Each week we email a tip or news that we are covering in Strategic Health Care Marketing. You can view the archives of this weekly ezine below.
“Growth is important for every organization,” says Daniel Fell of Optum. “Whether it’s for-profits or not-for-profits, start-ups or established market leaders, every business depends on some level of growth to succeed in the near term. Growth is also essential to long-term sustainability, especially when navigating dynamic markets and overcoming unforeseen market disruptions.” Here’s an excerpt Read More
As marketers, we often preach the importance of data-driven decisions. Without data, marketing feels like a guessing game. But at UNC Health, describing the marketing and communications department as “data-driven” feels like an understatement. With an in-house consumer insights team and a robust survey process, data truly sits at the core of everything the team Read More
Every other year, PRC conducts a National Healthcare Consumer Study. The 2022 edition reflects research conducted in 2021, comparing it with previous surveys from 2019, 2017, and 2015. Not surprisingly, there are big differences between 2019 and 2021 — before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The intervening years changed the way consumers Read More
Looking to recharge and reconnect? Head to the 27th Healthcare Marketing and Physician Strategies Summit in Salt Lake City, May 16-18. Not only will you finally be able to emerge from the metaverse of nonstop Zoom meetings and spend quality time with your peers — in person — the lineup of sessions will give you Read More
UCLA Health is emerging as a national leader in addressing racial inequities in health care and across society. In light of growing local and national awareness, the health system became one of the first health care organizations in the country to form an Office of Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. “It’s perhaps the most visible Read More
Health care industry expert Paul Keckley challenges the belief that all health care is local, calling it “the myth that refuses to die,” in his 2018 post on The Health Care Blog. But he notes one exception: “For the least fortunate in our communities, staying at home for care is reality.” Taking time off from Read More
As diversity, equity, and inclusion continue to increase in importance, Advocate Aurora Health has been making strong progress in connecting online with the more than 2.2 million Hispanics who live in its service area. The Illinois and Wisconsin provider launched a market-wide social media initiative at the end of 2019 designed to “position the organization Read More
“On March 16, 2020, I met with a group of fellow Donate Life America volunteers in my office,” writes Susan Dubuque of NDP. “That would be my last face-to-face meeting for the next 18 months.” Here’s an excerpt from Dubuque’s new article: My story is not unique. Throughout the pandemic, many nonessential employees have made Read More
During the past two years of a pandemic that continues to rage, health care brands have absorbed the additional burden of managing their reputations in the throes of unprecedented consumer demand for needed services to counter COVID-19 within their communities. Hospitals and health systems across the U.S., including Johns Hopkins Medicine, have overwhelmingly answered the Read More
Let’s face it. Health care is a maze, and patients often feel like the rat, trying to get through and hitting one dead end after another. More often than not, health systems don’t prioritize what matters to patients. And even calling patients “patients” instead of “consumers” may serve to maintain the status quo. In the Read More
In spite of the population of Austin, Texas growing by a net of 150 people a day — and with it, an increase in demand for services — surgical volume at Ascension Texas dropped during the pandemic’s early days, when Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order mandating a pause in elective surgeries. “Our leadership Read More
Notwithstanding the health care industry’s keen interest in Walmart and figuring out what its next move might be, most consumers still think of Walmart as a retail store, not a health and wellness destination. Karissa Price, Walmart’s vice president of marketing, food, consumables, and health and wellness at the time of our reporting, sought to Read More
The story of health care over the past two years is the story of provider organizations adapting to extreme circumstances and constant change, which continues to this day; as of this writing in late December 2021, the U.S. reported 488,000 new COVID-19 infections, breaking its single-day record. But back in August 2019, no one knew Read More
“Patients are still postponing routine care and preventive screenings due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Rhoda Weiss. “In one dramatic example, the CDC reported in June 2021 that breast cancer screenings through its Early Detection Program had declined 87 percent. Additionally, a National Poll on Healthy Aging taken in January 2021 reported nearly one in Read More
Marketing technology (MarTech) is changing fast. How fast? Twenty percent of MarTech innovations available today didn’t even exist in 2016, according to Tom Hileman, CEO and president of the Hileman Group. In health care, Hileman says conversational marketing technology and marketing compliance platforms lead the way with 70 percent growth over the past five years. Read More
“I am a medical television junkie,” confesses longtime health care journalist Richard L. Cohen. “Starting with ER seemingly forever ago, I have watched hundreds of episodes of medical television shows over the years. I am also a veteran health care marketing journalist, having covered the profession since the mid 1980s.” Here’s an excerpt from Cohen’s new Read More
If acquiring a new customer is up to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one, why is so much attention paid to patient acquisition and so little to retention? Even the definition of “new patient” is relative. At what point does a former patient who has leaked out of the system have to Read More
“The ability to attract, activate, and guide consumers through health care’s labyrinth depends not only on reimagining the business of health care but building relationships of value and trust that result in inspired, confident customers,” says Lindsay R. Resnick of Wunderman Thompson Health. Here’s an excerpt from his new article: Health care transformation was all Read More
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in West Virginia, with more deaths each year than breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers combined. According to the 2019 West Virginia Cancer Burden Report, lung cancer accounts for 18 percent of all new cancer diagnoses in the state. Only 22 percent of those receiving a lung Read More
With the ongoing public health threat posed by COVID-19, a growing number of hospitals, health systems, and medical groups are adopting employee vaccine mandates. The opposition this has generated among some groups of medical workers and the general public make crafting mandate communications and messaging critically important for health care marketers. At Geisinger Health in Read More
“For two years, marketing and communication professionals have faced the excruciating crisis of a pandemic nothing fully prepared us for,” says Rhoda Weiss, president of the Rhoda Weiss Consulting Group. “We’re changing how and from where we work, balancing dichotomies of layoffs and staff shortages, experiencing colleague and personal burnout, dealing with new and conflicting Read More
Family caregiving is an emotionally charged issue that creates an opportunity for providers to create highly engaged and valued relationships. As the shift to value-based care gains momentum and more health systems participate in accountable care organizations and hospital-sponsored Medicare Advantage plans, management of services related to seniors and their caregivers has great potential to Read More
“Traditional primary care is being disrupted, right in front of our eyes,” says sales and marketing consultant James A. Gardner. “Blink and I suspect you soon won’t recognize it.” Here’s an excerpt from Gardner’s new article: Look around and new competitors, new thinking, and new delivery models are seemingly everywhere. Venture-backed startups, large employers, government Read More
If you’ve called any business in the past 18 months, you’ve probably heard a cheerful robotic voice apologizing for the hold every 30-60 seconds due to “unusually high call volume.” In some industries, call volume to call centers jumped over 600 percent from normal levels, while agent call capacity dropped by 20 percent, according to Read More
COVID testing. Vaccines. Health equity. Do they fall under public health or clinical care? In most cases, it’s both, or should be. The gap between hospital-based clinical care and public health is shrinking, as community health initiatives increasingly focus on wellness and prevention. Health systems typically function as separate entities. Nationwide, the drive for revenues and Read More