5 Principles to Improve the Patient Experience

Health care providers are now trying to leverage the ever-expanding array of digital technologies to enhance the patient experience. But in doing so, they must remember that patients are consumers — a reality that providers have often ignored in the past. But as they digitize processes, provider should keep in mind that while tech advances are creating opportunities to deliver exceptional consumer experiences, creating such experience involves more than applying technology.

A focus on improving the consumer experience and leveraging digital technologies as a foundation for enhancing that experience has been a modest priority for health systems. Recently, however, this focus has become an urgent strategic imperative. Providers note that consumers’ expectations of health care services are rising. They are watching with concern as new entrants, with well-developed digital capabilities — retailers, technology startups, companies based on new models of care, and pharmacies — step up to serve the increasingly demanding consumer. A recent Deloitte-Scottsdale Institute survey of health systems’ digital transformation initiatives found that 92% of health systems cited consumer satisfaction and engagement as a top goal of their investments.