The new year is quickly approaching, and with that comes the opportunity to launch new initiatives and approach each effort with a fresh perspective. Unfortunately, the weight of the pandemic and its mutating variants will continue to disrupt the ‘old way’ of doing things while patients have spent the past two years adopting the new ways of doing business with us when they need care. So how can health care step up and demonstrate a willingness to adapt and evolve?
It’s time to do more than pay lip service to patient experience.
Some of the biggest opportunities knocking are any investments in patient engaging tactics and processes that lead with compassion and patient experience [PX] as the business case for change.
People were reluctantly understanding of the pandemic disruption in 2020, and they’ve been suspiciously conflicted by the ongoing inconveniences in 2021. So what can you be doing differently in 2022 to make sure everything, and every process, is delivering care that exceeds expectations within the confines of CDC guidelines and organizational mandates? Have you identified key areas for improvement and the initiatives that will support them?
Challenges can become opportunities and differentiators if there’s a commitment to the process that includes an emphasis on PX. Because people are willing to play along as long as their needs are met. And whether we’re still asking patients to wear a mask while in the clinic, or check in via SMS and wait in their car until their appointment, or virtually visit and communicate with their loved ones in the hospital… we also need to be better at making sure each patient (and customer, family member, et al.) comes away feeling that they received a personalized level of care.
How would you describe your ideal patient experience?
Change doesn’t happen overnight, but it has to start somewhere. And if you are not currently delivering the ideal patient experience, having a vision of what that looks like is a good fist step.
The majority of health care leaders and executives surveyed acknowledge that improving CX/PX is a top-five business priority, but every organization has different strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to have an objective, metric driven focus on how you will emphasize PX as a desired outcome of any strategic initiative… and how to set goals and measure success.
The HealthX Group can help you define your CX/PX baseline, provide the metrics, and help you set achievable goals your stakeholders and staff can buy in to on the journey to your ideal state. Together, we can put PX at the center of change and make it a happy new year for everyone.