I love this investigation into the Olive Garden breadstick issue. Most of you have probably eaten there. You may have noticed the right side of the chart above. These investigators have found that the customer experience is paramount and trumps all and Olive Garden is blowing it.
This very much relates to Direct Primary Care.
How?
After years in practice some of you have focused on the ways you can minimize the “touch points” with your patients to save yourself hassles. Great. But isn’t that the way corporate medicine is doing it? Even the DINOs? They invest in high tech style over substance. In fact, many DINOs brag about their technology, which initially looks cool, but is actually quiet stale and adds very little to the care of the patient. In addition, they boast about their layers of “team advocates” which is anothe way of saying you are not going to talk to your own doctor without some extra effort. You get the idea. Like Olive Garden today, there is a “lack of training and disclipline” to give a great patient experience.
This does not mean seeing every patient in person for every complaint. I recently blogged about on how to stop patients from clamoring to get in during cold and flu season. To counteract blocking some patients from getting in you use an email or newsletter to educate them and show you care and still tell them you are there if they really need them. That’s a great touch point.
What makes real traditional (and small) DPC clinics great is the caring. It is the guest experience. It is the touch points. And you don’t have to make it complicated. On the other hand, adding hurdles like excessive technology, seeing most patients via telemedicine visits, and using phone trees only takes away from this experience and will end up costing you money due to patients leaving.
On a side note, I am a huge Walt Disney World fan and my family and I have been Disney Vacation Club members for over 20 years. Over the past 6 years or so we have seen the deterioration of the experience there via excessive technology, nickle-and-diming customers, price increases, poor service, and more.
Don’t get complacent. Don’t be like Walt Disney World. And don’t be like Olive Garden with their breadsticks that site around and have “deteriorate in quality”.