How Small Practices Can Dominate Markets By Doing What Big Systems Can’t: Actually Caring
A new report from Sage Growth Partners just dropped, and it reveals something fascinating: 78% of hospital executives are planning to invest millions in new virtual care platforms over the next three years. Meanwhile, 70% of their current digital health tools aren’t delivering ROI.
Let me translate: The big players are doubling down on expensive technology that isn’t working, while completely missing what patients actually want.
This is your competitive advantage. This is the healthcare version of David vs Goliath.
The Technology Trap
Healthcare executives have convinced themselves that patient experience is a technology problem. AI-powered remote monitoring. Virtual care platforms. Digital engagement tools. They’re throwing money at solutions while their patients can’t get anyone to return a simple phone call.
Here’s what they don’t understand: You can’t digital-transform your way out of poor relationships.
A fancy telehealth platform doesn’t fix doctors who stare at screens instead of patients. AI chatbots don’t replace staff who can smile and remember your name. Remote monitoring can’t compensate for the complete absence of human connection.
They’re essentially taking terrible in-person experiences and putting them on screens. Then wondering why patients aren’t engaged.
Your Unfair Advantage
While health systems spend millions debugging patient portals, you have something they can’t buy: the ability to actually know your patients as human beings.
You have smaller patient panels—you CAN remember that Mrs. Anderson’s daughter just got married. You see patients yourself—you CONTROL the entire experience. You don’t have layers of bureaucracy—you CAN implement changes tomorrow morning.
The practices dominating their markets right now aren’t the ones with the fanciest technology. They’re the ones where every interaction makes patients feel genuinely valued.
The more pervasive technology becomes in our personal lives, the more starved for genuine connection we will become. Especially in sensitive situations like healthcare, where personal vulnerability is high.
Research shows that practices excelling at empathetic care see 90%+ patient retention rates versus 70-75% for those that don’t. Patients who feel cared for refer 3-4 new patients annually. Those who feel processed refer zero.
This isn’t soft stuff—it’s competitive strategy.
What This Actually Looks Like
I’m not talking about becoming everyone’s best friend. I’m talking about systematic approaches to treating people like people:
Staff using patient names consistently throughout visits. Providers listening for two full minutes before interrupting. Someone following up after significant appointments because they actually care how you’re doing. Remembering that you prefer morning appointments because your arthritis is worse later in the day.
These aren’t revolutionary concepts. This is pure old school. They’re basic human courtesy that’s become a competitive advantage because everyone else abandoned it for technology solutions.
This is your Super Power. And this is your moment.
The cost? Essentially zero. The implementation time? You can start Monday morning. The ROI? Patients who choose you specifically and tell their friends about it.
The Real Competition
Here’s what your competitors are missing: They think they’re competing on technology capabilities. They’re wrong.
You’re competing on humanity. And you have an unfair advantage—you can actually deliver it.
While they’re implementing AI tools that 81% of executives believe will “transform” patient care, you can implement empathy training that actually will. While they’re spending millions on platforms, you can spend some time building relationships they can’t replicate.
The Strategic Reality
The gap between what healthcare executives think patients want (cutting-edge technology) and what patients actually want (to feel cared for as human beings) is your opportunity.
Health systems are literally investing against patient loyalty while convincing themselves they’re investing in patient experience. Every dollar they spend on impersonal digital solutions is a dollar spent making themselves more vulnerable to practices that simply treat people better.
Your Move
The big systems can’t compete with you on personal connection—their scale won’t allow it. But you can’t compete with them on technology budgets.
So don’t try.
Compete on the thing that actually creates patient loyalty: genuine human connection that makes people feel seen, heard, and valued.
While your competitors are debugging their latest platform, be the practice that remembers patient names, follows through on promises, and treats people like they matter.
That’s not just good patient experience. That’s a moat they can’t cross, no matter how much they spend.
The question isn’t whether you can afford to focus on relationships instead of technology. The question is whether you can afford not to, while your competitors waste millions learning this lesson the hard way.
Till next time…all the best!
Claudio
Claudio Varga is the author of Healthcare Sucks at Customer Service: But You Don’t Have To, and the creator of the Five Star Patients methodology. He helps healthcare practices turn patient experience into their ultimate competitive advantage.
Read the playbook on Patient Experience: “Healthcare Sucks at Customer Service, But You Don’t Have To” Get the first two chapters FREE