Healthcare Design - November 2017 - 59

P R E V I E W

perspective on the healthcare industry.
What forces do you see at play-that
perhaps aren't as obvious to others-
that are contributing to this disruptive
future?

environments are those that reduce or

irrelevant. We need to leverage patient

eliminate consumer friction; they focus on

experience best practices as part of the

a multisensory experience and leverage

design process to drive speed, efficiency,

fast-track and throughput methodologies

safety, and-perhaps most importantly-

to drive significant reductions in wait time.

exceptional human experiences.

Unfortunately, most healthcare leaders

This is important, as recent studies suggest

believe that change is linear. As a result, they

that patients will always rank a wait time

are making incremental changes to the way

over 15 minutes as bad, despite the clinical

in which they manage their organizations.

efficacy delivered.

The problem is very few leaders understand

Is there another industry you've
studied that is closely aligned with
where healthcare is right now
(bracing for new economic models,
required to improve experience,
etc.), and what lessons might
healthcare learn from it?

they're used to across most retail channels.

Healthcare is a traditionally riskaverse industry, which often
means no one wants to be the first
to adopt a new and innovative
strategy-something the designers
in our audience hear frequently from
clients. What advice would you give
organizations unwilling to take risks?

What most of them don't understand is that

In a time of disruption, ironically, the biggest

was destroyed by Amazon, as custom-

they need to learn the way of the hacker or,

risk is not taking risk. Kodak invented the

ers preferred a digital experience. That

frankly, they will be hacked.

first digital camera, yet they didn't want to

is incorrect; in fact, Amazon recently

take the risk of deploying it and suffered

opened Amazon bookstores across

Why has patient experience become
such a critical element for healthcare
organizations to get right?

from that. Blockbuster was destroyed by

the country, and they're phenomenally

disruptive innovators; the entire taxicab

successful. How is it that Amazon is

industry is being destroyed by Uber. This

successful with brick-and-mortar retail

Patient experience design is the key to com-

destruction was not the result of a new,

when they're responsible for destroying

mercial success in healthcare. Unfortunately,

bright, shiny object; rather, it was the

major bookstores? The answer is simple:

however, most organizations are taking

creation of exceptional human experiences

They leveraged what they learned about

superficial swipes at patient experience. Cor-

that delivered meaningful value across a

customer experience design and applied

respondingly, the overwhelming majority of

range of customer personas, throughout a

it to their retail experience.

these initiatives fail. This area is so important

well-defined customer journey in both digital

that we are building out a Patient Experience

and nondigital channels. The risk aversion

6,000 titles, compared to traditional

Design Lab at Western University of Health

healthcare has is and will continue to be the

bookstores that may have more than

Sciences (Pomona, Calif.) and creating a

biggest cause of organizational failure.

30,000 titles. By reducing the book

that healthcare is being "hacked." Disruptive innovators are completely displacing
many traditional clinical models that are
being delivered through connected devices.
Additionally, hackers are also creating better
consumer-centric clinical models that square
up with the kind of consumer experiences

certification program around patient experi-

In 2017, more than 6,000 retail stores
closed. That number is projected to jump
to 8,000 stores in 2018. Did Amazon
destroy retail? No. Retail destroyed retail.
Many believe that Borders bookstore

The Amazon stores carry only about

counts, they could eliminate the stress of
the "paradox of choice" that consumers

solution around patient experience, as it has

What new piece of knowledge or new
way of looking at their work do you
hope HCD Expo attendees will glean
from your presentation?

a massive impact on sustainable growth and

Patients are now in consumerization hyper-

book reviews and star ratings to placards

revenue.

drive. This mandates creating exceptional

underneath each book. Further, they

experiences across the entire physical

selected the best books in the world and

What are some weaknesses you've
noticed in the physical healthcare
environment that you think must be
improved upon going forward?

journey. Banking used to mean going to

faced each book out to make it easy to

a physical location; today it's something

find the perfect book confirmed by the

we do with our thumb on a smart phone.

community of book readers.

Most clinical environments are focused on

we need to blend those experiences with

will not destroy healthcare; bad patient

sickness and deliver stressful and (in many

relevant digital journeys. Physical spaces

experience will destroy healthcare. Create

cases) anxiety-producing experiences

are not going away; however, traditional

beautiful customer moments, and you will

for patients. We find that good physical

mediocre experiences are quickly becoming

still win at hospitals and clinics.

ence design. In my consulting practice, we
are working with some of the best clinics in
the country to help them build out a holistic

To make physical experiences relevant,

faced in larger settings. Additionally,
Amazon leverages the power of the
influential rating community by affixing

The moral of the story is that digital

NOVEMBER 2017

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Healthcare Design - November 2017

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