relationships that flow from that – can promote resilience among healthcare workers. Dr. Trzeciak will share the evidence that compassion can be protective against burnout, and for those already in the throes of burnout, compassion can be an antidote. Dr. Trzeciak will also share a personal story of going through burnout himself, and how compassion was a key to his recovery.

Participants in this educational activity will learn that compassion matters – not only in meaningful ways, but also in measurable ways.

At the conclusion of this educational activity the participants will:

1. Understand the evidence for a compassion crisis in healthcare.

2. Understand the evidence that compassionate care is associated with measurable benefits for patients.

3. Understand the evidence that compassionate care is associated with measurable benefits for healthcare systems.

4. Understand the evidence that compassionate care is associated with measurable benefits for healthcare workers.