What Cancer Care Can Learn From Ritz-Carlton, Apple and Amazon
I know. Healthcare is different. You can’t compare it to hotels or retail. The stakes are life-and-death. The regulations are real. Patients don’t choose to “consume” cancer care, they’re thrown into it.
Still, healthcare is a complex service industry that requires coordination, empathy, clarity and logistics. There are other industries and companies who have already mastered those disciplines. We can borrow what works to improve cancer care.
Let’s dive into three examples.
The Ritz-Carlton: Empower your front-line workers and treat customers with respect
Ritz-Carlton has a principle: every employee is allowed to spend up to $2,000 per guest per incident to solve problems or create magical experiences. No manager approval is required.
Why would they do that? Because trust and empowerment create remarkable service. Employees who can act immediately to solve problems in turn create loyal, satisfied customers.
What if every cancer center employee (from schedulers to medical assistants to nurses) had discretionary authority to solve patient problems immediately?
Cancer patients have countless needs beyond medical treatment: transportation assistance, meal vouchers, interpreter services, accommodations for family members, scheduling and more.
Hospitality-inspired care says: “Let me solve that for you.” For example, a scheduler notices the patient is calling from two hours away and has an appointment in one hour. Let’s empower them to offer a telemedicine option or reschedule with an added note to the provider about potential access barriers.
We spoke with the Vice Chair of Pelotonia and Former CEO of the Livestrong Foundation, Doug Ulman, who shared: “We hired several people from the Four Seasons Corporation. They were phenomenal - trained in hospitality and service. They transformed how we interacted with cancer patients and survivors. The approach resonated strongly with our community.”
The Ritz-Carlton obsesses over arrival and departure, since first and last impressions matter most.
In healthcare, the first encounter is often: Park in a confusing garage → Navigate unclear signage → Wait in line at reception for way longer than planned → Fill out redundant paperwork → Wait in generic waiting room around a lot of sick, frustrated people.
Last encounter: Discharged with confusing instructions → Handed stack of papers → “Schedule follow-up with this number” → Good luck.
In 5-star hospitality…
Upon arrival you are greeted by your name, luggage is handled, room is ready, preferences are remembered and any problems from previous stay are already resolved.
When you leave, checkout is seamless (often automatic), transportation is arranged and “How was everything?” feedback is solicited.
If we were to translate Ritz-Carlton’s process…
First cancer center visit:
Pre-arrival: Appointment confirmed, directions sent, parking validated in advance, paperwork completed online
Arrival: Greeted by name, minimal wait (appointments start on time due to smart scheduling), comfortable private areas for difficult conversations
During: Staff introduces themselves, explains what’s happening at each step in clear terminology, anticipates questions
Discharge/Follow-up:
Clear written and verbal instructions (not medical jargon)
Follow-up appointment already scheduled before the patient leaves
Contact information for questions is provided (and someone actually answers)
Navigator calls 24-48 hours later to check in and address concerns
Paperwork organized and explained, not just handed over
Apple: Radical simplicity and human-centered design
Walk into any Apple store and you will find it clean and uncluttered. The staff is there to educate rather than sell. The Genius Bar treats existing customers just as well as potential new buyers.
Apple realized technology is intimidating. They remove intimidation through design, education, and support.
Cancer care is incredibly complex. Most patients have no medical background. We overwhelm them with:
Medical jargon (metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas with liver involvement)
Treatment options requiring impossible decisions
Financial complexity (insurance codes, copays, out-of-network limitations)
Coordination across multiple doctors
What if a cancer center treated everyone like Apple treats its customers. Cancer would be:
Simple: Explain medical information in plain language. Provide written summaries after every visit. “Here’s what we found, here’s what it means, here’s what we recommend and here’s why.”
Educational: Create interactive tools, videos and real access to nurse educators who answer questions without billing for a visit.
Seamless to coordinate: Single point of contact (navigator) who coordinates everything. Patients shouldn’t need to manage their own care team.
Supportive: Have a question between visits? Here is a nurse advice line that actually answers. Small issues are handled via telemedicine, with no need to come in.
Delivered in a welcoming environment: Treatment spaces that don’t feel clinical, with natural light, comfortable furniture, art, music, amenities. Chemo doesn’t need to be delivered in a room with fluorescent lighting.
Amazon: Visibility and Predictability
Here is what Amazon does exceptionally well:
Tracking: You know exactly where your package is, when it will arrive, and you can change delivery preferences easily.
Defaults that work: One-click ordering, saved preferences, “customers who bought X also bought Y,” automatic re-ordering.
Proactive communication: Email updates at every stage, when your product is ordered, shipped, out for delivery, delivered.
Simple problem resolution: Something went wrong? Click button, replacement shipped immediately, no questions asked.
If cancer care took a page out of Amazon’s playbook, we would have:
Tracking: Imagine a portal that shows “Your biopsy is being analyzed (2-3 days until results) → Results are available → Appointment scheduled for discussion → Treatment plan finalized → First treatment scheduled.” Patients deserve complete visibility into where they are in the care journey, what’s happening and what’s next.
Defaults that work: System remembers preferences (preferred appointment times, language needs, family members involved in care) and applies them automatically.
Proactive communication: Automated but personalized messages: “Your appointment is tomorrow at 2pm. Here’s what to expect and what to bring.” “Time to schedule your 6-month follow-up scan. Click here to book.”
Simple problem resolution: Something wrong? Portal message with a live agent or phone call to a navigator, with the problem solved within 24 hours. No more “call this number, leave voicemail, wait 3 days.”
The goal here is to translate, not copy. These companies empower their workers, deliver their services with the end customer in mind and do it all in a transparent, seamless manner.
Let’s acknowledge where our friction points are and how we can redesign around them. There is an opportunity to make cancer care efficient, simple and transparent.
Comedy!
For how good technology has gotten, it is wild that my phone can’t smoothly switch from my home WiFi to Cellular when I walk outside of my house.
My phone can track my location in real time while going 65 mph on a highway. It knows how many steps I took yesterday. But I walk outside my house, going a cool 2 mph… and my phone’s like “Woah woah okay, now this is a new situation. Where’d the ceiling go?”
Your phone never fully commits to 5 bars out of the gate. It knows you are going somewhere exciting and wants to potentially be a part of it. But, it doesn’t really know what to do right now.
It’s like a Silicon Valley VC firm. It will give you some signals. No full commitment, just a couple bars, which are mostly decorative. Then it says things like, “We’re very excited about where this connection is headed. Just don’t move too fast please. There’s a lot happening right now. What is that, wind?!”
It always uses that moment of confusion to try to distract me… “Btw while I’m figuring this out, want to update to iOS 18.3.4?” No, I want to get directions to the coffee shop, I don’t need new emojis.
It happens every single time I leave my home WiFi. You’d think it would learn. But the next day, “Oh, we’re doing this again? Dude, that was a whole thing for me to figure out yesterday.”
Asks
What’s the most broken part of the oncology workflow that nobody is fixing yet?
If this newsletter resonates, please forward it to one person who cares about the future of cancer care.
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