Health Care Consumerism

Riverview Health Expands with Freestanding ER & Urgent Care Facilities

Jane Weber Brubaker

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // If your health system is in a geographic region experiencing rapid growth, it makes sense to capitalize on that trend and expand right along with the population. Hamilton County, a suburb of Indianapolis, is “growing by leaps and bounds,” according to Seth Warren, president and CEO of Riverview Health. Read More

Be Our Guest: The Importance of a Stellar Patient Experience

Kim Mott, marketing and customer service manager for Florida Orthopaedic Institute

The last time you went on vacation, you probably enjoyed five-star treatment from the staff at the hotels and restaurants you visited. But while customer service is paramount when it comes to dining and accommodations, most health care systems don’t think to treat their patients like valued guests. The danger is that if you’re not Read More

Five-Star Service: Treat Your Patients Like Valued Guests, or Else

Kim Mott, marketing and customer service manager for Florida Orthopaedic Institute

// By Lisa D. Ellis // The last time you went on vacation, you probably enjoyed five-star treatment from the staff at the hotels and restaurants you visited. But while customer service is paramount when it comes to dining and accommodations, most health care systems don’t think to treat their patients like valued guests. The Read More

5 Key Dynamics for Health Care Marketers in 2019

Linda MacCracken, senior principal at Accenture

“In my ongoing conversations with industry leaders about what’s shifting in health care, five factors rose to the top of the list for 2019, as marketing moves to new dimensions, and closer to health system collaborative scaling of smart pilots.” In our new article, Linda MacCracken, senior principal, customer engagement at Accenture Health, and Strategic Read More

How To Market When Your Specialists Are Booked Out

David Marlowe, author of Marketing Plans That Work

In our new article, David Marlowe, principal, Strategic Marketing Concepts, and Strategic Health Care Marketing Editorial Advisory Board member, shares results from five recent nationwide studies he’s conducted of what consumers consider to be “reasonable” wait times for routine, non-urgent visits. Will this type of information give marketers the hard evidence they need to stand Read More

Position Your Health System for Success in 2019

Linda MacCracken, senior principal at Accenture

Five Key Market Dynamics for Marketers to Manage  // By Linda MacCracken // “In my ongoing conversations with industry leaders about what’s shifting in health care, five factors rose to the top of the list for 2019, as marketing moves to new dimensions, and closer to health system collaborative scaling of smart pilots.” In this Read More

Design Thinking: A Key Competency for Health Care Marketers

Michael Joyce, design specialist with Kaiser Permanente’s Innovation Consultancy

Health care marketers have much to gain by getting up to speed on the concept of design thinking. This approach is becoming increasingly valuable in helping organizations effectively meet patients’ needs and address an array of challenges. With more people living longer and needing to manage chronic conditions, and with the health care model shifting Read More

2019 Trend: Staying Relevant as Consumers Take Health Care into Their Own Hands

Russom-Braden-Smith-Jones; caption: Braden Russom, account planner, Smith & Jones

// By Braden Russom // What drives consumers to look for alternatives to traditional medical care? And how can health care marketers respond? Here, Braden Russom, account planner at Smith & Jones, shares some of the factors contributing to changes in consumer behavior, particularly among millennials, and recommends proactive marketing strategies to stay relevant. 2019 Read More

Ambulatory Pricing: Transform Your Pricing Strategy to Protect and Grow Market Share

Craig Ahrens, managing director, health solutions, Ankura

// By Craig Allan Ahrens and Sarah Hull // Hospital systems will be required to publish their chargemaster “list pricing” online by January 1, 2019, with the finalization of the Fiscal Year 2019 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System Final Rule (CMS-1694-F). Many states have Read More

Getting Emotional — In an Understated Way — Helps a Hospital with a Good, Strong Reputation Stand Up to Another Hospital with a Good, Strong Reputation

Peter Hochstein

How do you stand out in the crowd — especially when your #1 competitor is a world-famous brand? Pamela Maas, Gundersen’s chief business development and marketing officer, was able to overcome this challenge. “It seemed like so many systems in health care were looking and feeling exactly the same,” she says. “We recognized that brand positioning was really about building an emotional connection with consumers.” In Peter’s latest column, we’ll see how a new campaign triggered a deluge of fan mail — accolades from patients who had been touched by Gundersen staff members.

Cross-Cultural Messaging Can Improve Patient Satisfaction

Jill Mead

“With patient experience increasingly recognized as connected to a host of measures, including patient outcomes and your bottom line, it’s essential to reach all of your target populations with education and messaging that resonate with people’s cultural backgrounds and native languages,” says Jill Mead, in-house compliance counsel for full-service language solutions company Vocalink, Inc. “More Read More

Cross-Cultural Communication Strategy: Improve Your Health System’s Patient Satisfaction Scores with Training and More Inclusion

Jill Mead

// By Jill Mead // With patient experience increasingly recognized as connected to a host of measures, including patient outcomes and your bottom line, it’s essential to reach all of your target populations with education and messaging that resonate with people’s cultural backgrounds and native languages. More than ever before in our history, U.S. hospital Read More

Adopting Practices from Consumer Marketing to Build Patient Loyalty

Rich Phillips

// By Rich Phillips // The past few years have seen noteworthy transformation within health care strategy and marketing. An important shift is underway from “awareness” marketing focused on brand building to “conversion” marketing focused on patient acquisition. While this shift is necessary, it remains insufficient. The emerging emphasis by health care CEOs on retention Read More

Five Topics for Health Care Marketers to Manage in 2018

Linda MacCracken, senior principal at Accenture

// By Linda MacCracken // One of the great pleasures of this journal is tracking the innovative marketing approaches that are key to building consumer engagement. After numerous conversations with providers and technology innovators, and from reviewing trending analytic indicators, I have identified five key factors in building strong customer engagement. How do these topics Read More

How To Navigate The New World of Health Care Cost Transparency

Daniel Weinbach, president and CEO of Weinbach Group; Richard Klass, co-founder of KCI Partners; and Justin Irizarry, co-founder and CFO of OrthoNOW

You probably wouldn’t buy an appliance or book a cruise without knowing what it will cost. Yet historically, health care systems have expected patients to undergo various diagnostic tests, procedures, and treatments without any idea of what they will be charged. But times are changing quickly. While most patients are not yet comparison-shopping based on Read More

How Gen X and Boomers Shop for Health Care

Ken Robbins, CEO of Response Mine Interactive

“Much has been written about marketing health care products and services to millennials, and for good reason,” says Ken Robbins, CEO and founder of digital agency Response Mine Interactive. “Since millennials are coming into disposable income and are extremely health-conscious, it makes good sense to understand how to reach them. But marketers cannot afford to Read More

Gen X Is All Grown Up: Meet the Patients Driving Health Care Consumerism

Ken Robbins, CEO of Response Mine Interactive

// By Ken Robbins // Much has been written about marketing health care products and services to millennials, and for good reason. Since millennials are coming into disposable income and are extremely health-conscious, it makes good sense to understand how to reach them. But marketers cannot afford to overlook other generations. More focus should be Read More

Word of Mouth Remains a Health Care Marketing Imperative

“Here’s important context for health care marketing in 2017: Attention and trust continue to decline across the country,” says Ryan Hanser, APR, who leads Hanser & Associates, a full-service PR firm based in Des Moines, Iowa. “Sure, we still have knowledgeable specialists—doctors, for starters. The trouble is that people increasingly reject the authority of expertise. Read More

Word of Mouth: Harness the Voice of Patients and Staff for Powerful Results

// By Ryan Hanser // Here’s important context for health care marketing in 2017: Attention and trust continue to decline across the country. Year over year, America appears to be witnessing the collapse of expertise and institutional trust. Sure, we still have knowledgeable specialists—doctors, for starters. The trouble is that people increasingly reject the authority Read More

Urgent Care + Uber Transport = Win for Orthopedic Franchise

Lisa D. Ellis

If you or a family member broke an ankle or dislocated a shoulder, what if you could just use an app on your smartphone to schedule a visit at a nearby orthopedic urgent care center and, at the same time, also arrange for an Uber driver to transport you? That’s the premise of a new Read More