Improved Patient Outcomes Start with Great Quality of Care in the Front Office of Health Facilities

Consistency across thirteen urgent care clinics does not happen by accident. In Tucson, patients were walking into the same brand but leaving with very different experiences, and the gap had little to do with clinical skill. The real issue sat at the front desk, where uneven processes and unclear expectations shaped how every visit began. Fixing the patient experience meant fixing operations and culture first.

Steven Finch is an Area Operations Leader at NextCare and a healthcare operations executive with more than 20 years of experience leading multi-site ambulatory, outpatient, and specialty care organizations. Over the course of his career, he has guided performance improvement initiatives, operational turnarounds, and sustainable growth strategies, with a focus on aligning culture, process, and frontline execution to elevate the patient experience. He believes that turning culture into results requires structural change.

"Patient experience starts with the front office. They’re the face of the company, and they can make or break that visit no matter what happens after," he says. Finch quickly realized that in Tucson, the problem wasn’t clinical but operational. Each clinic was staffed with capable medical professionals, but processes varied from site to site, creating inconsistencies for patients. For many healthcare leaders, the operational side of the business can feel like a “foreign language,” especially in fast-growing networks where systems haven’t kept pace with expansion.

• The people-person test: His approach to the fix is a three-part overhaul of the front office. First: rebuild the interview process from the ground up, designing it to find people genuinely suited for the role. "The patient experience standpoint is extremely important because that's our brand. So it doesn't work well when you take someone from a back-office role pushing paperwork and put them upfront dealing with people all day. We needed to find a true ‘people person’ who wants to be in that position."

• Coaching by the numbers: But hiring is only half the battle. The second part is focused on training. Using tech-forward leadership tools, Finch is implementing a phone tracking system as a pipeline for supportive coaching rather than a disciplinary tool. He supplements that coaching with proactive training, including mock calls to help staff become more comfortable and resourceful. "We use our phone tracking system as a coaching tool to identify who needs more help. The change has been huge," he shares. "We went from 20 questionable calls a day down to maybe one."

• An empathetic check-in: Finally, by allowing patients to submit feedback during their visit, his team gets immediate, actionable data. The real-time system allows managers to identify and address issues instantly and turn a potential complaint into a supportive check-in. "We get patient feedback in real-time, so I can reach out to a manager and address an issue right away. It could be that someone in the front office is just having a bad day and is really needing a check-in."

All of these clever operational tweaks are the direct result of a core philosophy that the internal culture you create for your team ultimately influences the quality of customer service patients receive. Finch lives by the idea that every employee is "someone's child" who deserves to be treated with care. That belief in a positive organizational culture where people feel secure serves as the foundation of his entire strategy.

• Servant leadership solution: Finch describes himself as a servant leader, a model he actively coaches his own managers to adopt. The ultimate goal is to create an environment of psychological safety where employees feel empowered to both identify problems and propose solutions. "I don't want people walking on eggshells at work, wondering when they'll be written up next," he says. "I want employees to feel safe enough to both identify issues and propose solutions. When that happens, you see the culture, accountability, and ownership flourish."

• In the trenches: “If your teams do not trust you, the whole thing will fall apart. They need to believe you have their best interests at heart and that you are in the trenches with them,” he says. That trust is reinforced through structured rounding and direct feedback loops. “Ask your team what you can do better as a leader, what you can do more of, and how you can support them. That is where servant leadership comes from, and it works.”

Finch is quick to clarify that a people-first culture isn’t a soft strategy, but a powerful financial tool. In an industry where turnover is one of the largest expenses, good leadership has measurable consequences. Research shows servant leadership can lead to reduced turnover and stronger employee engagement, making culture not just a moral choice but a strategic investment.

For the NextCare leader, it comes down to responsibility. “It’s not about being in charge of them, but recognizing that they are in your charge,” he says, and creating a distinction that reframes leadership as stewardship. When employees feel supported, better culture, accountability, and performance follow. “When it comes to leadership, the biggest point is making sure your team feels cared for. If you can do that, you’re already winning.”