Nick Cozzi, Aspiring CMO: ‘Patients Are Voting with Their Feet’

The med student, who already has his MBA, says during his peer presentation that competition for patients has never been stronger, putting a greater pressure on how providers deliver care.

Nick Cozzi, a rising physician leader who graduates from med school at Central Michigan University next week, said during his peer presentation today that health delivery directly impacts brand loyalty – for patients, providers and ancillary staff.

The objective, Nick Cozzi says, is to make every patient feel special – but that physician leaders should treat employees as well as they treat patients. | AAPL

“Patients are voting with their feet,” says Cozzi, who at age 27 already has his MBA, is co-founder of the web portal ShareCase, and aspires to be a CMO.

“With the ever-increasing volume of hospitals acquiring others and merging to form bigger health systems, there is competition for patients unlike ever before. The disruption is coming from how we deliver care, the ways we are integrating customer service tenets, and the understanding that our job is to exceed patient’s expectations – because we are always onstage …. this idea is disrupting how we do business.”

This is a message, Cozzi says, that is emphasized at Mayo Clinic, where he’s worked as a research trainee and which encourages physicians and staff to be the organization’s ambassadors: “We are judged by your performance. We are the care you give, the attention you pay, and the courtesies you extend.”

The objective, Cozzi says, is to make every patient feel special – but that physician leaders should treat their employees as well as they treat their patients. Brand loyalty applies to both.