What healthcare can learn from retail
Last month, my colleague and Press Ganey’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tom Lee coauthored an article for NEJM Catalyst on the “wholesaler mindset” and its impact on healthcare organizations. He argues that as healthcare organizations grow, they risk behaving like wholesalers—focused on volume, contracts, and margins—rather than acting like retailers who prioritize the end-user experience. This leads to fragmented, frustrating experiences for patients and demoralizes clinicians.
Given my background in the retail sector, as Vice President, Retail Experience Solutions for Forsta, a Press Ganey company, I see clear parallels between the challenges—and opportunities—in healthcare and those we’ve faced in consumer industries. While the stakes are undeniably higher in healthcare, the expectations people bring with them are shaped by the best experiences they have elsewhere. People judge the care experience by the standards set outside of it.
Healthcare has an important directive: to shift from a transactional, volume-driven model, to one that prioritizes the full patient experience—similar to how leading retailers like Best Buy have reimagined the customer journey.
At the heart of this shift is a simple truth: People don’t compartmentalize their expectations by industry. Whether they’re shopping online, getting a haircut, managing finances, or seeking medical care, they expect ease, clarity, personalization, and respect. People don’t reset their expectations at the hospital door. Becoming a “patient” instead of a “customer” doesn’t mean they’ll tolerate friction.
This means healthcare organizations are being compared—consciously or not—to the best experiences people have in other sectors. If someone can track a package in real time, book a haircut in seconds, or get personalized product recommendations, they will expect the same level of ease, personalization, and attentiveness when managing their health. And when healthcare falls short, it frustrates consumers. Worse yet, it erodes trust.
People want effortless, human-centered experiences
No matter the setting, situation, or service, people want to feel known and valued. Healthcare is uniquely positioned to lead here—though it faces unique complexities that can hinder progress. As healthcare organizations grow, they risk becoming disconnected from the very people they serve. That’s a problem retail has been working hard to solve, and somewhere it’s made significant strides.
3 lessons healthcare can learn from retail
Retailers have evolved dramatically in how they understand and serve their customers. Healthcare can adopt many of these same strategies to better connect with patients and deepen relationships.
1. Predict and personalize the patient journey based on needs and preferences
Retailers use data to anticipate needs, personalize offers, and simplify repeat interactions. They track preferences and purchase history, offer tailored promotions and recommendations, and even learn customer behavior well enough to suggest subscription models to streamline recurring needs.
Healthcare could do the same. If a patient consistently schedules annual checkups or needs ongoing lab work, the system should proactively suggest appointments, send reminders, and offer bundled services. This kind of personalization builds loyalty and improves outcomes.
2.Make every experience integrated and intuitive, on- and offline
Retailers create seamless experiences across digital and physical touchpoints. Whether a customer shops online, in a store, or via an app, the journey is:
- Consistent-in design and tone
- Connected, so actions in one channel carry over to another
- Flexible, so customers can effortlessly move between channels
- Empowered by self-service options—like online booking that replaces time-consuming phone calls
Healthcare should mirror this. A patient might research their symptoms online, schedule an appointment via an app, meet virtually with a doctor, and follow up in person. Each step must feel like part of a single, cohesive journey—not a series of disconnected systems.
Right now, it’s often the opposite. Even basic tasks, like scheduling a lab test or annual physical via an app, are surprisingly difficult. It feels like no one’s thought through the user experience and practicalities. In my experience, I usually have to call—only to sit on hold, while an automated message pushes me back to the app that didn’t work. That kind of friction is exactly what retailers have worked hard to reduce. Healthcare can do the same, while still honoring the complexity of care delivery.
3. Bring operational clarity and transparency to every step of the patient experience
Retailers are also good at setting expectations. Customers know what they’re buying, what it costs, and when it will arrive.
But healthcare hasn’t quite figured it out yet. Patients often face:
- Redundant intake processes (e.g., filling out forms only to repeat the same questions again later)
- Confusing appointment scheduling
- Opaque billing and coding practices
Transparency—from intake to pricing—builds trust and reduces uncertainty. Patients should know what to expect, what it will cost, and how their care will proceed.
Think about how simple the BOPIS (“buy online, pick up in store”) experience is: You know where to park, where to go, and who can help. Healthcare should offer the same clarity. Where to check in. What to bring. And what happens next.
Digital transformation is still incomplete
The pandemic accelerated digital transformation in many industries—retail, restaurants, salons, to name a few. But healthcare’s progress has been categorically uneven. Patients still have to call for appointments, navigate long phone trees, and wrestle with fragmented digital tools before they even get in the door—and long after.
Imagine a smarter system: A patient answers a few questions, the system understands the nature of the visit, then offers the right type of appointment (virtual or in person), with appropriate timing and duration. This would reduce friction, save resources, improve the patient experience, and boost satisfaction—just like a well-designed retail experience.
Trust, transparency, and the stakes of getting it wrong
Retailers work hard to build relationships with their customers—and they sell shoes or electronics. Healthcare is far more personal yet often feels more transactional.
Patients are at the mercy of how visits are coded and billed. Bringing transparency “up the funnel”—i.e., before the visit—builds confidence and reduces anxiety. Just like no one wants to come across hidden fees at checkout, no one wants surprise medical bills.
This is especially urgent as big tech companies enter the healthcare space, bringing with them hyper-personalization, seamless digital experiences, and a proven track record of consumer trust. If traditional healthcare organizations don’t evolve, they risk being outpaced. As new entrants raise the bar, traditional healthcare organizations have a chance to lead by pairing deep clinical expertise with modern, patient-centered experiences.
When the clinician experience and organizational culture break down, the system fails everyone
One of the most urgent issues in today’s complex healthcare environment is the toll it takes on the very people delivering care. Employees—especially clinicians—are demoralized when they’re part of a fragmented, impersonal system. And I’ve witnessed this firsthand.
I had an exceptional doctor—someone who made me feel heard, respected, and cared for. Then one day, she told me she was leaving. In a candid, emotional conversation, she explained she had reached a breaking point. Her organization, she shared, prioritized profits over patients. She felt she could no longer provide the care she believed in, so she was choosing to move to a practice that aligned with her values.
That moment was a shock—not just because I was losing a great doctor, but because it confirmed something I had sensed as a patient: The internal strain on providers is as real and visible as the frictions patients face. If the people delivering care feel this way, how can patients possibly feel safe, supported, or valued?
This is why culture, teamwork, and pride in delivering high-quality care must be seen as strategic priorities, not just HR metrics. When clinicians feel supported and empowered, patients benefit too. The values that matter most to patients—safety, respect, and being heard—are the same values that sustain and inspire healthcare workers.
Primary care is the heart of brand experience
Primary care can be compared to an operating system. And I’d take that concept even further:-Primary care is the heart and center of a healthcare organization’s brand.
For many patients, especially those with ongoing or chronic needs, their primary care provider is the main point of contact—the person they see most often, trust the most, and associate most closely with the organization. This relationship is both clinical and deeply personal—and it shapes how patients perceive the entire organization.
In retail terms, this is the front-line associate who knows your preferences, remembers your past purchases, and tailors recommendations. In healthcare, the primary care provider:
- Builds long-term relationships with patients
- Hears more about the full patient journey than anyone else
- Identifies gaps in care and opportunities for proactive support
- Represents the organization’s values through every interaction
This role is also a strategic driver of growth. Just like a trusted retail associate might recommend a new product or service, a primary care provider can guide patients toward preventive screenings, specialty care, or wellness programs—all of which improve outcomes and deepen engagement.
If healthcare organizations want to improve loyalty, satisfaction, and outcomes, they must invest in and listen to their primary care teams. These providers are not just delivering care—they are delivering the brand.
Retail has set a new standard for ease, personalization, and trust that patients bring to every interaction with healthcare. For healthcare organizations, the opportunity isn’t to simply copy retail, but to adopt its best practices and principles while staying grounded in the human mission of helping and healing others. When systems are designed around the people both delivering and receiving care, better experiences, loyalty, and outcomes follow.