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Highlights
Breaking Healthcare’s Loyalty Problem: How Amenities Health is Rethinking Patient Experience
Healthcare systems have a $1 million lifetime value per patient, yet they treat customers “like garbage.” This stark contrast caught Aasim Saeed‘s attention during his time at McKinsey, eventually leading him to found Amenities Health. In a recent Category Visionaries episode, Aasim shared how his company is tackling healthcare’s loyalty crisis through a radically different approach to patient experience.
Finding the Core Problem
After four years leading innovation at Baylor Scott & White Health, Aasim identified a fundamental gap: healthcare systems don’t compete on experience. “Nothing about how you picked your doctor was because you thought that doctor is going to give me the best experience,” he explains.
Through 6,000 patient surveys, Amenities Health discovered that not a single patient remained loyal to one healthcare brand over a two-year period. This fragmentation represents a massive opportunity – Aasim estimates that capturing just 10% market share could be worth “$100 million new that year.”
The Product-First Approach
Unlike many healthcare CEOs, Aasim spends half his time with the product team. This focus stems from his belief that healthcare technology needs to be dramatically better than existing solutions: “You have to be undeniably ten times better. If you do what Epic does with one feature and it’s a little bit better, you will never make a sale in this industry.”
This high bar for improvement shapes Amenities Health’s strategy. Rather than building multiple features with incremental improvements, they focus on solving core friction points in the patient experience. Their research revealed that cost uncertainty, not physical experience, was patients’ biggest pain point: “The number one problem in US healthcare today for patients is cost. It’s the fear of bankruptcy.”
Differentiated Brand Strategy
While most healthcare startups mirror their enterprise customers’ conservative branding, Amenities Health deliberately stands apart. “Healthcare is really bad at experience… If we’re coming in and we’re saying we’re really great at experience, why would we want to look as awful as healthcare does?”
This differentiation extends beyond aesthetics. Amenities Health is building a lifestyle brand that fills experience gaps their customers acknowledge they can’t address internally. As Aasim notes, “We’re not trying to be just what our conservative market may look like… we fill in the experience gap that you are missing.”
Product-Market Fit in Enterprise Healthcare
For founders entering healthcare, Aasim emphasizes validating market demand before building: “Sell it before you build it. Anything can be built… Most things can’t be sold like that’s actually – people don’t often think of it like that’s the harder part.”
This is particularly crucial given healthcare’s 6-18 month sales cycles. “Finding product market fit when you’re at enterprise is so hard because the end is so small, the dollars are so big and the trends are subjective,” Aasim explains.
Looking Ahead
Amenities Health’s vision extends beyond improving patient experience – they aim to fundamentally reshape how healthcare systems think about loyalty. By introducing membership models and guarantees around pricing transparency and satisfaction, they’re bringing proven consumer loyalty tactics to an industry that’s never properly valued customer retention.
For technical founders entering healthcare, Aasim’s journey offers crucial lessons: focus on solving one problem exceptionally well, validate market demand before building, and don’t be afraid to stand out in an industry resistant to change. Most importantly, remember that in healthcare, “better” isn’t enough – you need to be dramatically better to drive adoption.
Actionable
Takeaways
Sell Before You Build:
Focus on validating market demand and achieving product-market fit by selling your concept before investing heavily in development. In healthcare, where sales cycles can be lengthy, this validation is crucial to ensure that there's a genuine need for your solution.
Passion and Alignment Are Key to Fundraising:
When seeking investment, it's not just about convincing any investor; it's about finding investors who share your passion and vision for the problem you're solving. Those who align with your mission are more likely to invest early on, making the fundraising process more efficient.
Focus on Experience to Differentiate:
In industries notorious for poor customer experiences, like healthcare, focusing on creating a markedly better user experience can be a significant differentiator. Think about how you can make the service or product not just better, but ten times better, to stand out.
Utilize Technology to Improve Operational Efficiency:
Leveraging technology, such as AI or digital platforms, can streamline operations and improve the customer experience. However, ensure that these technological solutions are addressing a clear need and are significantly better than existing solutions.
Build a Brand That Reflects Your Mission:
Your branding and marketing should communicate not just what you do, but why you do it. In sectors with traditionally conservative branding, like healthcare, a unique and compelling brand identity can make your company stand out and resonate more deeply with your target audience.
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