Safety: The standard of trust in healthcare
In high-stakes industries like healthcare, safety has always been a cornerstone of experience and quality. But "safety,” in healthcare, is no longer confined to clinical outcomes or regulatory “to-dos.” For today’s patients, it’s just as important to feel safe as it is to be clinically safe. And that feeling begins before the appointment is even booked.
As new data from our “Healthcare consumer experience 2025" report makes clear, perceived safety now informs—and, in some cases, determines—consumer choice. In fact, 85% of consumers factor safety into care decisions, often forming opinions based on digital cues like website clarity, appointment access, and reviews. And nearly a third say safety matters “a great deal” when choosing a provider or facility.
Safety is both a clinical and commercial outcome. It builds the trust that keeps patients engaged, loyal, and willing to recommend your brand. But when safety is in question, confidence erodes—and so does growth. In today’s healthcare landscape, quality care isn’t solely about outcomes; it undergirds reputation, retention, and market performance. Two groups factor safety into their care decisions even more consistently than the general population: parents (95%) and millennials (94%).
This underscores a truth many of us in safety have long known: Safety and experience are inseparable. Long before patients arrive, they’re scanning for signals of safety. Website clarity, appointment access, and online reviews all shape perceptions. Confusing navigation or outdated design can send the wrong message, and trigger doubt. Because, for patients, safety is more than infection rates or fall prevention protocols. It’s about trust. It’s about psychological and emotional security. It’s about feeling seen, heard, and protected.
Safety that starts upstream, and scales trust
Patients who feel “very safe” are 2.5x more likely to recommend their provider. Inversely, when confidence in their safety drops, so does trust—which means reputation, retention, and revenue do, too.
This means safety must show up in the digital front door, in communication, in how feedback is handled, and in how teams collaborate behind the scenes.
The building blocks of loyalty in a digital-first world
Of course, convenience and ease are critical in the on-demand era. Today’s consumers are conditioned to expect frictionless, personalized experiences—call it the “Amazon effect.” And healthcare is no different.
But convenience alone won’t keep patients coming back. And it’s not luxury amenities or flashy tech features. It’s connection. It’s confidence in the people behind care.
Top 5 drivers of consumer and patient loyalty:
- Quality of customer service and interactions with staff (50%)
- Appointment availability (49%)
- Pre- and post-visit communication (45%)
- Cleanliness (44%)
- Bedside manner (41%)
Each of these is a signal of safety, trust, or empathy—or all three—in action. They form the emotional infrastructure of care, sculpting how patients perceive your organization long before, and long after, the clinical encounter.
When patients encounter friction—be it a hard-to-navigate website, a cold phone call, or poor coordination among teams—they’re frustrated. But more importantly, they interpret it as risk. They feel unsafe. And they move on. Which is why loyalty doesn’t live in access or efficiency. Loyalty lives in Human Experience.
Workplace culture is core to brand and consumer experience
Experience is shaped by what happens among teams. Patients sense team dynamics, even if they can’t see them. The strongest predictor of “Likelihood to Recommend” (LTR) is whether the care team worked well together.
This is the power of social capital. When healthcare teams communicate clearly, respect one another, and share a sense of purpose, patients feel that alignment. Safety, empathy, and experience radiate outward from the inside. When internal culture falters, patients feel that too.
What can we, as safety and quality leaders, do differently?
First, we must widen the aperture on what safety looks like. Then, we must build the systems that reflect it, and reinforce it.
Safety has never been just a box to check off some to-do list. It’s never been just a regulatory or clinical requirement. It's the bridge between experience and trust, culture, and outcomes. To create experiences that feel safe, connected, and human, we must reframe safety as a Human Experience imperative.
4 proven strategies to improve perceived safety and foster trust
- Make safety visible. From websites to waiting rooms and any other touchpoint, let patients see and feel your safety commitment.
- Treat feedback as a diagnostic signal, not a score. Drill into patient reviews with AI-powered tools to uncover potential safety threats, and respond to feedback to show you’re listening and reacting to what you hear.
- Invest in culture and team relationships. Trust travels through teams. When staff feel respected and supported, that confidence extends to patients.
- Eradicate the frictions that erode trust. Finding care, booking, and canceling or rescheduling should all feel effortless.
We often say, “trust is earned.” In healthcare, it’s earned at every moment—especially the smaller ones, less visible to the naked eye. It's earned in the margins. In the quiet reassurance of a clean exam room. In the clarity of a follow-up text. In the comfort patients feel when their care team operates as one.
If safety is the foundation of care, then feeling safe is the foundation of trust. And trust? It’s what transforms one encounter into a lasting relationship.
Because, to achieve the goal of zero harm, we must not only think “safety first,” but human first.
For more findings from our latest analysis, download “Healthcare consumer experience 2025.” To discuss the data directly, reach out to a member of our safety and high reliability team.