Clay LinkousCo-founder, Linkous Solutions · International Speaker, Executive Coach, and Facilitator / Champion of Physicians, Leadership, the Human Experience, SDOH, Vulnerable Populations, & Neurodiversity.

#PatientExperience #HealthcareLeadership #HospitalAdministration #ExecutiveStrategy

31 Aug 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:16

In this brief video, Clay Linkous critiques the reliance on industry best practices in healthcare, arguing that they only ensure average performance and keep organizations stuck in the middle of the pack. While acknowledging that best practices serve as a baseline to limit variation and prevent falling behind, he emphasizes that truly exceptional patient care arises when clinical teams are empowered to innovate and create genuine human connections—elements that no template can prescribe. He challenges viewers to consider how they encourage their teams to move beyond standard operating procedures and invites them to share their experiences or advice in the comments.

Chapters

You know, I love to talk about industry best practices just as much as the next person in healthcare, but, you know, following these best practices actually only guarantees us one thing, and that's average performance. So best practices are important. They just are really the baseline prescriptions for what all other health systems are doing to, you know, limit variation, and they keep us from falling behind. So they're important, but when our entire patient experience strategy is built only on copying someone else's playbook, we actually end up working twice as hard just to stay in the middle of the pack. So exceptional patient care isn't just built on standard operating procedures. It actually happens when we empower our clinical teams to innovate and create these genuine moments of human connection that no template can really prescribe. So how are we encouraging our teams to go beyond just basic best practices to really create standout patient experiences. I wonder what your experience or advice is on this topic. Drop your thoughts in the comments below.