Patient Experience Management: Beyond Hospitality

Patients demand to be treated like customers. This can happen only when a healthcare center implements a patient-care centric process with less focus on hospitality. by G. Vishwanand (vishy)

Why do we go to a certain shopping mall often? Why do we prefer a particular restaurant even if it is expensive? Why do we like buying grocery from the same super market even if it means driving a few kilometers more? The answer to all these questions is just one - positive experience. In today's world of business, customer is the king, and the experience she gets matters the most.

Conventional healthcare in India is doctor-centric rather than patient-centric. As the patient/customer is not the centre of the services, the experience provided to her is suboptimal. There is little effort in making health services a positive experience for the patient in most healthcare centers.

However, the trend of positive patient experience is setting in. With patients becoming 'educated customers' and participating in decision-making of their health care, the focus is shifting towards making healthcare more patient-friendly.

Many healthcare centers are competing for patients with amenities such as private rooms, beautiful lobbies and hotelstyle room services. Yet, there appears to be a disconnect between amenities and clinical care. It's sad that most hospitals spend more on such amenities to attract insured customers rather than concentrate on the basic needs of the customers.

Today, many hospitals realize that Patient Experience will be the key differentiating factor when services and quality become commodities. Patient experience will now determine the success of a healthcare business in the long run. A mere change in the administration and business process does not help to deliver superior patient experience; it requires patientfocused management approach called Patient Experience Management. Patient Experience Management is the process of strategically managing a patient's entire experience processr
Patient Experience Management is the process of strategically managing a patient's entire experience process with the healthcare facility.

with the healthcare facility. It is the experience offered by the hospital staffs since they influence patient perception of the hospital the most.
Happy staff, happy patientsr
Patient Experience Management practices focus on creating positive patient experience by motivating the hospital staff, making them more competent at their profession, and encouraging innovative thinking. Only a satisfied employee can deliver better care and service which in turn result in better outcome and high patient satisfaction. Working for an organization that gives importance to patients also delivers employee satisfaction. Inclusion of ethical issues in patient professional relationship and cultural sensitivity can contribute to positive patient experience.
Hospitals could carefully study and work towards improving touch-points for delivering an effective patient experience. Patient feel good-or bad-about hospital through their five senses: Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste and Touch. Patient perceives the experiences delivered by hospital at various customer touch-points, for example, outpatient facility, communication materials, pharmacy, staffs, website, billing center, reception, canteen, ward etc. The cumulative experience across all touch points becomes how patient feels about you and your hospital.