10 things to do to improve the patient experience e-book

Copyright © 2018 by Integrated Loyalty Systems
10 THINGS TO DO
To Improve the Patient Experience

1. Over-Deliver On The Promise Of Your Brand
2. Remember Children, Family Members, and Non-Patients
3. Connect People to Purpose
4. Manage (And Then Exceed!) Expectations
5. Walk The Talk
6. Practice Caring Out Loud®
7. Wear Name Tags
8. Create A Language of Service
9. Seek Warm Welcomes and Fond Farewells
10. Give Your Employees A Service Hero Toolkit
10 Things You Can Do Right Now To Improve the
Patient Experience
All rights reserved. This ebook or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the author.

What’s the secret to improving the patient experience when you
have no extra time in your day or money in your budget? Focus on
the small things. Because to the patient, the small things are the big
things. It’s in these small moments of the patient experience — those
spaces in between the clinical procedures — where your opportuni-
ty to differentiate from other hospitals and care facilities lies.
In healthcare today, improving the Patient Experience is about more
than just delivering good clinical outcomes. Exceptional patient
experiences happen when we meet patient expectations on the
clinical side and exceed patient expectations on the service side.
Focusing on delivering exceptional service is important because patients’ expectations have risen. Patients aren’t comparing
you to other providers in town; they’re comparing you to the customer service ‘wows’ they experience at restaurants, grocery
stores, banks, hair salons, vacation hotels, resorts, and theme parks. These service excellence wows translate to higher patient
satisfaction scores and they’re the engines that drive patients’ intent to return (loyalty) and their intent to refer (advocacy).
Our team has studied great organizations like Ritz Carlton Hotels, Southwest Airlines, Zappos, and Disney and one thing they
all have in common is the belief that by engaging the hearts and minds of every employee, you give every employee the
chance to shine and contribute to the success of the patient/guest/customer experience.
World-class organizations know this, which is why they work hard to elevate their rank and file employees to the status of stars.
And, it’s the number one reason why these companies are consistently at the top of their game.
Our goal is to help you bridge the gap between clinical expertise and service excellence to elevate your organization to
world-class status with these 10 Things You Can Do Right Now To Improve the Patient Experience.
Are you ready to get started? Let’s dive in.
INTRODUCTION

The service at Ritz Carlton Hotels is legendary. They’ve
seamlessly created a line of consistency across all employee
groups, from the CEO to the part time night shift
employees, where every employee knows their role in
creating exceptional service for every guest. Their motto
is: We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gen-
tlemen. And it resonates in everything their employees say
and do for guests.
From the moment guests arrive at a Ritz Carlton resort, the
first employee identifies whether this is a first-time guest
or a returning guest. Why? Because it gives employees the
opportunity to create a personal, individualized greeting for
every person. If the guest is a returning visitor, the greeting
would be, “Welcome back to the Ritz Carlton, Mr. Jones,
we’re happy to see you again.” The knowledge that Mr.
Jones is a returning guest is then seamlessly communicat-
ed from employee to employee (without the guest know-
ing!) through a simple ear-tugging, which indicates they’ve
stayed there before.
It’s so effective that every employee (from the security
guard, to the valet attendants, to the front desk reception,
to the luggage porter) is now providing a personal and
individual greeting, and yet it’s also so subtle that most
guests don’t even realize what’s happening.
Imagine that ~ honoring loyalty, in one small tug of the ear
lobe! That attention to detail, and how it makes guests feel,
Over-Deliver On The Promise Of
Your Brand1....
10 THINGS TO DO

is how Ritz-Carlton Hotels is able to consistently over-deliver on the promise of their brand.
In healthcare, every member of the care team has different job tasks. But the key to creating
exceptional patient experiences is to get everyone on the care team — from the front desk
receptionist to the medical assistant to the doctor — connected to their purpose and their
role in the patient experience. For instance, a receptionist who is connected to her purpose
and who learns that the patient’s son just graduated from college will not hesitate to write a
quick note in the patient chart. Now, the medical assistant can comment on it and share in
the celebration with the patient. And the patient feels honored and respected by this
seamless moment of authenticity and kindness, rather than just the two o’clock appointment
in exam room 5.
10 THINGS TO DO
“That attention to
detail, and how it makes
guests feel, is how
Ritz-Carlton Hotels is
able to
consistently over-deliver
on the promise of their
brand. ”

Most pediatricians’ offices have a play area for children.
But what about in primary care or office settings? Children
often accompany adults to appointments, exams, or treat-
ments. Consider this scenario: a father brings his elderly
mother to the doctor’s office for her post-surgery visit. He
also has his two young kids in tow. His stress and anxiety
grow as he worries about his mother and also tries to keep
an eye on his kids. Imagine how his anxiety and stress could
be reduced if there were a small play area to occupy the
children? Or perhaps a movie for them to watch? Or a toy
doctor’s office for them to role play? For older kids, maybe
it’s video games, teen magazines, a comfortable chair, or a
charging station for all of their electronics?
Not every facility takes care of children, but every facility can
care about children.
Wegmans is one of the largest supermarket chains in the
northeast and one of the many things that makes them
stand out from all the other supermarket chains is their
ability to think outside the box; to consider the needs of the
shopper, beyond just the shopper’s need for groceries.
For some people, shopping is a respite. For others, it’s a
necessity where they just want to get in, get what they need,
and get out. Wegmans’ leadership listened to their
shoppers who voiced an interest in having a supervised
play area for their kids that could serve as a temporary
distraction while the parents shop. And so, they created a
Remember Children, Family
Members, and Non-Patients2....
10 THINGS TO DO

dedicated “daycare” play area on site at the front of many of their larger stores. Kids are
dropped off and have the option to color, paint, read, watch movies, or play with toys in a
friendly, colorful, safe environment with trained employees while their parents shop.
It became a win-win for everyone: the parents, the store, and the kids. Parents win because
they are more at ease while they shop, knowing their child is just a few feet away in the
same building. The kids are happy in a safe, fun and playful environment. And the store
wins, because the parents are happy and are spending more time in the store; and if they’re
spending more time in the store, chances are they’re spending more money.
You don’t need a bunch of toys or a huge area dedicated to kids. Just something that will
make them feel welcome, too, such as a small table with some crayons and some coloring
pages or some blocks or hand puppets.
One tip: before transforming your doctor’s office or reception area into a play zone, do
what Wegmans did to avoid any unintended consequences: ask your patients what’s most
important to them. You may discover they prefer having toys rather than video games. Or
books rather than movies. Or soft music playing and cell phone charging stations instead of
TV. The child’s needs will be met, but adults will also appreciate this thoughtful gesture.
“Not every facility
takes care of children,
but every facility can
care about children.”
10 THINGS TO DO

I was visiting some friends and needed to replace their
spatula as I had broken it while assigned to their barbecue.
I went to their local grocery store and couldn’t find any
spatulas, so instead I picked up a bottle of wine and some
flowers. As I was checking out, the cashier said, “Hello sir,
welcome to Safeway. Did you find everything you needed?”
I replied, “Well, no, actually, I was looking for a spatula but
wasn’t able to find one…but I don’t want to bother anyone.”
She made one quick announcement on the PA and within a
matter of seconds, a young man arrived with three
spatulas for me to choose from. I chose the one I liked and
the cashier scanned it saying, “The spatula is $4.52 - is that
ok, sir?” Of course, it was, so she added it to my total.
Now, who won in this transaction? The store did, of course,
because they got an extra $4.52 they otherwise wouldn’t
have received.
Who else won? The cashier! Why? Because she’s not just
a cashier performing her job tasks - she’s part of the total
shopping experience.
I also noticed that below her name on her name tag it said,
“Stakeholder.” She has a stake in the success of this organi-
zation, which means she might get a little profit sharing
Connect People to Purpose
3....
10 THINGS TO DO
A story by Jake Poore, President and Chief Experience Officer
Integrated Loyalty Systems

10 THINGS TO DO
at the end of the year as a reward for her efforts. She has a vested interest in whether Safe-
way does well or not. That’s what I’d call a win-win-win.
There’s one more thing that really rounds out this experience.
At the end of the transaction, the cashier handed me my receipt and said, “Thank you for
choosing Safeway, Mr. Poore, hope to see you again.”
I was dumbfounded! How in the world did she know my name? I never once handed her my
credit card or told her my name. I simply swiped it quickly to make my purchase.
The cashier told me that everything they do is tied to their mission to create great customer
experiences — including their credit card machine. The technology they use at each register
prints the cardholder’s name on the receipt so the cashier can create a personal greeting
and a personal farewell with every customer.
To use a baseball analogy, this was more than just a single, double or even a triple. In my
book, this was a grand slam. All over one simple transaction!
The magic ingredient that made that cashier create an exceptional shopping experience
was that she knew her role in the shopping experience. She was connected to something
beyond just her job tasks of ringing up purchases; she had the whole picture in mind. She
was connected to her PURPOSE.
The key to delivering on the promise of your brand, whether your industry is healthcare or
grocery stores or merchandise, is to connect people to purpose and engage everyone as an
architect of the organizational culture. This is the difference between short-term compliance
(routinely performing job tasks) and long-term commitment (connecting to purpose).
“The key to delivering
on the promise of your
brand, whether your
industry is healthcare or
grocery stores or
merchandise, is to
connect people to
purpose and engage
everyone as an
architect of the
organizational culture.”

Florence Nightingale, whom many consider to be the
mother of modern day nursing once said, “Apprehension,
uncertainty, waiting, and fear of surprise do a patient more
harm than any exertion.” The good news is, it’s in our power
to alleviate much of this uncertainty, fear, and stress. How?
By managing expectations, and then exceeding
expectations.
One of the greatest challenges in healthcare isn’t that we
aren’t meeting or exceeding expectations - it’s that we
haven’t SET them in the first place.
Disney is expert at exceeding guest expectations. How do
they do it? They set the expectations first, so that they can
then exceed the expectations. Disney queue lines are the
best example of this. At the beginning of every line is a sign
indicating how long your wait will be. But that wait time
is padded by about 10 minutes or so. Why does Disney
do this? They allow a little wiggle room in the wait time so
guests will be pleasantly surprised when they arrive at the
front of the line sooner than they’d expected.
Unexpressed expectations can lead to unexpected resent-
ments. By setting clear expectations up front, we give
patients a little more peace of mind. And we avoid
unexpected resentments and consequences that come
from patients feeling like they’re in the dark. Unexpected
events happen all the time in primary care settings.
Manage (And Then Exceed!)
Expectations4....
10 THINGS TO DO

Patients don’t want to be kept waiting either. But, in many situations, if waiting is
unavoidable, they’ll want to be told how long they can expect to wait. Avoid using
phrases like “soon”, “shortly”, or “in a little while” because they’re too ambiguous and may
leave patients with unrealistic expectations. After all, how long is soon or shortly? Ten
minutes? An hour? Three hours? It’s different for everyone.
Instead, be as specific as possible – and then add a little more. Just like Disney does. If the
doctor will return in an hour, tell the patient it will be an hour and a half and then check back
in with them. If they know in advance how long the wait will be, they’re less likely to become
anxious as time passes. And imagine their pleasant surprise when you arrive after one hour?
A full thirty minutes earlier than they’d expected!
By setting clear expectations up front, we give patients a little more peace of mind. And
we avoid unexpected resentments and consequences that come from patients feeling like
they’re in the dark.
10 THINGS TO DO
“One of the greatest
challenges in
healthcare isn’t that
we aren’t meeting or
exceeding
expectations - it’s that
we haven’t SET them
in the first place.”

At Southwest Airlines, the captain of the ship sets the tone.
While it may be an inconvenience for passengers and the
crew, flight delays are a common occurrence for most
airlines. Once clearance is given to begin boarding,
passengers are often at the mercy of baggage handlers
or maintenance crews who are loading luggage or fixing
last-minute issues. But at Southwest, don’t be surprised to
see the pilot out on the tarmac helping to load luggage.
Why would the pilot do this when there are baggage han-
dlers whose specific job task is to handle luggage? One
pilot told us that he was happy to help load luggage
because at Southwest, they work as a team to have each
other’s backs. In fact, Southwest has a paragraph in their
contract that specifically addresses situations like this and
empowers the pilots and others to jump in to help out
wherever and whenever necessary.
As leaders in healthcare, we have to walk the talk and be
ready to roll up our sleeves to get the job done, when
necessary. This is more than just a nice thing to do. It can
have real business implications and, in the case of the pilot
and the airline, it can instill a spirit of solidarity and “we’re
all in this together.”
Walk The Talk
5....
10 THINGS TO DO
“As leaders in healthcare, we have to
walk the talk and be ready to roll up our
sleeves to get the job done, when
necessary. ”

If you’ve ever ordered coffee or tea at Panera Bread, you
probably don’t have to wonder if it’s freshly brewed. Why?
Because Panera has a little chalkboard sign that employees
will update whenever a fresh pot of coffee or tea is brewed.
It’s a small gesture, but it gives customers peace of mind at
11:30 am, when they don’t have to wonder if their coffee
has been sitting there since 5am.
This little gesture is a tool we call Caring Out Loud®. The
formula is pretty simple. Caring Out Loud® = Caring +
Communication + Setting Clear Expectations.
Consider this. How long do lab results typically take? About
60-90 minutes, right? Then why do we tell patients we’ll
have the results shortly? Or soon? We should eliminate
these words from our vocabulary. They do nothing more
than add frustration and anxiety to patients who are already
frustrated and anxious.
Instead, practice Caring Out Loud®, which means taking
the time to narrate the process out loud, using clear, simple
language while you’re doing it. The patient is now aware of
what will happen and on what timeline. In short, they know
what to expect. For example, you could say something like
this:
“Mrs. Roberts, I’ve sent your sample down to the lab. It
typically takes up to two hours for us to get the results back,
Practice Caring Out Loud®
6....
10 THINGS TO DO

but I will check back with you after thirty minutes to give you any update and keep you informed.
Do you have any questions?”
This sets the expectation for the patient that she may be waiting for the results for up to two
hours. And she also knows that you’ll check back with her in about a half hour to give her an
update. It sounds simple, but this process of “caring out loud” gives patients (and their families)
added reassurance during a very stressful time. We don’t always have the power to speed up the
lab process, and we’ll probably never know exactly when lab results will be ready. But what we
can do is prepare patients ahead of time by giving them as much information as possible.
10 THINGS TO DO
“This process of
“caring out loud”
gives patients (and
their families) added
reassurance during a
very stressful time.”

Employee name tags are a challenge in healthcare today. They
serve so many purposes: for security, clocking in, opening doors,
even buying food in the cafeteria. But what was their original
purpose? To connect with those you care for. Unfortunately,
because they’re also on a necklace lanyard, more than half of
name tags today are flipped over. It’s hard to connect with
someone when you can’t even read their name.
Perhaps the best example of the ideal name tags are the ones you
see on cast members at the Walt Disney Company. Every one of
their 100,000+ cast members worldwide has an oval-shaped name
tag. Each name tag displays his or her first name and place of birth
(city, state, country), and it serves multiple purposes from
communicating to branding to bridge-building.
First, the employee’s name is printed in a clear, large, clean
font - nothing fancy to distract or confuse.
Next, the company logo is a Mickey Mouse, which always makes
people smile.
And last, the name tag serves as a connector or bridge-builder.
Guests that visit Disney come from all around the world. Imagine
how easily a connection can be made when you see a cast
member from your hometown or a place you’ve always wanted to
visit? It’s a great conversation starter.
Also, the Disney name tag is always worn on the employee’s left
side, over the heart, as a symbolic reminder to show care and
compassion to each guest.
Wear Name Tags
7....
10 THINGS TO DO
“It’s hard to connect with someone when
you can’t even read their name.”

What do you call your employees? Staff? Of course it’s
spelled differently, but isn’t staff/staph an infection?
Employees at places like Dignity Health and Rehab Institute
of Michigan are called “Care Team Members.” Doesn’t that
more accurately represent what these employees do in the
caring and healing of patients?
Ritz Carlton Hotels and Disney call their customers guests.
In fact, Ritz Carlton employees aren’t called employees.
They’re referred to as “Ladies and gentlemen serving
ladies and gentlemen.” Powerful. This nuance in language
is a reminder for employees to treat their resort and theme
park guests like they would treat a guest in their own home.
That’s a formula for magic because that’s a culture with
intention.
Every provider’s office and healthcare organization has
patients; but nowadays, patients have more choice than
ever before. Barring an emergency situation, patients can
choose where they receive their care. But even after an
emergency, patients have a choice in whether they come
back to that care facility or not.
If you want to change your culture, you must first change
your stories. If you want to change your stories, you must
first change your language.
Create A Language of Service
8....
10 THINGS TO DO
“If you want to change your culture, you
must first change your stories. If you want
to change your stories, you must first
change your language. ”

Most quick service drive-thru restaurants put efficiency at
the top of their list, often at the expense of courtesy.
Customers often hear, through a crackling receiver, “How
may I help you?” Or, “Can I take your order?”
But at Chick-Fil-A, customers are greeted warmly the
moment their car pulls up to the drive-thru. This is not just
something they do occasionally; this is something they do
every time at every Chick-Fil-A. Why? Because kindness and
courtesy has been hardwired and operationalized as an
“Always Play”, or something that they do always.
Chick Fil-A is also great at fond farewells. Your time at the
drive-thru window is short, but it can put a smile on your
face. You’ll never hear the words, “No problem.” Instead,
you’ll hear, “It’s my pleasure.”
The words ’No Problem’ almost insinuate that it’s a hassle to
take and process your order. It can be perceived as being
insincere. But the words ‘My Pleasure’ communicate a spirit
of joy and happiness at fulfilling your order. Subtle differ-
ence, but a big difference in meaning to the customer.
Creating a warm welcome is as simple as ensuring your
signage is clear when people drive into your facility, and
offering personal, friendly greetings for your “first patient
touchpoint” (with valet parkers, security, volunteers, and
front desk receptionists). This makes a world of
Seek Warm Welcomes and Fond
Farewells9....
10 THINGS TO DO

difference. And don’t forget about the team that answers your telephones. Teach them how to
put a smile in their voice for every patient, customer, and employee phone call.
Jim Collins’ book “Good to Great” says that in business, good is the enemy of great. In
healthcare, sometimes is the enemy of always. The challenge is to move from mediocre service
to exceptional service. Choosing authentic and sincere favorable phrases to create warm
welcomes and fond farewells isn’t just something you and your team should do sometimes.
Challenge your team to move from mediocre to exceptional, and then capture it and share it
with everyone…. so it can be operationalized in a way that everyone on the care team knows
this is how we do things around here, always.
10 THINGS TO DO
Integrated Loyalty Systems, Inc. © 2018
“Challenge your team
to move from
mediocre to
exceptional, and then
capture it and share it
with everyone…. so it
can be operationalized
in a way that
everyone on the care
team knows this is how
we do things around
here, always.”

One of the things that sets Southwest Airlines’ flight
attendants apart from flight attendants on other airlines is
they have a service hero toolkit, and they know how to use
it. Whether it’s breaking into song over the PA, telling clean
jokes to get customers to smile, or playing games when
the flight is running a little behind, Southwest’s flight
attendants are highly skilled at taking their customers’
emotional altitude and responding in a way that shows
compassion and friendliness.
On Southwest Airlines, flight attendants do more than just
their job tasks; they know that their role is to take the
“emotional altitude temperature” of their customers and
help whenever and wherever they can. Nervous flyer with a
migraine? We have some aspirin and a sleep mask so you
can rest. Six year old’s ears popping due to cabin pressure?
Have a piece of bubble gum. Sad young boy headed to a
new life in a new city? Let’s share some smiles and have a
little bit of fun on the flight. First-time flyer? You’ve earned
your wings!
In healthcare, there are many ways to arm your employees
to be service heroes. A smiley face made with a sharpie
marker on a bandage can help make a young patient smile
after his shot. A warm hand towel may be just the trick to
refresh an elderly woman’s face and hands. A drawer full
of greeting cards pre-signed by the staff can be a personal
way to express encouragement, gratitude, sympathy, or
well wishes on-the-spot to patients and their families.
Give Your Employees A Service
Hero Toolkit10....
10 THINGS TO DO

What’s amazing about Southwest’s service hero toolkit is that it wasn’t a top-down initiative
from Southwest’s corporate offices. It came from their front-line team who work with customers
face to face every day. They gathered all of their suggestions and great ideas and silly spiels
and created a toolkit for every flight attendant. And by doing so, they set up every one of their
flight attendants to be service heroes.
No wonder the stock symbol for this airline is LUV.
10 THINGS TO DO
Integrated Loyalty Systems, Inc. © 2018
“In healthcare, there
are many ways to arm
your employees to be
service heroes. ”

Customized Workshops
• Patientology: Understanding and communicating
with your patients
• Becoming the Employer of Choice: Creating highly
engaged care team members
• The Ladder of Leadership: Turning good frontline
employees into great frontline managers
Follow us at Integrated Loyalty Systems on Facebook l WeCreateLoyalty on Twitter and Instagram
Keynote Speeches
• The Leader’s Role In Building and Sustaining
Exceptional Patient Experiences
• Unlocking Employee Loyalty to Drive Success
• Proven Blueprints for Building World-Class Patient
Experiences
Have you ever been in an organization that was doing one of those “programs of the month?” You knew after a while the novelty and
enthusiasm would wear off and things would go back to normal. At Integrated Loyalty Systems (ILS), we take a different approach.
We partner with you to design a unique organizational culture. Our team will help you implement systems to improve service
excellence and create loyalty amongst your physicians, patients, and employees.
Learn about all the Service Offerings by ILS
Visit us at WeCreateLoyalty.com
Cultural Assessment Job Shadowing Pride Audit Board Retreats
Leadership Coaching Medical Mystery Shopping New Employee Orientation Redesign
IMPROVING CUSTOMER LOYALTY JUST GOT EASIER

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