Patience Experience

Patient experience examples

Patient experience includes everything from the ease of booking appointments on a provider website or via an AI agent to diagnoses, treatment, and communication with physicians, nurses, and other healthcare team members. Here are a few more examples of patient experiences along the customer journey:

• Awareness and access: online reviews, multi-channel advertising and sponsorships, user-friendly websites and FAQs

• Appointment scheduling: online booking platforms, phone trees, chat or live assistance, appointment reminders

• Previsit support: directions to locations, arrival instructions, insurance verification, pre-registration forms, registration kiosks, pre-visit checklists, educational content

• In-care and consultations: telehealth services, active listening, clear communication from providers, personalized care plans, family/medical power-of-attorney updates during procedures, diagnosis and care guidelines

• Post-care and follow-up: Secure patient portals with easy-to-use interfaces sharing medical records, test results, and visit summaries; proactive and timely follow-up messages and appointment setting; wearable devices, remote monitoring tools, and health trackers

• Billing and financial transparency: detailed and up-front pricing and payment plans, online payment options, responsive billing support teams, insurance transparency

• Ongoing brand engagement and campaigns: patient surveys, community outreach programs, wellness and preventative care resources

Why patient experience is important

A positive patient experience influences patient satisfaction — and can even improve a patient's outlook and outcomes. Patients with positive experiences often feel more empowered and are more engaged with preventative care, treatment protocols, applying healthcare advice, and follow-up care. Healthcare brands that prioritize patient experience reduce friction in the patient journey, helping to build stronger patient relationships, improve patient education and retention, and enhance their reputation in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Patient experience extends far beyond in-person visits. Creating a positive patient experience at every stage in the patient journey is a growing priority for healthcare brands. More and more, patients turn to digital channels to find, evaluate, and engage with healthcare providers. From search engines and provider websites to social media and online reviews, patients expect positive and seamless digital experiences in healthcare. It's no different than their expectations in retail, banking, and other industries. Today, nearly half (49%) of patients "always" or "often" use AI tools to research healthcare providers. The rise of AI Overviews has shifted how patients and patient advocates find healthcare information online, too.

Key statistics about the digital patient experience in healthcare

A poor digital presence can hurt a healthcare brand's ability to attract and retain patients. Outdated information, difficulty finding key details, and slow responses frustrate patients, making it harder to attract, engage, and retain them.

• 85% of patients say accurate digital information is very important when deciding whether to schedule an appointment.

• 1 in 2 patients will look for a different provider if they come across incorrect or missing digital information. While patients will always value physician referrals, first- and third-party reviews also impact a healthcare brand and provider's digital presence:

• 74% of patients consider online reviews the top factor when choosing a healthcare provider.

• 60% of patients are more likely to choose a provider who they can see actively responds to reviews.

Most patients don't start their search on healthcare websites anymore. There's a generational and technological shift happening in how people search for healthcare. Most patients no longer start their search on a provider's website. Instead, patients of all ages are searching for healthcare brands, providers, and services on multiple digital touchpoints:

• Search engines – 47% of Gen X, 43% of Millennials, and 40% of Gen Z start their healthcare provider search on Google.

• Maps apps – 3x as many Gen Xers and 6x as many Millennials and Zoomers use maps as the first step in finding a provider compared to Baby Boomers.

• Social media – 2x as many Millennials and 4x as many Gen Z patients start their healthcare search on social media compared to older generations. If a provider's information is inaccurate, incomplete, or difficult to find across these channels, patients are very likely to move on. They'll look for and select a competitor with a stronger, more complete, and compelling digital presence.

Why healthcare brands need a digital strategy for patient experience

To stay competitive, healthcare brands that want to improve patient experience must focus on three strategic differentiators:

1. Providing accurate, up-to-date information

Patients expect to find the correct NAP data (name, address, phone number), office hours, and provider specialties quickly. No matter where they search. So, missing or incorrect information creates a negative patient experience, causing at least 50% of patients to look elsewhere for care. Meanwhile, organic traffic may decline, and you may need to rethink your SEO strategy.

2. Managing online reviews and engagement

Fast, thoughtful engagement with patient feedback improves trust and reinforces your brand credibility. After all, 90% of patients read online reviews. 74% of patients rely on reviews when choosing a provider. 60% of patients prefer providers who actively respond to online reviews, and 69% of patients won't even consider a healthcare provider with less than a 4.0 average star rating.

3. Optimizing for search, AI, and emerging platforms

Traditional search isn't disappearing — It's evolving. Today, 94% of patients turn to a mix of sites, tools, and apps to help them discover and learn about providers and healthcare services. Social media has become a go-to search tool for Gen Z and Millennials. AI-driven tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini are on the rise, and even Google's AI Overviews return AI-generated answers to healthcare queries at least 86% of the time. To remain visible everywhere patients are searching, healthcare brands must provide AI-driven tools with structured data. AI needs structured data to understand, prioritize, and surface answers to patient searches and questions throughout the patient journey.

The business impact of digital patient experience

Patient expectations are shifting. Healthcare brands that fail to manage their digital presence and invest in creating a more frictionless patient experience risk losing patient trust. When trust erodes, so does market share.

With a poor digital presence, providers can needlessly suffer lower patient acquisition as frustrated patients turn to competitors. They might face missed appointments and lost revenue because their location, hours, or provider information is outdated. Brands and providers certainly want to stay engaged with patient reviews to build trust, show engagement, and inspire more positive reviews and other reputation-building factors.

By contrast, a strong digital patient experience leads to higher patient retention and satisfaction. This satisfaction, in turn, builds a stronger online reputation. A stronger reputation can increase appointment bookings and ongoing patient satisfaction.

Healthcare patients are changing the way they pick providers for themselves and their loved ones. Now, to reach every generation of patients and patient advocates, providers must have a strong digital presence at every touchpoint in the customer journey.

Yext empowers healthcare brands to manage their digital presence at scale, so they're discoverable and trustworthy everywhere patients search.

With Yext, healthcare organizations can deliver a frictionless digital patient experience:

• Maintain accurate, real-time provider information across search engines, maps, AI-driven platforms, and directories. This consistency makes it easy for patients and AI search to find and trust you.

• Create search-optimized landing pages for each location, provider, and service type. This boosts visibility and converts more search queries into patient appointments.

• Streamline online reviews and engagement. This helps providers respond quickly, compliantly, and personally to improve patient sentiment and deepen trust.

• Optimize structured data. This helps AI-driven search experiences surface accurate, relevant information to patients no matter where they're searching. Every generation of healthcare patients builds a unique journey with various touchpoints. Providers must connect with them across multiple channels, like reviews, social media, maps, websites, and search.

Healthcare brands that invest in digital patient experiences, review management, and structured data will win patient trust, improve retention, and stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market. Explore new research on the patient journey and gather the data you need to improve the patient experience at every touchpoint.