Let’s face it—today’s patients are flighty. They’re significantly more likely to switch practices than patients of just a few decades ago. In fact, experts estimate that one in three medical patients will leave their current provider within the next couple of years. A surprisingly large number of these are not switching due to insurance change or a household move, but because of unmet expectations. Driven by the experiences they’ve had in other industries, patients are looking for innovations and advances in their patient experience. Unfortunately, many providers are failing to meet these expectations.

Practices that ignore the needs of today’s patients will quickly lose them. These losses are extremely costly, with research showing that losing a patient due to dissatisfaction results in the loss of over $200,000 in income over the lifetime of a practice. Multiply that by the “one in three” patients who expect to switch practices and you can quickly see just how much those patient relationships are actually worth.

Read more: Medical Economics