I have been delivering training in patient experience for a few years now. My observation is that healthcare practitioners are excellent in the technical delivery in order to improve the patient’s condition. However, more often than not, they lose track of the patient in the process.
We have all had the doctor diagnosis which can leave every patient looking out for the Greek dictionary. A slew of complex words which mean nothing to us flow in sequence, blocking our capacity to think, let alone digest what is being said.
This is where the patient experience chasm begins. Then the journey in most healthcare institutions follows the clinical track until the patient recovers and is sent on their way. There is a beginning and then an end to the process.
My question is: if hospitals were a business, would they manage their customers in the same way? Would Amazon just say goodbye when a customer buys from them and expect them to just return of their own accord?
Whilst the traditional mindset of hoping patients will consider a particular healthcare institution only because it is their catchment area (for public hospitals) may still be a reality, in an increasingly competitive market where private and public clinics and hospitals ‘compete’, especially in the fields of elective surgery, those which will prevail will be down to a holistic approach to patient experience.
The Holistic Approach to Patient Experience
The Holistic Approach to Patient Experience includes pre-experience elements: reputation, referrals, digital presence; all of these relate to not only how clinically excellent an institution may be but also (especially in the period of CoVid19) how patients can commence prevention programmes to avoid the exacerbation of any condition.
The same is true post-clinical experience. Patient experience needs to include long-term follow up as well as further rehabilitation/prevention programmes. Why? The patient should be able to self-manage their own health and feel like they are in the driving seat of their wellness. In this way, the healthcare institution becomes a guide and will have won the heart of the patient as that invisible ‘support’ tool. So, this is the where the retention of patients come in – much like Amazon’s retention programme where you receive the latest offers, discounts, access to new products, a hospital’s retention programme should offer tailored health advise, wellness tips and, even, tele-health options to patients.
It is critical for hospitals to look to differentiate themselves in the complete, holistic approach to how they manage patients…
How does your healthcare institution match up on the holistic approach to patient experience? Want to find out? Take the Patient Experience Typology Assessment, a detailed assessment which identifying potential PX ‘blind-spots’’ which impact operational PX strategy execution, to find out.