Putting Patient Care First – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1120

Putting Patient Care First – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1120

Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1120 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here.

Credit: Jeff Yen

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Preamble

Healthcare is a science—but at its core, it remains profoundly human. However, in Pakistan and elsewhere, healthcare has become a great commercial commodity. Though the patient is the central figure who keeps the private healthcare machine running and making huge profits with his money, but unfortunately, he/she is the most exploited in every manner. The story of public healthcare is even more heartbreaking because the patient is made to realize that he/she is using public funds and has no right to complain about anything.  In this backdrop of utter despondency, the thoughts expressed below are truly refreshing and reassuring. 

In a recent episode of McKinsey on Healthcare, Drew Ungerman, senior partner at McKinsey, emphasizes that elevating patient care isn’t just a moral imperative—it’s the foundation of a truly effective healthcare system.

Start with Patients at the Center

Ungerman states, “Ultimately, it’s people taking care of people”. Yet all too often, systems prioritize structural incentives—billings, reimbursements, organizational silos, over genuine patient well‑being. To realign priorities, healthcare leaders must root decisions in the patient's experience: accessibility, responsiveness, and dignity.

Imagine this: A patient waits days to see a specialist. They go through confusing paperwork, redundant intake forms, and no clear follow‑up plan. Their visit ends, but without coordinated transitions of care, their recovery, and trust can decline.

This is the usual scenario for a healthcare visit in any developed country. Simplifying this chain, seamless access, timely appointments, intentional follow‑up is where real impact lies. It’s not glamorous, but it’s essential.

Shift from "Sick Care" to "Health Care"

The current U.S. system leans heavily toward treating illness rather than maintaining health. Ungerman calls it out: “We need to move from a ‘sick care’ industry to a true ‘health care’ industry”.

This means focusing not only on the one percent of time patients spend in a facility, but on the 99 percent spent at home—managing lifestyle, mental health, nutrition, chronic conditions, and prevention. Preventive care, vaccines, screenings, and wellness must be woven into care delivery.

Health systems that build digital platform outreach, remote monitoring, and community-based follow-ups can begin to fill these gaps and help patients stay well before illness sets in.

Care That Adds “Life to Years”

Ungerman highlights that while life expectancy has increased by about 20 years in recent decades, quality of life hasn’t kept pace. Patients living longer can still suffer from chronic pain, mobility challenges, mental isolation, and functional decline. Real success for healthcare isn’t longevity alone—it’s enhancing everyday life. This means reorienting teams around functional outcomes:

 Can patients walk without pain?

 Are they socially connected and mentally resilient?

 Are they able to enjoy their daily routines?

Feeling well, not just alive, is the medicine’s true return on investment.

A Human Experience First

Most medical interactions are motivated by need, not desire. Patients rarely enter expecting joy. Instead, they come in vulnerable and often frustrated by access barriers.

He states: “When people interact with the healthcare system, they’re vulnerable. We must recognize the experience with healthcare is different from other industries”.

The takeaway? Hospitals and clinics must think beyond clinical protocols:

 Are intake processes patient‑friendly?

 How is wait‑time perception managed?

 Do care teams follow-up with empathy?

It's not just about preventing infections or saving costs. It's about dignity, empathy, and trust.

Scale Patient-Focused Innovations

Ungerman acknowledges that some clinics have redesigned scheduling systems, digital check-in kiosks, or unified care teams—and seen improved satisfaction. But scaling these pilots into consistent, system-wide practices presents the greatest challenge. Leaders must look beyond experimenting toward:

Proving ROI and patient outcomes for scalable solutions.

 Embedding tools and training into standard operating procedures.

 Eliminating gaps so the entire organization embodies patient‑centric culture.

Every department must perform in unison like a symphony, otherwise, orchestra falls apart.

Leadership with Dual-Track Focus

Healthcare leaders must run today’s operations and build tomorrow’s systems.

1. Teams handling immediate concerns—ER flow, staffing, patient backlog.

2. Teams strategizing longer-term innovation—AI diagnostics, remote care, value-based models.

Leaders must “knit” these threads tightly together. One without the other leads to crisis fatigue, disconnected strategy, and lost patient focus.

Make Crisis Mode the Normal Mode

One silver lining coming out of the pandemic? Healthcare learned to operate more agilely and transparently under intense pressure. Leaders made rapid decisions, gathered data daily, and prioritized communication.

Applying these habits beyond crisis time shall keep the healthcare system robust and efficient.

 Regular huddles with frontline staff.

 Leading with candid data, not assumptions.

 Cutting noise: focus on what directly improves the patient experience.

Crisis-driven agility doesn’t have to be occasional—it should be expected.

Technology That Enhances Human Care

Role of technology is very important but human judgment always comes first. AI can flag high-risk patients earlier, automation can replace laborious paperwork, and Chatbots can free clinicians to be present at the bedside.

The goal? Let tech do the "busywork" so clinicians can do what people do best: heal, console, and connect. Ungerman emphasizes: “Its role is not to take away the job of a nurse … but to supplement them and allow them to spend more time at the bedside”.

The promise of innovation must be matched by ethical review committees, human-in-the-loop safeguards, and ongoing data integrity audits.

Extending Access & Reducing Disparities

When asked for a final wish, Ungerman said he would “improve access to high‑quality care regardless of where someone is born or the means they have”.

Today's zip code still too often predicts life expectancy. To revolutionize patient care, systems must expand telehealth and digital outreach, partner with public health and community groups, champion equity in prevention, chronic disease, and mental health, and deliver care everywhere, not just for those closest to a clinic.

Sum Up

For too long, healthcare has been over-engineered, bureaucratic, and clinician-centric. Ungerman’s message reminds us that everything worth building—value-based models, AI tools, hybrid care must start with one question:

“Does this improve the patient’s experience and outcomes?”

Patient care is not just an item in a corporate vision board. It’s the bedrock of long-term viability, innovation, resilience—and ultimately, what makes healthcare a calling instead of a commodity.

If leaders baked patient-first thinking into strategy, operations, tech, and culture, they would build a system that heals better, treats smarter, and leaves no one behind.

Concluded.

Disclaimers: Pictures in these blogs are taken from free resources at Pexels, Pixabay, Unsplash, and Google. Credit is given where available. If a copyright claim is lodged, we shall remove the picture with appropriate regrets.

For most blogs, I research from several sources which are open to public. Their links are mentioned under references. There is no intent to infringe upon anyone’s copyrights. If, any claim is lodged, it will be acknowledged and recognized duly.

Reference:

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/drew-ungerman-on-patient-centric-care-leadership-and-technology?stcr=205BE0D886584554BBF0FA3CDF7DF9A0&cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck&hlkid=0d102ec3a8dc4eaf821803590d683a0d&hctky=15999472&hdpid=0297fd6b-b2e2-4179-983f-71b506e90e3a

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