Linda Martinez had called three times that week. Each time, she explained her mother's medication concerns to a different person. Each time, she was asked the same questions. Each time, the frustration deepened. Healthcare organizations face a critical challenge: patients are tired of repeating themselves. The issue isn't automating interactions; it's coordinating their completion. According to Forrester's comprehensive analysis in The Customer Experience Platforms for Healthcare Landscape, Q2 2024, this fragmentation isn't just a patient frustration—it's a systemic operational crisis threatening healthcare organizations' ability to compete.
Forrester's Q2 2024 landscape report and September 2024 Wave evaluation provide the most comprehensive analysis available on healthcare customer experience platforms. This summary is designed for healthcare executives, digital strategy leaders, and operations directors evaluating platforms to address patient experience fragmentation. You'll find research-backed insights on what differentiates effective CX platforms, how leading organizations are using them to compete against nontraditional providers, and specific criteria Forrester used to evaluate eight major vendors.
The Real Cost of Disconnected Patient Experiences
Healthcare organizations operate in what Forrester describes as an "increasingly complex and diverse healthcare ecosystem." The implications are stark:
Your systems don't talk to each other. Research shows that healthcare information systems create fragmented data silos that can exchange information with only limited providers, directly slowing treatment decisions and forcing manual data transfers that introduce errors. Nearly 1 in 5 patients report mistakes within their ambulatory visit notes due to these disconnected systems
Your patients are moving to competitors who make it easier. Bain & Company projects that by 2030, non traditional providers (including retailers, payers, and advanced primary care disruptors) will capture 30% of the U.S. primary care market. These competitors understand something fundamental: patient loyalty flows to organizations that eliminate friction, not add to it
Your staff spends time on data entry instead of patient care. When healthcare administrative costs account for approximately 8% of total healthcare spending, and much of that stems from manually transferring information between platforms, the operational inefficiency becomes a financial burden no practice can sustain long-term.
What Forrester's Research Reveals About Healthcare CX Platforms
Forrester defines customer experience platforms for healthcare as technologies that "orchestrate seamless, personalized healthcare experiences at every touchpoint." The research, which evaluated platforms using 33 specific criteria, emphasizes three critical capabilities:
Creating Value Beyond Transactions
Healthcare organizations drowning in data lack access to critical consumer information that exists outside electronic health records or claims history. Effective CX platforms acquire and transform key data into actionable insights with applications across multiple consumer and employee touchpoints.
Enabling Longitudinal Engagement
Scheduling an appointment or paying a bill doesn't create value; outcomes achieved over time do. At the heart of value creation lies deep understanding of each customer's unique needs and motivations, allowing organizations to deliver personalized, anticipatory experiences that evolve with changing priorities.
Providing Journey Visibility
Healthcare leaders have long struggled to piece together the full customer journey and measure intervention effectiveness due to fragmentation and disparate data. According to Forrester analyst Arielle Trzcinski, "Healthcare consumers expect a solution at first contact. Consumers' patience has worn thin, and the time for HCOs to act is now."
The Shift from Digital Front Doors to Sustained Engagement
Forrester's September 2024 evaluation, The Forrester Wave™: Customer Experience Platforms For Healthcare, emphasizes that narrow focus on the "digital front door" has yielded some success on customer acquisition but left much to be desired on the trust frontier.
The research makes clear: to earn trust, healthcare organizations must create value with customers. This requires:
Data ownership that empowers consumers: Platforms should leverage emotional peaks to nudge customers toward active involvement and better health management
Flexible search capabilities: Natural language understanding that reduces consumer frustration in critical care-finding journeys
Contextualized, personalized experiences: CX platforms must provide orchestration and dynamic guidance tailored to each individual
According to Forrester's November 2024 research, most consumers prefer to complete health-related activities (refilling prescriptions, finding doctors, checking symptoms) using web browsers or apps. Yet healthcare organizations must support customers with clear language, empathy, transparency, and ease. As the report notes, "healthcare delivery and services are full of roadblocks," and successful organizations will lead with digital-first experiences that give consumers control.
Why Customer Experience Directly Impacts Your Bottom Line
Forrester's 2024 U.S. Health Insurers Customer Experience Index Rankings revealed a sobering trend: the average CX Index score for health insurers dropped by 2.7 points, marking the third consecutive year of decline. Half of the brands experienced significant decreases in their scores.
Yet the research also confirms what forward-thinking organizations already know: firms that are customer-obsessed grow revenue, profit, and customer loyalty faster than their competitors. As Forrester VP Rick Parrish explains, "Brands want to create better experiences, and they realize that putting the customer at the center of their business is the way to do it."
Keona Health recognizes that healthcare organizations need more than point solutions. CareDesk addresses the operational realities Forrester highlights: the need for comprehensive patient profiles, seamless data integration, and experiences that reduce the burden on both patients and staff. Our platform uses advanced technology to coordinate completion across every patient touchpoint, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
From Fragmentation to Orchestrated Care
Linda finally reached someone at her mother's practice who had context. The conversation was different: no repeated questions, no transferring between departments, no starting over. The representative already knew about the medication concerns because the system connected her previous calls, her mother's health record, and the care team's notes into one coherent story.
This is what Forrester envisions for healthcare's future: platforms that transform scattered data points into unified patient experiences. Organizations that invest in customer experience platforms position themselves to thrive as healthcare continues its inevitable shift toward value-based care, consumerization, and digital-first engagement.
The question isn't whether healthcare will adopt comprehensive CX platforms. The question is whether your organization will lead this transformation, or be left explaining to patients why they need to repeat themselves one more time.
FAQ
What is a healthcare customer experience (CX) platform?
According to Forrester's Q2 2024 research, customer experience platforms for healthcare are technologies that orchestrate seamless, personalized healthcare experiences at every patient touchpoint. These platforms combine customer engagement and marketing functionalities with advanced data management and interoperability, elevated by analytics. They enable longitudinal mapping and integrated data that creates a clear picture of customers, their behavior, and campaign effectiveness.
Why are healthcare organizations investing in customer experience platforms now?
Healthcare organizations face increasing pressure from multiple directions. Bain & Company research indicates that by 2030, nontraditional providers including retailers and payers will capture 30% of the primary care market, forcing traditional providers to compete on patient experience. Additionally, Forrester reports that 44% of consumers now use wearables, smart devices, or medical devices to support their overall health, and most prefer completing health activities via web browsers or apps rather than phone calls. Organizations that fail to meet these digital-first expectations risk losing patients to competitors who eliminate friction in the care journey.
How do data silos impact patient experience and care quality?
Healthcare information systems create fragmented data silos that can exchange information with only limited providers, directly slowing treatment decisions and forcing staff into manual data transfers. Research published in the Journal of Information (2025) indicates that the lack of unified access points hinders timely clinical decision-making. HealthTech Magazine reports that nearly 1 in 5 patients experience mistakes within their ambulatory visit notes due to disconnected systems, and healthcare administrative costs account for approximately 8% of total healthcare spending, much of it attributable to managing fragmented data.
What criteria did Forrester use to evaluate healthcare customer experience platforms?
Forrester's September 2024 Wave evaluation assessed platforms using 33 specific criteria across current offerings, strategy, and market presence. The evaluation included eight vendors: b.well Connected Health, Fabric, League, Loyal, Medallia, Memora Health, Personify Health, and Smart Communications. Key criteria included the platform's ability to empower consumers to own their data, enable care search using natural language processing, leverage emotional peaks to drive patient engagement, and provide flexible, contextualized experiences that create sustained value beyond transactional interactions.
How are retail healthcare providers changing the competitive landscape?
Bain & Company's December 2024 updated forecast maintains that nontraditional providers will account for 30% of the primary care market by 2030, though the path has evolved. While some retailers like Walmart exited primary care after challenges, payer-owned primary care is expected to account for approximately 20% of the market by 2030. Research shows that less than one-third of consumers are currently likely to visit retail stores or pharmacies for primary care needs beyond vaccinations and common cold symptoms. However, retailers that align their clinical and business models, invest in brand evolution, and ensure appropriate healthcare expertise within their organizations remain positioned to capture market share through enhanced access and convenience.
What is the difference between digital front door strategies and comprehensive CX platforms?
Forrester's research emphasizes that narrow focus on the "digital front door" in healthcare has yielded some success on customer acquisition but has "left much to be desired on the trust frontier." Digital front door strategies typically address initial patient access: online appointment scheduling, patient portals, or telehealth entry points. In contrast, comprehensive CX platforms orchestrate sustained engagement across the entire patient journey, combining data from multiple sources to enable personalized experiences that evolve with patient needs. As Forrester notes, to earn trust and create value, healthcare organizations need platforms that deliver "more choice and personalization" while establishing "new ways of engaging consumers to drive acquisition, sustain engagement, differentiate their offerings, and (re-)establish trust."
How does advanced technology transform healthcare customer experience?
According to Forrester's Q2 2024 report, modern platforms enable healthcare organizations to move from data collection to truly data-driven care. These systems can automatically reconcile, normalize, and contextualize disparate data sources, creating intelligent coordination that connects scattered records into learning ecosystems. This allows healthcare organizations to identify patients at risk of adverse outcomes, reduce diagnostic time, improve precision, and deliver experiences that feel personalized rather than transactional. The technology serves as the mechanism that enables trust and completion, not the headline.
What metrics indicate successful CX platform implementation?
Forrester's Customer Experience Index measures real customer experiences based on quality, ease, and emotional impact of brand interactions. Organizations implementing comprehensive CX platforms report tangible benefits including: significantly fewer no-shows, faster patient check-ins, reduced readmissions, higher patient satisfaction scores (HCAHPS), and decreased operational costs from manual processes. Research indicates that duplicate medical records cost an average of $1,950 per patient per inpatient stay and more than $800 per emergency department visit: costs that unified data platforms can eliminate. Most importantly, Forrester's research confirms that "firms that are customer-obsessed grow revenue, profit, and customer loyalty faster than their competitors."
How do healthcare CX platforms address regulatory compliance and privacy?
Healthcare CX platforms must navigate complex regulatory frameworks including HIPAA requirements while enabling data interoperability. Effective platforms support open ecosystems with security protocols that protect patient information while allowing appropriate data flow among stakeholders including providers, payers, public health agencies, and patients themselves. The Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) has catalyzed health information sharing by establishing standards for secure, interoperable data exchange. Leading platforms incorporate consent and preference management that allows patients to control their data while ensuring organizations maintain compliance with evolving privacy regulations.
What should healthcare organizations consider when selecting a CX platform?
Forrester advises digital business and strategy leaders to evaluate platforms based on their organization's size, market focus, and specific use cases. Key considerations include: the platform's ability to integrate with existing electronic health records and hospital information systems, support for FHIR standards and open APIs, capabilities for natural language processing and flexible search, tools for measuring and improving patient journey visibility, scalability to support growth and changing care models, and the vendor's track record in healthcare-specific implementations. Organizations should also assess whether the platform enables value-based care models, provides actionable analytics, and supports multidisciplinary care team coordination: all critical capabilities as healthcare shifts from fee-for-service to value-based reimbursement.
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