Hospitable Healthcare

"We thought we knew what patients needed..."- Dr. James Merlino, Cleveland Clinic Most consumers agree their service experiences with hospitals, clinics, and physicians fall well short of their service experiences with hotels, resorts, and restaurants. So, what would their experiences be like if healthcare providers served them the same way hospitality providers do? Given that both industries share many common service touchpoints, one wonders whether healthcare service providers could adopt principles of hospitality to enhance the patient experience. The insights shared in this book reveal the answer: yes! Rich with original survey data, examples, and interviews with widely admired hospitality and healthcare service practitioners, Hospitable Healthcare is a valuable resource guaranteed to enhance the patient experience. The first of its kind, Hospitable Healthcare introduces healthcare providers to an original service model based on principles the hospitality industry has used to create great guest experiences: PAEER (for Prepare, Anticipate, Engage, Evaluate, Reward). The model addresses four trends impacting healthcare: more patient-directed selection of healthcare service providers; greater transparency in the pricing of healthcare services to promote competition; more direct-to-consumer marketing to attract new patients; and the growing importance of patient satisfaction when payors determine reimbursement. As Shoemaker's and Yesawich's work reveals, Hospitable Healthcare is indeed just what the patient ordered! "The experience patients have when receiving healthcare, not just the clinical outcome, is an important determinant of their assessment of the quality of care they receive. People ask three things of their healthcare providers, in addition to a good clinical outcome: 1) 'Listen to me,' 2) 'Communicate clearly in a manner I can understand,' and 3) 'Treat me with dignity and respect.'" - Dr. Jason Wolf, The Beryl Institute