Be Our Guest: The Importance of a Stellar Patient Experience

The last time you went on vacation, you probably enjoyed five-star treatment from the staff at the hotels and restaurants you visited. But while customer service is paramount when it comes to dining and accommodations, most health care systems don’t think to treat their patients like valued guests.

Kim Mott, marketing and customer service manager for Florida Orthopaedic Institute

The danger is that if you’re not following the hospitality industry’s example, you may be leaving patients feeling disappointed in their overall experiences. This can be costly — especially if your dissatisfied patients then go online and give your physicians or service lines bad ratings, according to Kim Mott, marketing and customer service manager for Florida Orthopaedic Institute.

With most patients today shopping for health care online and comparing physicians and organizations, it’s more important than ever to make sure physicians and health care administrators listen to what people are requesting, and respond accordingly, Mott stresses.

Mott points out that that the institute’s journey in this area began a few years ago, when its leadership recognized that while the organization already had a stellar reputation for providing world-class care, its patient reviews were not living up to its high quality of care.

Part of the problem was that the organization had grown a great deal in recent years, expanding from just a dozen orthopaedists working in one office and one hospital to now including more than 40 physicians, 25 mid-level providers, 15 fellows, and more than 600 professional staff members working in 10 offices, two surgery centers, two orthopaedic urgent cares, and 19 regional hospitals.

Another problem was that the expanded organization was focusing on physicians and their needs instead of putting patients first. “I ask our physicians to think about staying at the Marriott or Ritz Carlton. How can we compare our interactions to that?” she asks. 

Read more: Five-Star Service: Treat Your Patients Like Valued Guests, or Else

Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President