Miracles, not marketing metrics

In a world obsessed with customer ratings, NPS dashboards, and digital engagement, it’s easy to forget the real reason healthcare brands exist: to make people’s lives better.

In this week’s episode of The Experience Edge, Richard Schwartz—a seasoned customer experience leader in life sciences—challenges the pharmaceutical industry to move beyond metrics and remember its power to deliver not just products, but miracles.

Richard brings a refreshing, human-centered lens to a highly complex and often misunderstood industry. Drawing from years of experience working across pharma, providers, and patient journeys, he reveals the hard truths—and huge opportunities—for companies willing to rethink what customer experience really means.

• Pharma doesn’t make magic—it makes miracles

  Instead of benchmarking against Amazon or Disney, pharma should recognize its true superpower: curing disease, restoring life, and giving patients time. That’s not convenience. That’s something far greater.

• “Patient-centric” is broken

  Many companies say the words—but when asked to draw it, the brand is still at the center. Real patient-centricity requires understanding what people truly want, fear, and feel—and aligning every journey around them, not just their prescriptions.

• Compassion is the differentiator

  Empathy is observing. Compassion is doing. Richard argues for designing experiences that act on insight—because how you make patients feel is the product, and it has real clinical impact.

• AI will amplify your intent—for better or worse

  AI agents, predictive models, and data-driven journeys have incredible potential—but only if they’re used to simplify care, not just automate complexity. The future of health depends on pairing tech with trust.

• Start with the press release from the future

  Want to truly shift how patients experience your brand? Don’t start with tactics—start with the impact you want to make. If you had to report on your CX transformation two years from now, what would you be proud to write?

This episode isn’t just for healthcare leaders—it’s for anyone working at the intersection of experience, trust, and transformation. Richard’s take is bold, insightful, and exactly the kind of thinking pharma needs more of.

Listen now to hear how real change happens—not with better banners or smoother call centers, but with brave thinking and patient-first action.

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