Five ways hospitals can learn from the hospitality industry

A discussion on service excellence in healthcare intrigued me while recently moderating a conference on medical tourism in the GCC region. Patients can rarely challenge the technical competency of the medical staff, let alone provide immediate satisfaction feedback.

Healthcare providers are then left to rely on other supporting services to meet and exceed patients' expectations. Most of these services are linked to the patient's journey and experience as well as their families'.

In other words, service excellence in healthcare is what hoteliers have mastered for centuries now. So why not explore cross-sectoral partnerships that would allow hotels to innovate on their market expansion while pushing healthcare to new levels of patient satisfaction?

Here are five key areas in which hoteliers can lend their expertise to the healthcare sector.

Focus on room design

There is a reason people enjoy checking into a hotel room much more than a hospital room, other than the state of health they would be in while doing so. A hotel room looks fresh, comfortable and has a warm cosy feeling to it, all while being aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Hospital rooms should be designed with similar objectives in mind. From the colours of the walls, the warmth of the light, the material of the furniture and bedding, to the location of power sockets - every detail makes a difference.