Time is Key to All Experiences: Reinventing Healthcare Post-Pandemic

It is no exaggeration to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the healthcare industry, not only due to the tremendous pressure the pandemic placed on the healthcare system but also because of the shifting needs of the post-pandemic patient . Our society underwent a number of sustained behavioral changes during the pandemic, many of which became a “new normal” that has reshaped patients' perspectives, needs, and expectations of healthcare and medical technologies.?

I knew these changes were happening of course, but they have been all the more apparent to me recently following some recent experiences I’ve had with the healthcare system. Lumen Technologies has on-site clinics on a couple of campuses, which were opened with the employee’s customer experience in mind. The process of seeing a physician is clear and accessible, either scheduling an appointment or dropping in, all with minimal wait time. This benefit integrates into your everyday life while spending no more than 10 minutes being treated by a provider.

Moreover, my recent experience with my Primary Care Physician was incredibly straightforward: I was able to check in via text message from my car, where I then received instructions on which room number to go to. This system meant that I didn’t need to interact with anyone to get where I needed to go, I just went to the assigned room. The office was divided intuitively and creatively, with rows of rooms named after local streets and neighborhoods in the area, making navigation a breeze. Within 45 seconds of waiting in the room, the nurse arrived, with the doctor appearing shortly after.

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The examination itself was highly streamlined, as after the doctor came in and assessed what they needed, the nurse was able to take me from point A to point B to point C to complete all the necessary tasks I was there for, and after the last step was over, I was right out the door. All of this came and went with no backtracking or waiting. I didn’t even need to stop and check out, since another employee came into the check-in room with a laptop and handled it all right there, so I didn’t even have to leave the room.?

When it was all over, I was taken aback by how convenient the experience had been. I was used to doctor’s visits being long and drawn-out affairs: in 2022, the average wait time for a physician appointment in the 15 largest U.S. metro markets was 26 days . Couple that with just how much waiting there tends to be during a doctor’s visit and it’s easy for the whole experience to feel like a massive time sink you simply have to endure to receive medical care. This however felt like a thoughtfully curated experience that maximized time for providers and cut unnecessary wait time and confusion for patients. For the first time ever, it felt like visiting my doctor was a part of everyday life, rather than something I had to plan my life around.?

The feeling is oddly freeing and highlights just how much better the healthcare experience can be from a customer, employee, and patient perspective. Consider this: when you have errands to run or need to do things around the house, there isn’t necessarily a set order you need to do things in. Yet most of the time, we choose an order that makes sense, limiting the amount of time en route and eliminating unnecessary work. We rarely see this type of thinking applied to primary care or other aspects of the healthcare system, but when it happens, it demonstrates how such an approach helps patients and healthcare providers alike.?

With the growing popularity of retail healthcare and tightening budgets at traditional frontline primary care facilities, we’re likely to see a push to find more convenient options over traditional primary care delivery, with healthcare providers leveraging consumer expectations of streamlined customer experience and choice to create more efficient and customer-friendly services . The healthcare industry has a long history of over-complicating things, but when businesses create an intuitive, efficient, streamlined experience, it becomes easier to build relationships and create customer retention. One simply needs to assess their various touchpoints and define the moments that matter most. Combine that with consumer data and you can provide a highly personalized experience that people can connect with at an individual level , serving up the things that are most important to meet the customer’s needs.?

We’re already starting to see signs of this, with companies like CorMedical and Village Health Partners offering high-quality, personalized, and patient-centric care. More are likely to follow their example as well. So as we move forward towards the post-pandemic future, let's put the lessons we’ve learned over the past few years into practice, finding ways to improve the healthcare experience for every patient, whether they’re 18 or 81. If companies are mindful in their approach, they can create a high-quality healthcare experience for all of their employees, from entry-level to the C-Suite.