Phygital Healthcare Experiences? What Hospitals Can Learn from Retail’s CX Standards

Retail continues to work on perfecting the “phygital” customer experience: a hybrid of physical and digital interactions that feel fast, smart, and customized. Now, as patient expectations continue to move toward consumerized health and value-based care reshapes incentives, it’s time for healthcare to take a page from retailers’ playbooks of best practices.

The good news is that today’s technology makes it more possible than ever to translate vision into reality. In this piece, we’ll use innovative examples from the retail industry’s phygital journey to show how healthcare can follow in its footsteps.

Customer experience (CX) expectations are driving the shift to phygital

Phygital has transformed how retail defines and delivers an excellent customer experience. Today, stores like Sam’s Club use “scan and go” to eliminate self-checkout bottlenecks. CVS lets customers unlock product cabinets with a quick app scan so they don’t have to wait for staff. And Indochino’s employees can instantly access customers’ online measurements to personalize the in-store tailoring experience.

These innovations didn’t crop up overnight, of course. But they’re rapidly shaping customer expectations throughout the industry. One reason shoppers love them so much? They’re designed to alleviate many of the biggest pain points associated with brick-and-mortar retail.

Hospital leaders can take a similar approach to the clinical experience. Despite significant digital investments over the last decade or so, the reality is that many patient interactions remain frustratingly analog – and can often feel clunky as a result. And just as a slow checkout process might lead a shopper to abandon their cart, a high-friction clinical environment can cause patients to drag their feet on booking their next appointment – if they even book at all (or choose a different doctor for their next appointment).

As the value of healthcare increasingly takes center stage, leaders must focus on inspiring confidence from the start of every patient relationship. In the next section: how phygital can enable just that.

The promise of a phygital hospital experience: Happier patients and better outcomes

Nearly 70 percent of healthcare leaders already believe investing in their digital front door can yield enormous benefits. By bringing digital technology into the physical clinic, hospital leaders can create an in-person experience that mirrors much of the convenience that patients already enjoy in retail.

For instance, imagine a hospital experience where…

• Smart parking and wayfinding integration removes guesswork. Your patient portal might offer a SpotHero-style menu to simplify parking before every appointment. From there, an interactive hospital map can help patients navigate to their physician’s office (like they’d use Home Depot’s mobile Product Locator to find a box of screws). 
• Digital entry simplifies arrival. Patients can complete intake forms in the app, log symptoms or questions for their physician to see during their appointment, and provide their insurance information. While not exactly the same, the Crumbl Cookie app’s journaling capabilities that allow customers to make note of flavor profiles they’ve liked in the past similarly empower better decision-making when it comes to the next cookie purchase. The ability to proactively log notes and questions for the doctor before the office visit provides a similar opportunity, allowing patients to feel more in control of their health journey.
• Wait time visibility prevents frustration. A digital wait time estimator can set expectations ahead of each visit. A related example of this in the retail space is Everlane, which was one of the first retailers to offer brick-and-mortar shoppers the opportunity to queue online for fitting rooms through their smartphones, helping them save time during their physical retail visits.
• Post-visit transportation increases safety and optimizes convenience. Certain types of appointments (e.g., for vision care) might trigger ride-share suggestions in the patient portal for patients unable to drive or take public transit after a procedure. 
• Empathetic nudges improve follow-through. Your app can gently prompt patients to book their annual physical or reschedule missed visits. It might even pair each nudge with helpful educational content related to a chronic condition. This is akin to many food and beverage brands that are acknowledging abandoned orders and kindly reminding customers not to give up on their little treats.
• Caregivers automatically stay in the loop. Designated caregivers can receive a digital post-visit summary, along with scheduling reminders that make it easier to coordinate support. In the retail space, Instacart’s family carts serve as great inspiration for bringing the right stakeholders together on a decision. 

With careful execution, these kinds of experiences can have a positive impact on patient satisfaction. And the happier each patient, the more likely they are to adhere to their care plan. The long-term effect: better outcomes over time.

Phygital relies on a strong technological foundation and new ways of working

Above all else, the key to making phygital work in healthcare is a sturdy technological foundation. After all, each of the innovations outlined here requires patient data. In many cases, patients are happy to share what they need to improve their overall experience. But they also want to trust that their data is being handled with care and used to tangibly improve their experience.

That’s why it’s important for hospital leaders to invest in excellent data governance, interoperable software, and modern app development practices. These elements are necessary to move substantially beyond the status quo.

As hospital leaders upgrade their capabilities in these areas, they’ll notice a number of downstream benefits. With better data governance, for instance, patient data will become more traceable – simplifying compliance audits in the process. It will also be easier to share knowledge with patients and among care teams to improve the continuity of care. 

Along the way, remember that true digital transformation isn’t just about changing what tools teams use – but how teams work. 

To maximize success, teams must ensure that every step of the journey fits together so that efficiencies can be leveraged rather than waste key performance indicators. This way, they can better measure and realize ROI. 

Turn the possible into reality

Retail has shown what’s possible when human-centered technology is used to improve in-person experiences. Now it’s healthcare’s turn.

By learning from retail’s phygital journey, hospital leaders can transform the patient experience and deliver a more modern, empathetic vision of care. With today’s technology, that work is more possible – and practical – than ever.

Photo: Prasit photo, Getty Images

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