A new company called Docent Health is creating software and mobile applications that will enable hospitals to organise and monitor every aspect of a patient's hospital visit. The service is designed to help healthcare providers treat patients the way upscale hotels treat their customers.
The software will be managed by specially trained staff who will have to remain in constant communication with patients. The objective is to improve patient experience at the hospital and to increase patient satisfaction and win repeat business.
Since the idea has significant potential, three U.S. venture capital firms Bessemer Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Maverick Capital Ventures have invested $2.1 million in seed funding in Docent and have committed to providing additional capital as the company develops.
Docent wants to capitalise on two major changes in healthcare: the shift toward paying providers for keeping people healthy rather than performing procedures, and the technology-driven “consumerisation” of health. These two factors have put significant decision-making power in the patients' hands and that is exactly what Docent wants to target. By using a patient-centred approach and by focusing on the nonclinical aspects of hospital care, Docent wants to ensure that hospitals provide VIP service to their patients. This would include communicating with patients, being empathetic and by making an effort to understand patient needs and preferences.
“The shift from physician-centric to consumer-centric care delivery and building a longitudinal relationship with patients — that process is the single most-talked-about trend in healthcare,” Trevor Price, the founder of the company said.
Susan Reilly Salgado, head of the consulting arm of restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group whose customer base consists of 25 percent healthcare services said, “All customers want the same thing. They want to feel valued and respected.”
Source: Bangor Daily News
Image Credit: Docent Health
