This article originally appeared in Healthcare Strategy Alert!, Issue 4 2016, published by the Forum for Healthcare Strategists.

By: Mary Johnson and Nicki Gibbs   Sweeping changes in the healthcare industry – including the trend toward consumer-driven healthcare, changing reimbursement criteria, and innovations in delivery models themselves – are driving healthcare organizations to re-think what it takes to lead in competitive markets. Increasingly, patient experience is the differentiator.   University of Minnesota Health (M Health) had the opportunity to put patient experience at the heart of its ambulatory strategy when it designed and built its on-campus clinics and ambulatory surgery center. The Clinics and Surgery Center (CSC), which opened in February 2016, presented the opportunity to move away from dated historical precedents and truly rethink how care is delivered. Goals included:

• Focusing on patients as consumers
• Transforming care and experience for the future
• Attracting new patients who are looking for convenience
• Increasing access to multispecialty practice and clinical research capabilities

The strategy is part of M Health’s ongoing efforts to elevate care and increase volumes while reducing cost. Operationally, the CSC met efficiency and value criteria by:

• Transitioning from hospital-based to freestanding clinics, thereby changing the reimbursement model
• Redesigning operations to reduce costs; consolidating services in a smaller footprint for better use of a fixed asset
• Increasing patient capacity

    With financial and operations discipline at its foundation, M Health focused on developing and delivering a patient experience unparalleled anywhere in the region. Bringing the patient-centered vision to life required a new way of thinking – reimagining everything from technology and facility design to care models and workflows. View the full article here.