A positive experience is crucial to any businesses success and Healthcare is no exception. Delivering the best possible patient care should follow the same CX principles. Having led teams in this sector, there are several areas that are often missed when looking to improve a patient’s experience.
Understand your target audience: It is important to understand the experience of any patient going through treatment so you can offer the best care possible, however it is often overlooked that there are other ‘customer’ groups that you should consider. Do not underestimate the role of next of kin (children/grandchildren specifically) as decision makers, brand influencers and funders. As much focus should be put on gaining insight into their experience as the patient themselves.
- Mapping journeys from your patients and others (see note above!) perspective is key if you are to identify opportunities for growth and efficiency. Inside out is fine to start but bolster with as much external insight as you have it to give a more rounded perspective.
- Empathy mapping: Too often, I see the experience someone receives in Hospitals is driven by the technology, systems or processes and totally misses the mark in how that individual feel throughout their interaction with their provider. A quick way to do this is to use empathy maps to get into the ‘see, feel, do, say’. This then allows you to stand back and see what gaps there are so you can adapt your proposition to help.
- Pay attention to every part of the journey not just when a patient comes in for treatment. This is especially true at the start when patients and their families are trying to navigate how and where to go to get the care they need and this part can feel complex and overwhelming. The move into self-pay in particular is one that is not well understood. Delve into the detail of the triggers, the mindset and barriers so you can uncover the opportunities to improve this part of the experience.
So think what you could do today, All it takes to start is a couple of hours, some sticky notes, a wall and an engaged team working collaboratively. Think of your own target audiences, choose one and map their journey.
If you’re not sure where to start, I’d be more than happy to have a quick chat and share my own insight, experience, and learnings in this sector.