Consumer-Centricity and How Health Systems Stack Up
The pursuit of consumer-centricity as a means to improve patient loyalty and bolster margins is a strategic imperative for Chief Strategy Officers. In an unprecedented evaluation of the user experience, a parameter directly shaping a health system’s “consumer-centricity,” researchers from The Health Management Academy’s Strategy Catalyst team secret-shopped the self-scheduling functions of 42 prominent health systems evaluating timeliness of appointment, ease of transaction, consumer preferences and the pre-care pathway. This investigation equipped strategy leaders with proven insights that will lead to an improved consumer journey, increased patient loyalty, and ultimately, greater market share.
Overall, 24 metrics relevant to the consumer experience were measured. Custom reports detailing an assessment of system strengths, opportunities for improvement, and overall performance were delivered to strategy leaders, with Catalyst researchers on hand to provide further context and guidance.
The final scorecard presented strategy leaders with a complete set of takeaways relevant to their system, including noteworthy features and current limitations—the latter section listing noticeable shortcomings in the system’s self-scheduling experience.
The three highest scoring of the group were granted the Health Management Academy’s coveted “Consumer-Centricity” Award for Best Self-Scheduling: Atlantic Health, Sharp Healthcare, and UnityPoint Health received the honors.
Key Insights for Chief Strategy Officers to Boost Consumer-Centric Strategy
Key insights from this research can help health system strategy leaders unlock the potential for a robust consumer-centric strategy by prioritizing improvements to the self-scheduling process first.
Suggested improvements include:
- Identify and remove all digital dead ends that prevent a consumer from completing an action.
- Correct incongruencies, such as allowing consumers to book appointments online but requiring a call to cancel.
- Place a self-scheduling button prominently on the health system homepage with a clear call-to-action simply stated, such as “Make an Appointment”.
- Expand PCP availability for new patients.
- Publish provider availability beneath each provider profile on the search results page and ensure availability is visible early in the self-scheduling process.
- Add near-term appointment availability as a filter in the provider search page.
- Limit the number of clicks required to self-schedule.
- Include filters that allow consumers to narrow down results easily, such as virtual appointments, type of provider, and race of provider.
- Make subscribing to SMS and email notices single-click options and let consumers choose how to receive health system communications.
- Reduce no-show rates by allowing consumers to adjust appointments online within 24 hours of the start time.
As health systems better understand patients as consumers, self-scheduling is a critical entry point to a health system’s digital front door. Chief Strategy Officers can improve the consumer journey and increase patient loyalty (e.g., by removing care barriers and simplifying access) by adopting consumer-centric self-service solutions. First, consider consumer behavior for insight into what drives consumer choice. Then, adopt data-driven practices that can center the consumer experience in day-to-day strategic decision-making—especially in possible investment areas, such as digital capabilities.
Interested in learning more about your organization’s self-scheduling performance? Contact Robin Brand, Executive Director, Strategy Catalyst at rbrand@hmacademy.com