Kuala Lampur, March 20 -- Modern healthcare is often defined by its visible assets such as high-tech medical devices, modern treatment facilities and advanced data centres. These are significant markers of progress. Yet, a hospital equipped with the most advanced machinery can still fail its patients if it lacks a crucial and less visible element. That element is called 'empathy'.

Traditionally, empathy has been viewed as an individual's soft skill, that is, a set of feelings or personality traits expected of doctors and nurses. However, a growing body of research in healthcare design suggests a more structured definition. Empathy functions as invisible infrastructure. Much like the electrical wiring or data networks that run behind hosp...