2026 Best Patient Experience Solution

Putting Patients at the Center of Health Innovation.

The 2026 Best Patient Experience Solution Award recognizes a technology, product, platform, service, or initiative that creates a better healthcare experience for patients and the people supporting them.

This category celebrates solutions that make healthcare easier to access, understand, navigate, and manage. Eligible entries may improve communication, convenience, engagement, trust, personalization, care coordination, or another meaningful part of the patient journey.

The strongest entries will demonstrate a clear understanding of patient needs and show how the solution improved the real experience of receiving, accessing, or managing care during 2026.

What This Award Recognizes

This award recognizes a specific solution or initiative that removes friction and creates a more accessible, supportive, understandable, or responsive healthcare experience.

• Patient engagement and communication solutions
• Care navigation and healthcare access platforms
• Scheduling, registration, intake, and check-in technologies
• Patient education and health literacy tools
• Digital front doors and patient portal experiences
• Financial experience, billing, and payment solutions
• Personalized care and condition-management tools
• Caregiver and family support technologies
• Patient feedback, experience measurement, and service recovery solutions

Who Should Apply?

This category is open to companies, organizations, and teams improving the healthcare experience for patients, caregivers, or families. Eligible entrants may include:

• Digital health and patient engagement companies
• Care navigation and healthcare access platforms
• Virtual care and remote monitoring providers
• Hospitals, health systems, and provider organizations
• Health plans and employer health programs
• Healthcare financial technology companies
• Patient education and communication platforms
• Startups, established companies, nonprofit organizations, and industry partnerships

Organizations may enter directly or be submitted by an authorized representative, agency, communications partner, customer, or member of the solution team.

What Judges Will Look For

Entries will be evaluated based on the solution’s patient focus, usability, execution, evidence, and impact. Judges will consider:

• Patient-centered design: How effectively the solution reflects the needs, preferences, circumstances, and experiences of its intended users
• Usability: The clarity, accessibility, convenience, and ease of the patient experience
• Problem significance: The importance of the barrier, frustration, or unmet need the solution addresses
• Innovation: The originality or significance of the technology, service model, workflow, or approach
• Engagement and trust: The solution’s ability to help patients participate in care, understand information, communicate effectively, or feel supported
• Measurable impact: Credible evidence of improved access, satisfaction, engagement, adherence, outcomes, retention, or experience

Entry Schedule

• Entries Open: December 1, 2026
• Early Bird Deadline: January 15, 2027
• Final Entry Deadline: February 12, 2027
• Winner Announced: March 8, 2027

Entry Fees

• Early Bird Entry: $395
• Regular Entry: $495

Eligibility

• Open to companies, organizations, programs, partnerships, and teams worldwide
• The submitted solution must have a clear connection to the patient, caregiver, or family experience
• The solution may support any stage of the healthcare journey, including access, diagnosis, treatment, recovery, ongoing management, or payment
• The work must have been developed, launched, implemented, expanded, updated, or significantly advanced during the 2026 calendar year
• Solutions at different stages of maturity may enter when meaningful development, validation, adoption, or implementation can be demonstrated
• Supporting claims and results should be accurate and attributable to the submitted solution

What to Include in Your Entry

Entrants should clearly explain the patient experience challenge, the people affected, and the value delivered during 2026. Submissions should include:

• An overview of the solution and its intended patients, caregivers, or users
• The healthcare experience problem or point of friction it addresses
• A description of the technology, service, workflow, or initiative
• An explanation of how patients or caregivers informed its design or development where relevant
• Information about usability, accessibility, personalization, communication, or privacy where applicable
• Important development, launch, implementation, partnership, or adoption milestones from 2026
• Measurable results demonstrating improved access, engagement, satisfaction, adherence, outcomes, or experience
• Supporting links, demonstrations, feedback, reports, case studies, or customer examples

Entry fees are charged at submission and are non-refundable. Customer or client identity should be included in your submission. If you need names excluded from public materials, notify us in writing at the time of submission. By submitting, you agree to the Submission Guidelines, Privacy Policy, and Terms and Conditions. HealthTechNode Awards are independent and unaffiliated with other award programs.