This week is National Patient Experience Week. At Cooper, we recognize the importance of creating a positive experience for all – patients, nurses, doctors, and team members across the health system. Therefore, this week we are proud to celebrate our patients and our Cooper team members who work so diligently to provide the safe, high quality care that our patients have come to expect. Together, we create the Cooper Experience.
In a recent study by Kaufmann Hall, 87% of health care leaders said that consumerism is very vital to their future success, and more than 89% of organizations report that they are only “fairly” or “not” able to develop and deliver on their consumer priorities. How are we addressing this at Cooper? First, we have to see our patients as consumers of health care. We have to ask what great service, a great experience, and great care look like to them. Our patients expect high quality care and outcomes, and they are telling us that the additional steps we need to take to right now are:
- Offer me greater convenience and access.
- Make my care options more affordable.
- Provide me with excellent service and quality care.
- Equip me with information and keep me informed.
- Create a personalized care experience for me.
- Empower me to self-manage my health.
Gone are the days of relying on or leveraging all of our resources on one composite that most influences overall ratings. Therefore, as you think of the consumer of the future, consider what you and your teams are doing to exceed this expectation.
Below are four areas in which we can adapt to be more consumer-centric in the future:
- Engaged and activated consumers – When patients are involved in their own care, and when we anticipate their needs, their outcomes are improved.
- Proactive and personalized – Ask your patients what’s most important to them, and customize the experience to your patient.
- Predictive and automated – Patients don’t necessarily want to talk to each human in the chain of processes, but they do want to talk with the care team. It’s important to humanize the experience.
- Integrated and seamless – To make care experiences easy for our patients, team members should talk to each other and coordinate across the continuum. Be efficient to reduce anxiety and additional stress for the patient.
As always, these efforts are central to our mission “To serve, to heal, to educate.” And isn’t that what the Cooper Experience is all about?