Second article in NYT health care series

In the Hospital, a Degrading Shift From Person to Patient
Some hospitals have worked to address patients' most serious grievances. But in interviews and surveys, people who have recently received medical care say that even when they benefit from the expertise of first-rate doctors, they often feel resentful, helpless and dehumanized in the process...

'The point is that when they talk about quality of health care, patients mean something entirely different than experts do,' said Dr. Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Foundation. 'They're not talking about numbers or outcomes but about their own human experience, which is a combination of cost, paperwork and what I'll call the hassle factor, the impersonal nature of the care.'

Link.