How healthcare wins with consumers who want more.

With consumerism on the rise, many hospitals are responding to high patient expectations by embracing a journey that "hard wires" a culture of service and operational excellence into their organizations. The "healthcare flywheel" describes a way to frame the process, by explaining how hospitals can harness employee passion for making a difference in patient lives to create self-sustaining momentum for change. Organizations can be guided in their journey by nine principles that align goals and measure results under five "pillars" to better set and respond to patient expectations, increase organizational focus on service and performance, measure performance against expectations, and create highly effective leaders. A brief case study of Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Health Care System is included to illustrate how consumer-driven initiatives also increase profitability.