Five hours. That’s how long my girlfriend and I recently sat in an emergency room, watching the clock tick by while battling both a nasty case of norovirus and a classic case of poor patient experience. As someone who lives and breathes customer experience, I couldn’t help but see this healthcare nightmare through a CX lens – and spot numerous opportunities for improvement.
Let me paint the picture: It’s New Year’s Day 2025, and after two days of severe symptoms, we head to the ER since regular medical offices are closed. The initial experience is promising – prompt triage, IV fluids, anti-nausea meds, and a blood draw. But then… radio silence. For five hours. When we finally gave up and left, they had to be reminded to remove the IV that had been forgotten in her arm. We never saw a doctor or got test results.
Sound familiar? Unfortunately, this scenario plays out in emergency departments across the country every day. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s explore how healthcare providers can transform their patient experience (PX) from frustrating to fantastic.
Cleveland Clinic Sets The Bar for Enhancing the Patient Experience
Cleveland Clinic is credited with being the first major medical center in the U.S. to fully prioritize patient experience into its culture. Through its Office of Patient Experience, the clinic created Communicate with H.E.A.R.T.® – a system that “standardizes how healthcare workers communicate using consistent, sustainable, and evidence-based training,” according to its website. “It empowers everyone who touches a patient’s life – providers, nurses, clinicians, administrators, EVS, dietary, etc. – to provide outstanding service.”
The system has two parts:
S.T.A.R.T. with Heart®, which offers simple ways to connect with patients during regular interactions:
- Smile and greet warmly
- Tell your name, role, and expectations
- Active listening and assist
- Rapport and relationship building
- Thank the person
Respond with H.E.A.R.T.®, which outlines how employees can address concerns at the point of service with a sense of compassion.
- Hear
- Empathize
- Apologize
- Respond
- Thank
According to the clinic’s website, “After taking Communicate with H.E.A.R.T. ®, Cleveland Clinic Caregivers reported feeling more confident in their communication skills, in their ability to convey empathy, and in their ability to respond to patients’ concerns with empathy.”
Here are some other ways that healthcare providers can positively impact the patient experience:
Create Transparency Through Technology
Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston shows how technology can transform the ER experience. Their digital system allows patients to see current wait times, pre-register, and receive updates about their place in line through a mobile app. Think about it: Would our five-hour wait have felt different if we’d received push notifications about status changes and expected wait times? Absolutely.
Start small by implementing a simple text messaging system that allows patients to leave the waiting room and return closer to their expected treatment time – because sometimes the best waiting room isn’t a waiting room at all.
And work to eliminate jargon and acronyms from your communications because patients likely don’t understand them.
Train for Empathy, Not Just Medical Expertise
Mayo Clinic’s patient experience programs include immersive training where staff members experience healthcare from the patient’s perspective. These simulation exercises, complete with hospital gowns and waiting periods, help staff develop deeper empathy for the patient journey.
I have long advocated that leaders “become a customer of their own company” (video) as it’s the only way to truly see the experience from the customer’s perspective.
Consider implementing “empathy rounds” where staff regularly check in with waiting patients to ask specific questions about their comfort, pain levels, and whether their condition has changed – because symptoms don’t wait patiently just because we’re waiting.
Create Patient Journey Maps
Virginia Mason Medical Center partnered with Boeing to apply lean management principles to healthcare delivery – proving that sometimes the best solutions come from outside your industry. By mapping the patient journey using industrial engineering principles, they’ve created more efficient processes that benefit both patients and staff.
Start by creating a patient journey map for your facility, identifying every touchpoint where communication could break down, and establish clear protocols for keeping patients informed at each stage.
Implement Regular Communication Touchpoints
UCLA Health System exemplifies how regular updates can transform the waiting experience. When staff members check in with waiting patients regularly, even just to acknowledge they haven’t been forgotten, it changes everything about the experience. Remember: no news is definitely not good news when you’re sick and waiting.
Try implementing a “30-minute policy” – check on patients every 30 minutes and provide an updated wait time estimate, even if it hasn’t changed. A simple “How are you feeling compared to when you arrived?” can make all the difference.
Design Spaces for Comfort, Not Just Function
Michigan Medicine’s emergency department renovation demonstrates how thoughtful design can improve patient experience. Their focus on creating comfortable waiting environments with private spaces and charging stations shows how physical space impacts patient satisfaction. After all, if you’re going to wait, you might as well wait comfortably.
Transform your waiting area by providing free WiFi with clear signage, creating a dedicated kids’ zone with quiet activities, partnering with local restaurants to offer easy mobile ordering for food delivery, and designating quiet areas with recliners where patients can rest. Better yet, create an indoor or outdoor walking area for family members who need to stretch their legs during long waits. As my grandmother used to say, everyone needs to “air their brains out” occasionally.
Pro Tip: Looking for a quick win? Start with your waiting room’s digital experience. Free WiFi, clearly posted passwords, and plenty of charging stations can transform a frustrating wait into productive time – and it costs less than you might think.
Create Accountability Through Metrics
Partners HealthCare implemented a system-wide patient experience dashboard that tracks wait times, communication scores, and patient feedback in real-time. Department leaders receive daily reports and are held accountable for improvements. Because what gets measured gets managed.
Consider your key goals and assign appropriate and trackable metrics to them. Be sure to connect indicator metrics – like satisfaction scores – to financial metrics that impact the facility’s bottom line.
The Impact of Getting Patient Experience Right
When hospitals prioritize patient experience, the results speak for themselves. Healthcare providers consistently report reduced patient complaints, decreased anxiety levels, and improved patient satisfaction scores. Better patient experience leads to increased referrals, stronger patient loyalty, and improved health outcomes. Perhaps most importantly, it creates an environment where both patients and healthcare workers feel valued and respected.
Conclusion
My girlfriend recovered from her norovirus (no thanks to that ER visit), but the experience left a lasting impression about how healthcare providers often miss the mark on customer experience. The annoyances continued afterward when the hospital refused to release her test results to her regular doctor, or to provide a letter of diagnosis to the travel provide from whom we requested a refund.
The good news? The solutions are clear and proven. It’s time for healthcare providers to take a page from the CX playbook and transform their patient experience from a pain point to a differentiator.
Remember: In healthcare, every moment matters. And while we can’t always control wait times, we can absolutely control how we communicate, show empathy, and create an environment that puts patients first. Because at the end of the day, healthcare isn’t just about treating symptoms – it’s about treating people.
