If you’ve ever had a physician demand a billboard that wasn’t in your budget — and who hasn’t? — you can attest to the value of a well-constructed marketing plan. It gives you a blueprint to guide your marketing activities throughout the year, and arms you to defend against misguided requests. What are the components Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // If you’ve ever had a physician demand a billboard that wasn’t in your budget — and who hasn’t? — you can attest to the value of a well-constructed marketing plan. It gives you a blueprint to guide your marketing activities throughout the year, and arms you to defend against Read More
// By Sheryl S. Jackson // There is no question that the most effective, successful health programs are designed with the patient in mind, but traditional market research — consumer surveys, focus groups, and individual interviews — is costly and time-consuming. The MetroHealth System, a Cleveland, Ohio-based health system with 7,800 employees and more than Read More
Want to increase your health care organization’s market share? Think like a consumer. That’s the advice of Dan Clarin, CFA, senior vice president of Kaufman, Hall & Associates, a health care consulting, software, and data company. Improving access to care, aligning price with value, and providing better patient experience are key to increasing market share, Read More
// By Wendy Stark Healy // Want to increase your health care organization’s market share? Think like a consumer. That’s the advice of Dan Clarin, CFA, senior vice president of Kaufman, Hall & Associates, a health care consulting, software, and data company. Improving access to care, aligning price with value, and providing better patient experience Read More
What message is your organization’s culture sending to your employees? If it doesn’t tell the people you employ that you value their input, you’re missing an important chance to get them more engaged in your day-to-day operations. You may also be losing out on a valuable differentiator in a competitive marketplace. At Tri-State Memorial Hospital Read More
// By Lisa D. Ellis // What message is your organization’s culture sending to your employees? If it doesn’t tell the people you employ that you value their input, you’re missing an important chance to get them more engaged in your day-to-day operations. You may also be losing out on a valuable differentiator in a Read More
// By Wendy Stark Healy // One of the themes of this article is that brands evolve. We covered the Hackensack Meridian merger back in December 2016. The consolidated health system’s first-generation brand has now been replaced with a new brand, built on consumer research and a solid brand strategy. Two-and-a-half years after two large Read More
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
Whether you’re a small organization with just a few marketing professionals or a large health system with an extensive marketing team — or perhaps you fall somewhere in between these two extremes — it’s worth taking the time to listen to your digital customers. The insights they provide can help you make small changes that Read More
// By Lisa D. Ellis // Whether you’re a small organization with just a few marketing professionals or a large health system with an extensive marketing team — or perhaps you fall somewhere in between these two extremes — it’s worth taking the time to listen to your digital customers. The insights they provide can Read More
// By David Marlowe // In a recent SHSMD discussion board posting, one member raised the question: “Do you continue to market your specialists that are booked out for six weeks?” This posting highlights a challenge that has faced marketers in medical groups, hospitals, and health systems for many years — do we yield to Read More
The latest marketing efforts at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts have a very important goal: to engage employees to do whatever it takes to provide the very best experience for patients. While most health systems recognize the importance of internal engagement, Newton-Wellesley’s approach — which includes seeing the employees as “brand ambassadors” to extend the system’s Read More
// By Lisa D. Ellis // The latest marketing efforts at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts have a very important goal: to engage employees to do whatever it takes to provide the very best experience for patients. Tackling a Challenging Market While most health systems recognize the importance of internal engagement, Newton-Wellesley’s approach — which includes Read More
// 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
// By Susan Dubuque // As health care marketers, we are keenly aware of the rampant changes taking place in our industry — unforeseen mergers and consolidations, aggressive competitors entering the marketplace, pressures to demonstrate measurable ROI, and reorientation from delivering acute or episodic care to managing the health of a population with the goals Read More
Marketing to people with similar interests and needs is usually intuitive — but what about when your target audience is completely different from you? How do you know what they care about? If you can get to the core of what makes your audience tick and what they may respond to (hint: it may not Read More
// By Lisa D. Ellis // Marketing to people with similar interests and needs is usually intuitive — but what about when your target audience is completely different from you? How do you know what they care about? If you can get to the core of what makes your audience tick and what they may Read More
How often do you go to Starbucks, and what do you order? Your answer likely will be different from that of your co-worker or neighbor, since everyone has his or her own unique lifestyle and taste. The same premise also holds true when it comes to selecting health care services. Different people have different needs Read More
“The health care field is in a state of constant disruption today, with mounting competition coming from many outside sectors,” says Craig Allan Ahrens, MHA, MBA, a leader at national health strategy firm BDC Advisors. “But the time is also ripe for health systems that understand the current marketplace to capitalize on growing opportunities to position Read More
Does your brand fully resonate with your employees? If the answer is “no,” and your mission and goals aren’t connecting internally, it’s important to invest time and resources to capture and distill market research data to create a unified vision. Then you’ve got a brand to promote externally. Look at Spectrum Healthcare Partners, a physician-owned Read More
// By Lisa D. Ellis // Does your brand fully resonate with your employees? If the answer is “no,” and your mission and goals aren’t connecting internally, it’s important to invest time and resources to capture and distill market research data to create and validate a unified vision. Then you’ve got a brand to promote Read More
// By Craig Allan Ahrens // The health care field is in a state of constant disruption today, with mounting competition coming from many outside sectors. But the time is also ripe for health systems that understand the current marketplace to capitalize on growing opportunities to position themselves as leaders in offering enhanced convenience, increasing Read More
// By Lisa D. Ellis // For one health system, extensive research served as a catalyst to bring staff members together to create a dynamic campaign that truly resonates with its target audience. How often do you go to Starbucks and what do you order? Your answer likely will be different from that of your Read More
At the annual meeting of the Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD) in September 2017, a group of health care strategists from the Middle East came all the way to Orlando, Florida to attend the presentations. When they introduced themselves to SHSMD representatives, they revealed that they had made the trip to attend Read More