By Kelly Boyd, General Manager Healthcare is hospitality.
Yes, there are many aspects of the healthcare industry—medical expertise, clinical protocols, safety regulations, reimbursement policies, all the things that are needed for your organization to operate every day.
But at the core of every healthcare interaction is a person. A person who needs to be cared for—and feel cared for.
That’s where hospitality comes in.
Hospitality means more than hotels.
When you think about hospitality, there’s two sides: An industry and a feeling.
The hospitality industry is in the business of service—hotels, restaurants, travel, recreation—aimed at creating positive experiences that people remember.
When thinking of patients as consumers, hospitals look through a similar lens as the hospitality industry, considering the impact of the physical environment on patient experience.
There’s research-backed merit in putting emphasis on decor, food, sounds, natural light, and room features in hospitals to be more hotel-like.
Many hospitals already incorporate these elements into patient experience strategies.
To truly have an impact in improving patient experience—and, in turn, patient satisfaction, HCAHPS, and brand loyalty—hospitals need to think of hospitality not just from an industry perspective, but from the idea of making a lasting positive impression.
You can’t say hospitality without hospital.
Patients have a baseline expectation that your hospital will take care of them physically.
You’ll treat their condition, patch up what’s broken, safely deliver their baby, give them a bed and room, guide them to the next step toward healing.
That’s the bare minimum. That doesn’t equal patient satisfaction, or patient loyalty.
So there has to be more to it than that.
It’s also a patient’s perception of your care. How do you make them feel?
That’s what it means to say hospitality is an experience.
When someone experiences hospitality, they feel seen. Heard. Connected. Comfortable. Calm. Confident.
All the same things a great patient experience aims to achieve.
Focus on hospitality for each patient.
Elevating a great medical experience to a great patient experience means focusing on creating a great human experience.
Patients are more than their condition or diagnosis. They’re people experiencing unfamiliar things in an unfamiliar environment—and craving a connection to something familiar.
When your staff extends hospitality to patients, they give the most impactful gift: A human connection.
That looks like attentiveness and empathy every time you talk. It’s answering questions patients have and anticipating their next need. Easing their concerns and empowering them with confidence and control. Building trust. It’s exceeding expectations of what healthcare experiences can be.
It’s not choosing between providing excellent clinical care or providing genuine human connections—it’s both/and.
It’s caring how the patient is doing physically and caring how they’re feeling.
It’s addressing what patient’s need and what they want.
It’s healthcare and hospitality.
Feeling seen & informed 
Feeling cared for 
Feeling calm & confident Experience the butterfly effect of the hospitality effect.
The effect of hospitality in every care experience branches far beyond that single patient’s experience—it becomes part of your entire organization’s culture of care and service.
When you create comfortable environments, help reduce anxiety, and empower patients, you’re setting the stage for better health outcomes and faster recovery.
When your staff shares a moment of empathy and kindness with patients, it changes the way they feel emotionally, mentally, even physically.
How a patient feels, beyond their medical condition, affects their overall healing journey—as well as their satisfaction, their loyalty to you for future needs, and their recommendations to others for the care and service you provide.
Incorporating the principles of hospitality into patient care gives your organization the opportunity to re-envision how clinical excellence and patient experience can thrive together, and pave the way for better healthcare and better human experiences for everyone you serve.
Extending hospitality doesn’t have to fall solely to your staff.
See how you can experience the hospitality effect with SONIFI Health.
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