One Patient to the Health System, One Health System to the Patient – Experience Matters

Health systems, and hospitals, for that matter, have an experience problem. The problem, while complicated, can be summed up as the inability to present an experience to the patient that is consistent across the entire health system.

Connection image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Hence one patient to the health system, one health system to the patient.

Here is an example from an actual patient. A patient is seen at one hospital of a multihospital system for several years - inpatient, outpatient, and rehab.  That person is medically complex with multiple comorbidities.  With numerous chronic conditions, no matter how well it’s managed, an acute episode will require a short-term hospitalization. An ambulance is called, and due to the disease, the patient needs to be transported to the closest system hospital, not the one where they regularly receive care.

Hospital image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay

This is where the fun begins for the family.

Immediately new specialists unfamiliar with the patient are called in, the workup begins, while the patient’s family is spending inordinate amounts of time trying to get everyone at one system hospital to connect with the patient’s primary care and specialists at the other system hospital, well as medical records at the other system hospital. The whole purpose of the effort on the part of the family was for continuity of care and not recreating the medical wheel.

Eventually, everyone connects for the patient’s benefit after much cajoling from the family. The outcome is, instead of calling an ambulance for an acute episode, the family drives the patient to the system hospital to avoid the continuity of care issues because the two systems hospitals can’t share data or even bother to talk to one another. The family caregivers, so you know, have multiple years of experience working administratively in hospitals too, which makes it even more frustrating.

Not one patient to the hospital system, one hospital system to the patient.

In another exercise, an individual is diagnosed by their primary care physician with potential vascular insufficiency and needs to find a vascular surgeon for evaluations. The individual finds what he needs at one of the system hospitals but not the one he uses regularly. He makes an appointment and finds it to be an outstanding experience with the system-employed physician medical group from the time spent in the hospital to the clinic and out the door. The patient is back for tests a couple of weeks later, and the patient experience repeats.  Then back to meet with the vascular surgeon again, and the experience is still as good as the first time.

Meanwhile…..

Now the patient goes back to the hospital he’s been using for over 20 years. He walks in the door, and the receptionist is eating a bag of Doritos, helping their co-worker find some information, and generally providing the feeling that you are disturbing them. The experience gets a little better when you get to the floor, but not by much. The patient scratches his head and wonders why the experience is so utterly different from one system hospital to the next.

Not one patient to the hospital system, one hospital system to the patient.

It would be nice to say that these experiences were an aberration. Unfortunately, you and I know that these types of patient experiences occur every day in health systems across the country.

System connection image by Peter Linforth from Pixabay

I didn’t write about these experiences to shame any hospital system but that the patient experience matters. The experience matters across the entire system and needs to be delivered day-in and day-out consistently. While systems are busy marketing “we care about you” and all our convenient locations, the patient experience doesn’t match the brand claims.

In the age of digital healthcare and the many options available for patients to seek care and receive treatment outside of the hospital system, patient experience can’t continue to be given lip service.

Suppose you’re trying to understand the “why” this is happening and can’t reach any conclusions why the patient experience is so different across system hospitals. In that case, I have an idea for you.

Write WHY in big letters at the top of a full-body mirror, then stand in front of it. You have the power to make the patient experience consistent across the hospital system; make it so.

One patient to the hospital system, one hospital system to the patient.

Michael is a healthcare business, marketing, communications strategist, and thought leader. As an internationally followed healthcare strategy blogger, his blog, Healthcare Business & Marketing Matters, is read in 52 countries and ranked No. 3 on 100 Top Healthcare Marketing Blogs & Websites to follow by Feedspot.com. Michael is a Life Fellow American College of Healthcare Executives.  For inquiries regarding strategic consulting engagements, you can email me at michael@themichaeljgroup.com. 

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The opinions expressed are my own.