Douglas Flora, Executive Medical Director of Yung Family Cancer Center at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, President-Elect of the Association of Cancer Care Centers, and Editor in Chief of AI in Precision Oncology, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Our ongoing exploration of the “other KPI” I wish we measured:
KPI #4: NET HOPE SCORE (NHS)
“Not “would you recommend us” but “do you feel guided? Do you feel held?”
Hope gets misunderstood in oncology. It’s not denial. Not optimism divorced from reality.
Hope is the quiet assurance that someone competent is guiding you forward. And won’t disappear.
Net Hope Score (NHS): is hope in your cancer center consistent—or does it depend on which door a patient walks through?
Hope isn’t inspirational posters. It’s system behavior. It’s continuity. The same oncologist who remembers what you discussed last visit. The same nurse navigator who answers when patients call. A phone number that doesn’t route to voicemail.
It’s competence made visible. Plans explained clearly. Next steps outlined before patients have to ask.
Clinicians who admit “I don’t know” when they don’t—then find out.
It’s presence. Someone who looks up from the computer. Who doesn’t rush the moment when a patient finally asks the question they’ve been carrying for days.
Hope scales. It doesn’t require heroic individuals. It requires reliable systems.
Intake processes that connect patients to their team on day one. Scheduling that protects continuity instead of optimizing for throughput alone. Communication protocols that close every loop.
Technology that prevents patients from falling through cracks. Portals designed for connection, not just information transfer.
What if we measured hope the way we measure satisfaction—but asked better questions?
Not “would you recommend us” but “do you feel guided? Do you feel held?”
That data would tell us something worth knowing. Give us something worth improving.
As leaders, we often focus on what we can control—wait times, quality metrics, financial margins. Those matter.
But hope is controllable too. Designable. Measurable. The question is whether we’re willing to track it.
Final call this week: what Other KPI do you wish your organization measured and actually addressed?
Share it below. I’m compiling everything for a reflection next week on my too ten “other kpi” from a of you.
Let’s build a dashboard that reminds us why we’re here? Then make 2026 the year we actually use it.”
More posts featuring Douglas Flora.