A friend’s husband recently had an outpatient surgical procedure at his local community hospital. As they were preparing to go home, one of the staff at the front desk handed my friend a red rose and told her to have a good day.
At first glance, this seems great — something that goes above and beyond what is expected to brighten the day of a patient and his family. And if their overall experience had been wonderful, it would have been.
The problem? It wasn’t a good patient care experience. There ended up being several care coordination blunders — one of which landed the patient back in the emergency room later that evening.
Just like a rose given on a bad first date, that thoughtful rose is now meaningless and in a way, only frustrated my friend more as it appeared priorities were in the wrong place.
Healthcare organizations are increasingly looking for extra special touches that will enhance patient satisfaction, and I certainly encourage this and have even talked about it many times before in this blog. However, you first need to ensure your core patient experience — from beginning to end — is seamless and successful.
Thoughtful tokens like a rose should be icing on an already delicious cake. But if the cake is still raw or burnt, no icing in the world will make it taste right.