Experiences with the healthcare system often create stress, anxiety, and frustration—for patients as well as for healthcare professionals. A term currently used to characterize these various points of annoyance is friction. In an ideal word, healthcare interactions would be frictionless, in other words, free of problems, delays, and needless anxiety and stress. This paper identifies some of the factors that create friction for different types of patients. It then proposes an approach for overcoming these, offering practical insights for healthcare workers at all levels, as well as providers, insurers, and health systems, on how to develop a truly frictionless, human-centered healthcare experience.

Join for free to read