What Would Patient Experience be like if Disney ran your Hospital?
If Disney Ran Your Hospital, that's the title of a book written by Fred Lee, a senior-level hospital executive, who helped run a hospital near Walt Disney World in the Orlando, Florida area and also spent a great deal of time at the Disney Institute learning about the Disney magic when it comes to designing magical guest experiences.
Walt Disney - The Father of Guestology
Since it first opened its' doors in 1955 at Disneyland, customer experience has been a high priority for the Walt Disney Company. Its' customer service and experience vision is simply "We Create Happiness". Because, no matter what your role is within the park, "on-stage" or "back-stage", as "Cast Members", the essence of your job is to make Guests happy!
Disney is recognized as having created the science of Guestology which is "the study of the people for whom we provide service". It is identified as a study, something which was never static, always changing, that required observation, research and analysis to determine how best to meet the expectations, wants and needs of its' guests (visitors to its' theme parks).
Difference between treating someone like a Guest vs. a Customer?
What’s the difference between treating someone like a customer, and treating someone like a guest? The obvious analogy is that we do things quite differently when we bring guests into our home. We clean up the house (well, throw things into the closet). We shower, even dress up! We prepare something special for dinner (fresh, not frozen). We host them. Even our kids somehow "raise the bar" and act like well-mannered, well-behaved, and respectful kids abstaining from calling each other names and fighting at least for the night.
Everything starts with the Guest in Mind at Disney
At Disney, everything is done with the guest in mind. It is the starting point, the foundation on which all else is built. Exceeding guest expectations is the standard call to duty for all cast members, both those “onstage” and “backstage”, all working together to create a magical experience.
At the Disney Institute, the WOW! Factor of exceeding guest expectations is acknowledges to as coming from a focus on several things:
A superlative face-to-face service (recognizing that each and every interaction matters);
Paying close attention to every aspect of the Guest Experience (the details matter; all five senses must be engaged in an experience);
Analyzing that experience from the Guest’s perspective (experiencing it through their eyes);
Understanding the needs and wants of the Guest (a guest's perception of the experience is of highest importance); and
Committing every element of the organization – from the design of the infrastructure to the interaction between Guest and Cast – to the creation of an exceptional experience (blueprinting both "on-stage" and "back-stage" interactions and activities necessary to create the ideal experience).
If Disney Ran Your Hospital there are several things you would do differently
In his book, If Disney Ran you Hospital, the author, Fred Lee makes several key points related to patient experience and how things would be different:
Culture would trump strategy and organizational structure; in joining the hospital you would be joining a culture, not simply taking a job; a culture focused on patient-centered care (physical and emotional).
You would make courtesy more important than efficiency, because if it is that important, it must be of higher priority (when making decisions) than all other things as proof or recognition of that importance.
You would stop focusing only on patient complaints, since complaints about service simply provide feedback regarding the "process" of a service (whether it is working or not work), however, they provide limited insight into the emotional side of the experience (which is what matters most).
You would focus on non-clinical outcomes as much as clinical outcomes. Since patients when asked prioritize such things staff teamwork in caring for them, overall cheerfulness of the hospital, compassion for their condition, response to concerns/complaints during their stay, and how well nurses kept them informed as highly important to their selection of your hospital again and/or recommending it to others.
You would learn how to better hire and retain people whom are empathetic (the ability to share in another's emotions or feelings) since empathy is the inspiration for compassion. Caregivers whom are not empathetic will find it very difficult to care for patients with compassion and therefore be unable to meet patient's emotional needs.
You would tell stories and listen to stories told by the customer, because when customers are simply satisfied there are no stories being told, but, when they are disappointed or surprised and delighted, they can't help but tell others about their experience. You would learn from listening to both the good and the bad stories regarding what makes customer's happy.
He argues convincingly that hospitals only have one way to create loyalty - the patient's personal experience. After studying thousands of surveys, he comes to the conclusion that for patients, their loyalty comes from compassion. He states that it's not that courtesy and competency are not important, they are simply expected.