E#32 | Krista Farrell, Neurology, Patient Safety, AI, Booking Hell & Future of Care | The Business of a Clinic

In this episode of The Business of a Clinic, Jared speaks with Dr Krista, a consultant neurologist and member of Coherent’s Medical Advisory Board, about what patient experience really means when you look beyond the consultation room.They discuss the day-to-day work of a neurologist, the hidden administrative machinery behind clinical care, why communication is often the biggest source of patient frustration, and why something as simple as booking an appointment can still involve days of back-and-forth emails.The conversation explores the tension between healthcare and technology: why patients want one-click access, why doctors are cautious about new tools, why patient safety slows adoption for good reason, and how AI, automation, triage, and ambient voice technology may reshape the future of care.They also discuss private practice, the non-clinical burden of running a healthcare business, why that burden may disproportionately affect female clinicians, and how hospitality, customer service, and relationship-building fit into modern healthcare.Chapters0:00 Pre-roll and setup1:20 Dr Krista’s background2:00 What a neurologist actually does5:31 The operational machinery behind clinical care7:20 Why admin is part of the standard of care8:07 Patient access, referrals, and knowing who to see10:00 Clinical care vs operational support12:35 How patient experience has changed14:50 Communication as the biggest source of complaints16:25 The one patient experience problem worth fixing17:11 One-click booking: click, booked, done18:51 The “to-and-fro” problem in healthcare booking20:45 Why healthcare still cannot book like e-commerce21:50 Referral triage, automation, and seeing the right doctor23:15 Cultural change in medicine25:41 Patient safety, skepticism, and why doctors move slowly27:16 Clinical habits, routines, and medical training28:25 Ambient voice technology and clinician identity30:10 The business side of private practice31:35 Why private practice can be harder for female clinicians34:38 The non-care parts of healthcare36:30 Hospitality and healthcare38:20 Feeling welcomed, looked after, and known39:12 Customer service, airlines, and healthcare logistics41:10 Safety as the baseline of care43:22 Restaurants, healthcare, and the experience around the core service44:55 When admin failures damage clinical care46:28 Who owns follow-up after the consultation?48:00 Patient responsibility, clinician responsibility, and systems49:55 Closing thoughtsThe Business of a Clinic explores how private healthcare clinics can grow by improving patient relationships, patient engagement, clinic operations, retention, follow-up, commercial systems, and the overall patient experience.