Trust is the foundation of growth in urgent care. It directly shapes patient experiences, strengthens staff engagement, and drives long-term business success. True trust goes beyond goodwill—it’s built on credibility, reliability, intimacy, and low self-orientation, each influencing how patients perceive their care journey.
Why Does Trust Matter in Urgent Care?
Establishing and maintaining trust impacts every part of an urgent care operation — from the first online booking to the final follow-up. When patients trust your center, they’re more likely to return, leave positive reviews, and recommend your services. Likewise, when staff trust leadership, communication improves, burnout decreases, and the overall patient experience strengthens.
What Is the Trust Equation?
At Solv, we reference the Trust Equation, which defines trust as:
Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy ÷ Self-Orientation
This formula highlights that genuine trust relies not just on doing good work but also on communicating openly, staying dependable, and maintaining empathy.
The “trust box” concept emphasizes constructive candor, the ability to give and receive feedback in good faith. In healthcare, this dynamic fosters stronger relationships between patients, staff, and leadership.
How Does Trust Improve Patient and Staff Relationships?
In a constantly changing healthcare environment, trust allows honest feedback to flow freely.
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Patients feel heard when their input is genuinely considered and acted upon.
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Providers feel empowered to voice challenges and needs.
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Leadership can respond effectively, creating a cycle of continuous improvement.
When trust breaks down, feedback can be misinterpreted or ignored, leading to disengagement, inefficiency, and a weaker patient experience.
Introducing the Trust Equation Checklist for Urgent Care
The Trust Equation Checklist is a practical tool for evaluating how well your center embodies the four components of trust—reliability, credibility, intimacy, and self-orientation—across daily operations.
Reliability
- Do you honor your service commitments?
- Are you open during your advertised hours of operation?
- Do you accept advertised insurance?
- Do you provide the healthcare services that you have on your website?
Credibility
- Do you do what you say and say what you do?
- Do you provide high-quality medical services that are respected and highly reviewed?
- Is there anything that could be perceived as misleading by patients on any of your digital properties? For instance, do you advertise offering X-Ray and laceration services but are unable to provide them?
Intimacy
- Does your staff have adequate support, culture, and resources to, in turn, show up in an empathetic way to your patients? (When you take care of your people, they will take the best care of your patients.)
- Does your staff represent the community that they serve in race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation? (Your patients will feel greater intimacy and therefore trust when they see themselves reflected in your staff and providers.)
Self Orientation
- Again, does your team have adequate support, culture, and resources to show up to their patients with appropriate self-orientation?
- Is your staff projecting their own stress, burnout, and desire to get off of their shift onto patients? If so, it can cause low-fidelity patient visits that do not encourage long-lasting trust-based relationships.
Why the Trust Equation Checklist Matters
The Trust Equation Checklist helps urgent care centers evaluate and strengthen the four dimensions of trust—reliability, credibility, intimacy, and self-orientation. By assessing these areas, leaders can uncover gaps, improve consistency, and create a more trustworthy and connected environment for both patients and staff.
Discover more about how you can support your clinic with tools to increase visits, improve staff efficiency, and deliver a 5-star patient experience.
