Noise is getting in the way of good medical practice and better patient outcomes, according to Dr. Kamran Abbasi, Editor-In-Chief of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in a recent column he called What is Clinical Noise? – and How to Silence It. But he wasn’t referring to annoying loud noises in our environment, but to unwanted distractions in medicine.

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 Dr. Abbasi illustrates that noise by picturing a dart board with darts sprayed all around the bullseye, distracting players from focusing on what matters to dart players: hitting the bullseye.  .