Whenever this question comes up, I recognize that healthcare has had a long history of surviving without paying much attention to the customer. In the context of a medical practice, that customer is the patient. In writing Beyond Bedside Manner was to help doctors recognize that their patient is also their customer. Both things are true at the same time.
To answer this question, we need only to look at what’s been taking place outside of healthcare in that larger arena defined as customer experience. My colleague John DiJulius recently wrote an excellent blog that asked this same question: Is investing in customer experience worth it?
DiJulius referenced multiple studies showing how the stock prices of companies with the highest customer satisfaction ratings vastly outperform the S&P 500 market index.
As the chart below from ACSI shows, customer-centric companies delivered nearly 4x the return over 18 years.
The ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) has measured American companies across nearly every industry for decades. It’s the gold standard for understanding the connection between customer satisfaction and financial performance. Their work has been corroborated by other research firms as well as the author of “The Ultimate Question” (in business, this refers to a customer’s willingness to recommend a company’s product or service to others).
The conclusions are consistent: companies that focus on delighting their customers do better. As DiJulius states, these companies do well in any economy: “Make no mistake about it: There is a direct correlation between love, loyalty, and profitability.”
He’s right. Years ago, our first project involved working with a select group of eye surgeons who believed that a better patient experience would translate to a better medical practice. They brought a PX mindset to their physical environments, employee development efforts, and even their websites. A shining example is Vance Thompson Vision, which is well known in ophthalmology and beyond for its obsession with taking exceptional care of its customers as well as its team members across six states.
Now you can build a better patient experience in your practice!
Introducing PX Ninety
PX Ninety is an online program that gives you a playbook to transform your practice into one that becomes known for great experience in addition to great clinical care.
We will go through an introductory live session together and show how powerful this program can be for your practice and your patients.
Join us on Thursday, October 10th at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT
Click the button below and register on Zoom. You will be sent a confirmation email with link and reminders.