Last week, we sat in a room full of healthcare leaders at the HIMSS conference in Dallas, discussing the patient journey experience. Here's what stood out: Nobody is debating whether AI belongs in the patient experience. Nobody is trying to rip out Epic. The real question is: how do you maintain a meaningful relationship with the patient when more and more of the journey runs through tools you don't fully control?
Here are three big questions we took away from HIMSS.
1. If AI is the new front door, is the house ready for visitors?
Every panelist agreed that AI is becoming the front door to the patient experience, if it isn't already. Patients now expect to start their care journey with a guided experience. They type symptoms into a checker, ask an assistant to find an orthopedist nearby, or book a visit through a chatbot at 11 p.m. For many, that first AI interaction is the first impression of your health system.
Here's the catch: these tools are only as good as the data behind them. Panelist Laura West called getting that data in order "cleaning the closet." An AI scheduling assistant can't route someone to the right provider if specialties are mislabeled. A location finder can't help if hours, parking, or accepted insurance are out of date. A symptom checker can't hand off gracefully if the service lines it points to don't match how your system is actually organized.
When that happens, AI doesn't hide the mess. It amplifies it, confidently and at scale. The unglamorous work of data governance is now patient experience work. It's the foundation every AI front door stands on.
2. When every road leads to Epic, how do you stand out?
Epic is the backbone of care for a huge share of health systems, and leaders aren't looking to replace it. They want Epic to do what it does best: run the clinical and operational engine reliably.
But when every competitor in your market runs on the same platform and funnels patients into the same experiences, the platform can't be your differentiator. What sets you apart are the moments around it. The welcome before a first visit. The clarity of a follow-up. The feeling that this system knows you and the family members you care for, not just the data in your chart.
Those moments matter more than ever because Net Promoter Score has become the common yardstick across the industry. Patients don't score the EHR. They score how the whole experience made them feel, and the branded, relational moments show up directly in that number.
Panelist Jeff Stuart from CHRISTUS Health raised a counterintuitive question: We usually design for "frictionless." What if a little friction is good?
Not friction that frustrates, like extra logins or dead ends. Intentional friction: a thoughtful pause that keeps patients in a branded, well-designed experience instead of gliding straight into a platform. A moment to confirm what they need, set expectations, or offer a personal touch before the handoff. That small pause can be what preserves the relationship. If every path drops patients instantly into a generic portal shared with every other provider, you've made the journey smoother and your brand invisible.
The goal isn't to slow people down. It's to decide deliberately which moments belong to your brand, and design those moments well.
3. When the platforms are mandated, who's designing the journey?
Salesforce for CRM. MyChart for the patient portal. Hello World for engagement. And now Emmie, Epic's AI virtual assistant, joining the mix. Each of these tools is powerful on its own, and more organizations are required to integrate them into their patient experiences and provider workflows.
But a tech stack isn't a patient strategy.
Patients don't experience platforms. They experience a journey: a reminder text, a portal login, a chatbot answer, a bill in the mail. When each tool is configured by a different team with different goals, the seams show. Tone shifts. Information repeats or contradicts. Patients get bounced between channels without knowing why.
Someone has to orchestrate what it means and how it feels to the person receiving care. That means owning the journey end to end, across every tool, not just optimizing each one in isolation.
Nowhere is this more urgent than billing, insurance, and cost estimates. They remain among the most confusing parts of healthcare. A patient might get an estimate from one system, a coverage question answered by another, and a bill from a third, none of which clearly agree. That confusion erodes trust fast, and it often lands at the very end of an otherwise good experience.
Orchestration here looks like:
- Consistent language and tone across every platform that touches money
- Clear handoffs, so patients always know where they are and what comes next
- Estimates, coverage, and bills that tell one coherent story
- A human path when the digital one runs out
The common thread: intention
AI front doors, Epic's expanding ecosystem, and a growing stack of mandated platforms are becoming table stakes.
What isn't table stakes is intention: the problem solving that happens before the build begins. Clean data before new doors. Branded moments chosen on purpose, even when that means a little friction. A single owner of the journey who cares how it all feels, especially when the conversation turns to cost.
The systems that get this right won't be the ones with the most tools. They'll be the ones that make patients feel known, guided, and cared for at every step.
Wrestling with these questions in your own organization? Let's talk about where your front door, your platforms, and your patient journey meet.