For years, patient experience has been treated as a quality metric, something to improve scores, reduce complaints, and polish reputation.
But a quiet shift is underway in healthcare leadership: patient experience is now a financial growth driver.
Hospitals that help patients truly understand their diagnosis and treatment are not only improving satisfaction, theyâre increasing surgical conversions, reducing outmigration, and strengthening loyalty.
Because when patients understand, hospitals grow.
đŒ 1ïžâŁ From Quality Metric to Growth Engine
Value-based care models have turned patient experience into economics.
Under CMSâs Value-Based Purchasing Program, patient experience directly affects reimbursement through HCAHPS scoring.
While exact amounts vary by year, some estimates suggest up to $800 million in payments are tied to patient-experience performance.
A Deloitte analysis found that hospitals with excellent patient experience scores achieve net margins of 4.7%, compared with 1.8% for low performers.
In other words, hospitals that invest in patient experience outperform financially â not despite empathy, but because of it.
đ§ 2ïžâŁ The Power of Understanding
Research shows that communication isnât a âsoft skill.â Itâs a clinical and operational necessity.
When patients clearly understand their diagnosis and treatment plan, adherence improves, anxiety drops, and readmissions fall.
- Stewart M.A., CMAJ (1995): effective physicianâpatient communication directly improves adherence and health outcomes.
- Dwamena F. et al., Cochrane Database (2012): provider communication training significantly increases satisfaction and reduces healthcare use.
Yet in most consultations, imaging remains the biggest communication gap. CT and MRI scans are complex and abstract for patients; even detailed explanations can feel like a foreign language.
And yet, hospitals are not getting equipped: 93% of surgeons still do not show 3D medical images to patients during consultation (Avatar Medical CNS Innovation Symposium, 2025).
Tools like Avatar Medical Vision make it possible to change that dynamic, turning static radiology into a shared, intuitive visual language.
đ 3ïžâŁ Reducing Leakage and Increasing Loyalty
Every hospital executive knows the silent revenue leak: patients seeking second opinions elsewhere.
Often, that migration isnât about access or price â itâs about uncertainty.
When a patient leaves a consultation confused, they look for reassurance somewhere else.
Shared visualization changes that dynamic.
When patients can see their anatomy and pathology clearly in 3D, discussions become transparent, confidence rises, and patients are more likely to stay.
Although there have been many publications showing the impact of 3D visualization on surgical conversion, one of the most striking results comes from Dr. Robert Louis, who reported in Neurosurgery Open (2020) that using 3D visualization during consultation increased surgical conversion from 64% to 96%.
At the 2025 CNS Innovation Symposium, 61% of surgeons said that patient ratings are consistently tracked or formally measured with defined benchmarks or targets.
Hospitals know that patient-experience metrics matter. What has been missing until now is a way to improve them.
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đ 4ïžâŁ You Can Have It All
Hospitals have long felt they had to choose: prioritize patient satisfaction or focus on performance. But the two are not in conflict. They reinforce each other.
When patients see their own anatomy in 3D, they understand.
When they understand, they trust.
When they trust, they stay.
Investing in tools that improve patient understanding is one of the rare strategies that strengthens both clinical quality and financial performance.
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White Paper: Impact of 3D Medical Imaging During Consultation
Discover how real-time 3D visualization improves communication, patient satisfaction, and surgical conversion rates.
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đ References (Verified)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (2024). Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program and HCAHPS: Patientsâ Perspectives of Care Survey.
https://www.cms.gov/medicare/quality/initiatives/hospital-quality-initiative/hcahps-patients-perspectives-care-survey - Deloitte (2014). The Value of Patient Experience: Hospitals with Better Experience Perform Better Financially. Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.
- Stewart, M.A. (1995). Effective PhysicianâPatient Communication and Health Outcomes. Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) 152(9): 1423â1433.
- Dwamena, F. et al. (2012). Interventions for Providers to Promote a Patient-Centred Approach in Clinical Consultations. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD003267.
Louis, R.G. et al. (2020).Impact of Neurosurgical Consultation with 360° Virtual Reality Technology on Patient Engagement and Satisfaction.Neurosurgery Open, 1(3). https://doi.org/10.1093/neuopn/okaa004
