Hospital Parking
Hospital parking combines the inherent stress of finding a regular parking space with the gripping anxiety of health concerns. This combination can result in a melting pot of frayed nerves threatening to boil over at the slightest provocation. Under these circumstances, the potential damage to the patient experience from even minor inefficiencies can be profound.
Service providers of all industries and sizes are caught in a world where bad experiences and the internet co-exist. Approximately 31 percent of internet users actively share their negative consumer experiences online — and thanks to its quick-fire interface and train-of-thought mimicry, Twitter has become a popular tool for airing complaints.
A modest number of tweets can leave a considerable impression on your target market. A Dimensional Research study sponsored by Zendesk discovered that 86 percent of consumers said they’d been dissuaded from a purchase after seeing a negative review online. Conversely, 90 percent said positive reviews had led them to engage with a specific brand.
There are now over 74.5 million Twitter users across North America (over 67 million in the U.S., and around 7.5 million in Canada.) Naturally, not all of them can be pleased at all times — particularly when it comes to the less-than-thrilling experience of hospital parking. However, there are many instances where negative experiences — and tweets — can be avoided.
Here are five tweets about healthcare parking and how to avoid them.
1. Too Long to Park
The struggle to find on-campus parking has morphed into somewhat of an urban myth. Nonetheless, some patients and visitors do still struggle to find suitable parking at their chosen healthcare provider’s site.
In a marketplace where consumers are more likely to ditch their healthcare provider than an airline after a bad experience, an avoidable scenario like this requires immediate attention. Luckily, it can be fixed quickly, easily, and with minimal capital output.
Tips to Avoid This Twitter Complaint
- Minimize reserved parking. Reserved spaces rarely meet their usage potential, leaving patients needlessly blocked from empty parking spaces. If a paid parking system is in place, reserved parking can also cap revenue potential.
- Configure your on-campus traffic flow using appropriate signage and directional support. This ensures the complementary use of all parking areas on-site and an optimum mix of staff, patients, and visitors.
- If your facility’s parking is free, consider an appropriately benchmarked pricing plan. There is a distinct possibility that drivers are using your hospital’s parking facility because it’s free, and not because they require clinical care. A nominal charge — or even a dynamic pricing plan — helps to ensure that your parking asset is properly utilized by your desired end user.
2. Not Enough Accessible Spaces
This tweeter did a good deed, but it’s a scenario that could have been avoided.
Tips to Avoid This Twitter Complaint
- Find out if there are enough accessible spaces at your healthcare facility by asking a professional to conduct a usage audit for you. An audit shows how effectively parking spaces are being used, and can help determine if more accessibility parking is required.
- If the supply of accessibility parking is deficient, maximizing your parking asset’s capacity will allow you to effectively meet demand.
Techniques for capacity maximization can include introducing a shuttle service, valet-stacking service, or employee initiative for public transit use. Such amenities have the added benefit of improving your facility’s overall accessibility, as they allow patients and visitors to reach a hospital entrance in as few steps as possible.
3. Too Many Accessible Spaces
A commonly discredited problem, having too many accessible parking spaces can cause significant operational problems.
Tips to Avoid This Twitter Complaint
- Ensure your parking operator conducts regular reviews of your parking facility. This will identify whether your facility has a sufficient supply of every type of parking space needed to meet demand.
- As before, capacity maximizing amenities like shuttle and valet may help. Both services can reduce entry/exit times and provide a superior service to the full spectrum of patients and visitors.
4. Construction Woes
As discussed in our recent wayfinding post, healthcare facilities are living, breathing buildings that need to grow as demand swells. Inevitably, growth requires construction — your parking facility included.
Tips to Avoid This Twitter Complaint
- Avoid patient and visitor inconvenience by informing your parking operator of scheduled construction as soon as possible. This allows them to review your current parking operations and consider if temporary measures, such as diversions, flaggers, etc. are required.
- Review your facility’s ingress/egress patterns and on-campus vehicular flow. On-campus congestion can impede patients’ ability to navigate your parking facility quickly, causing them to be late to appointments and thus negatively impacting the efficiency of your facility’s clinical care.
- A short-term valet-stacking service (if not already offered) or leasing an additional, off-site surface lot with a complimentary shuttle service may also help. These provisions offset reduced on-campus capacity and preserve the consumer experience.
5. Post-Construction Woes
There’s a fine line between bold and modern design, and what is perceived to be economically unjustifiable. This is particularly salient if your facility charges for parking, as patients and visitors may be more inclined to view your architectural brilliance with a critical lens.
Tips to Avoid This Twitter Complaint
- Avoid negative feedback on million-dollar construction projects by consulting with your parking operator in the design and construction phases of your new facility. Using their wealth of experience, your parking operator can guide you to a functional yet aesthetically pleasing facility blueprint.
- Your operator can also help you to create a sustainable parking facility, which can reduce operating costs — benefiting both your facility and its users — and help you to achieve LEED or Parksmart
Impark HEALTH has operated healthcare parking facilities across North America for over 30 years. We interact with patients more than 15 million times a year within our portfolio of over 250 healthcare sites. As a result, we’ve accumulated a wealth of knowledge, skills, and experience needed to manage campuses safely, soundly, and with superior customer service. Get in touch to see how we can help you.
