Wheel of Misfortune

Both times I went to physical therapy, the large-screen TV was tuned to Wheel of Fortune.

I assumed it was there to distract patients during their sessions—harmless background noise, a few vowels spinning by. Reasonable enough.

But what I observed was far more interesting.

The patients barely noticed it.

Some of the staff, on the other hand, were locked in.

At one point, mid-session, my therapist asked,
“Do you know the answer to the puzzle?”

I paused—just long enough to realize she wasn’t making small talk. She genuinely wanted me to play along.

My response?

“I really don’t care.”

I’m not sure the message landed.

Later, I’m face-down on the table while she’s working on my back. She asks,
“How does that feel?”

I answer.

She follows with, without irony,
“Oh—I was asking someone else.”

And in that moment, the title wrote itself.

The Real Misfortune

This isn’t about Wheel of Fortune.

It’s about attention.

The most valuable currency in healthcare isn’t technology, insurance participation, or even clinical skill.

It’s presence.

From the patient’s perspective:

When attention drifts—to a screen, a conversation, a game show—the patient feels it instantly. Nothing needs to be said. The body knows.

And the trust meter quietly ticks down.

The Dental Practice Parallel

Now substitute:

Suddenly, this isn’t a physical therapy story.

It’s a dental one.

How often does a patient:

Worse still—how often does a team member believe they’re being attentive, while their behavior quietly says otherwise?

Three Quiet Lessons

1. Distractions don’t distract patients. They distract providers and team members.
Patients aren’t comforted by background noise. They’re reassured by eye contact, pauses, and genuine curiosity.

2. Split attention feels like indifference.
When a clinician asks a question without being ready to hear the answer, it doesn’t feel neutral. It feels dismissive.

3. Presence is part of the treatment.
You can deliver technically flawless care and still leave a patient feeling unseen. That’s how average practices are created.

The Undeniable Takeaway

The practices that win—clinically, financially, and reputationally—aren’t louder, faster, or more high-tech.

They are more present.

They don’t spin the wheel while the patient is on the table.
They don’t ask questions they aren’t prepared to listen to.
And they never make a patient wonder who the comment was really meant for.

Because in healthcare, nothing says “you matter” quite like undivided attention.

And nothing earns the title Wheel of Misfortune faster than losing it.