I was recently listening to someone speak from a well-known Health System. This Health System has an excellent reputation for patient satisfaction and has the scores to match. He began his talk by stating, “I was hired as an outsider. I basically knew nothing about healthcare.”
As he proceeded to run down his resume, it became abundantly clear. Not only did he have zero experience in health care, but, moreover, his background was customer service based and focused on ways to take it to the next level in terms of communication, experience, delivery and innovation.
This is in striking contrast to how most do it. Usually when I meet a key person at a health system, outpatient facility, or doctor’s office, they can tout their long and exclusive career in healthcare – and there’s nothing wrong with that.
When I see a job posting in the medical field it usually accompanied by a list of healthcare related educational and professional requirements – once again nothing wrong with this. But you have to admit, it would be refreshing to meet someone with enthusiasm who was hired from the outside and knew nothing of the traditional self-limitations our industry puts on patient care. Can you imagine a job posting which read “Patient Experience Officer – No healthcare experience preferred.”?
Communication within society gets faster and faster, but we still rely on antiquated ways to communicate with patients and their families. Companies like Disney, Starbucks and others constantly are looking to one up the customer experience, however many organizations have not changed their approach in years.
The technological advances in medicine are astounding, but much of the delivery of that care is mired in the past. Innovation is everywhere, but then again how quick are we to embrace it? At the end of the day there is nothing wrong with fresh ideas and perspective. Looking to have a big impact in improved patient care? Look to those who know less, not more, about how you have always approached it.
