Everyone is a customer. You may have purchased a new car, paid someone to install a pool in your yard—maybe shopped for a large fire pit for these cooler fall temperatures—or simply bought a new hammer at the local hardware store. In each of these, you’ve had a set of expectations—like being able to check-out in a few minutes, or read reviews online. The same is true for healthcare. Patients have a set of expectations when engaging with care, and how well those expectations are met determine the quality of the patient experience. A smooth patient experience is one of the primary tenets of healthcare consumerism.
Putting Healthcare Consumerism into Practice
When healthcare providers meet these expectations, the result is a higher level of patient satisfaction. Patients with better care experiences often have better health outcomes and are more likely to adhere to medical advice and treatment plans. For providers, this means meeting their goals of increased patient retention rates, more satisfied staff and a solid reputation.
However, operational inefficiencies—such as cumbersome appointment scheduling, long wait times, and fragmented communication—often hinder these goals. These challenges can lead to frustration and disengagement among patients, making it difficult for healthcare organizations to meet their needs effectively.
To address these issues, improving digital patient engagement is essential. However, simply adding digital tools is not enough. In our recent research report Progress, Not Perfection: Care Access in the Digital Era, we found that 92% of surveyed hospitals and medical groups had adopted a digital tool for all of the patient management workflows included in our survey. Despite this, only 52% felt strongly that their patient management workflows were working well and 86% felt that their arrival management workflows were contributing to a negative patient experience.
Download: Progress, Not Perfection: Care Access in the Digital Era
Implementing a Thoughtful Digital Strategy
Digital tools must be integrated into an intentional strategy that aligns with the organization’s goals and patient needs. By leveraging technology in a purposeful way, providers can streamline processes and enhance communication. This approach not only makes it easier for patients to access care but also fosters meaningful connections with their providers.
When digital engagement is implemented strategically, healthcare organizations can overcome operational hurdles and create a more seamless experience. Ultimately, this thoughtful integration strategy and technology drives better health outcomes and strengthens patient loyalty in an increasingly competitive market.
To get a jump-start on putting together a purposeful strategy, check out our five easy-to-implement recommendations for improving the customer experience in healthcare.
1. Make a Positive First Impression.
It’s hard to overcome a bad first impression, especially when you only see many of your patients a few times each year. As noted in a study published in Health Communication, “the first impression has a strong impact on positive and negative judgments on doctors’ communication approach and may facilitate or inhibit all further interactions.”
Employing friendly and competent staff increases the probability your patients receive a favorable first impression. Train these team members appropriately to ensure they have good patient-provider communication skills and accurately set patient expectations.
Also, keep in mind that the patient registration process typically provides a patient with his or her first impression of a physician practice and is essential for ensuring you’re able to offer high-quality care. It can set the tone for the entire patient journey.
2. Provide Patient-Centered Care.
Shouldn’t all healthcare be focused on the patient? Of course. The patient-centered care (PCC) approach, though, encourages individuals to be more active participants in their own care. As a collaboration between providers and patients, it strives to improve individual health outcomes while also boosting patient engagement and satisfaction.
PCC doesn’t only benefit patients. Providers enjoy perks such as lower overall costs, improved resource allocation and fewer hospitalizations and readmissions.
3. Communicate.
This one might sound too easy, but it can make a noticeable difference in how patients perceive you. Even listening to patients without interrupting them goes a long way in making the customer experience more positive.
There’s research that has identified multiple ways communication can lead to better health outcomes, including reducing medication errors and hospital readmissions. Some studies indicate strong positive relationships between a healthcare team member’s communication skills and a patient’s capacity to follow through with medical recommendations, self-manage a chronic medical condition and adopt preventive health behaviors. Additional advantages of effective communication in healthcare are:
- Improved quality of care
- Enhanced patient experience
- Reduced cost of care
- Boosted patient satisfaction scores
- Decreased stress and burnout for clinicians
- Fewer complaints and readmissions
- Improved staff teamwork and collaboration
4. Be Transparent About Price.
It’s not unusual for patients to get healthcare bills that amount to much more than expected. They receive medical care without knowing the exact price, even though they face high and varying out-of-pocket fees for their care. No wonder they’re frustrated!
According to our 2024 Care Access Benchmark Report, 95 percent of consumers consider some kind of cost information when selecting a new provider, and 78 percent say they wish they had more control over healthcare costs. Along with reducing the cost of healthcare, price transparency has the potential to provide real-time online access to estimated out-of-pocket (OOP) costs, enhance patient engagement and reduce market prices for various procedures. It also helps patients be more aware of their payment responsibility to their provider.
5. Prioritize Privacy and Security.
Online crime isn’t anything new, but the healthcare industry continues to bear the brunt of data breaches. In this second-most cyber-attacked industry, they occur through a variety of incidents, including stolen devices, hacking, human error and negligence.
As a healthcare provider, it’s crucial that your organization is committed to data security and privacy. You can start by ensuring you’re up-to-date with all the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) Act, Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) Service Organization Control (SOC), the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Train your staff on security measures regularly, and verify that any technology you utilize is HIPAA-compliant and has earned HITRUST Certification status.
Exceed Patient Expectations for an Optimal Patient Experience
The proliferation of digital health resources has enabled healthcare provider organizations of all sizes—from small medical groups to large hospitals and health systems—to better meet patients’ expectations. One prominent example is telehealth, which assists in remotely delivering healthcare services. Its use skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic and is now employed by almost half of all United States physicians to treat patients. Telehealth enables patients to access care in the comfort and privacy of their own home and avoid a lengthy waiting time in the doctor’s office before their appointment.
Other popular digital health tools utilized to improve the customer experience are those that allow patients to complete pre-appointment tasks on their smartphone or other mobile devices. In the previously-mentioned Kyruus report, more than 90 percent of respondents express being extremely or very interested in using digital self-service for pre-appointment tasks.
Used together, these digital health tools offer a reliable way for providers to offer a positive first impression, securely communicate effectively and efficiently, personalize care and give patients more accurate insight into what they owe. The result is more satisfied patients—and providers—and a more financially and operationally sustainable practice.
Find out how the HIPAA-compliant and HITRUST-certified Kyruus Health care access platform helps deliver a more consistent, tailored and delightful patient experience across all touchpoints.
