Looking Toward the Future by “Unscaling” Health Care

Jefferson Health

Things are changing when the CEO of a major health system comprising 14 hospitals — soon to be 18 — tosses around phrases like “health care at any address” and says things like, “We want to be the partner for those people who want to thrive without health care getting in the way.” The definition Read More

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Pro Bono Work Is Not Just for Doctors and Lawyers

Peggy Frank, CEO, Frank Public Relations

“Physicians travel around the globe to donate their time to help others less fortunate, sharing their knowledge and skills while expecting nothing in return except the self-satisfaction that comes from their acts of unselfishness,” says Ross K. Goldberg, president of Kevin/Ross Public Relations and member of the SHCM editorial advisory board. “But what about those Read More

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The Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit Is Live This Fall: Learn More

Judy Neiman, president of the Forum for Healthcare Strategists

Among all the health care marketing and strategy conferences that had to upend their plans for in-person events in 2020, one had the distinction of being on the leading edge twice. The Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit (HMPS or the Summit) was the first conference to make the difficult decision to cancel its live Read More

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The Days of Ignoring Negative Online Reviews Are Over – A Response Strategy Is Essential

Bryan Health

With more patients using online reviews and social media to air complaints about health care providers, it’s more important than ever for marketers to be at the forefront of this trend and be ready to respond in ways that optimize their organization’s brand. “From reviews on sites such as Google and Yelp to posts on Read More

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What Happens to Workplace Culture in a New Era of Remote Work?

Hitchcock Marketing & Communications

If necessity is the mother of invention, COVID helped us invent news ways of staying connected virtually. Is it possible to maintain a strong culture if remote work becomes part of the normal landscape?  Read an excerpt from our new article by Jean Hitchcock, president of Hitchcock Marketing & Communications, which explores this question. 2020 Read More

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Coming this Fall: A Return to the In-Person SHSMD Annual Conference

Lisa Hinkle, deputy director of education, Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD)

As COVID indicators in the U.S. continue on a positive trend and we ease back into normal life, the opportunity for industry colleagues to gather in person again has finally arrived with the Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD) annual conference. This year, conference attendees have two options. SHSMD Connections will convene Read More

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Providence CEO Discusses Current Issues and Future Challenges for Health Care

Providence

Rod Hochman, MD, president and CEO of Providence, kicked off the Becker’s Healthcare 11th Annual Meeting Virtual Experience in May with a discussion of issues of greatest concern to health care leaders. The conversation between Hochman and Rhoda Weiss, Ph.D., conference co-chair and president of Rhoda Weiss Consulting Group, provided insight into strategies employed by Read More

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The New Post-Pandemic Strategic Priorities for Health Care Organizations

Susan Dubuque

An industry leader recently used a phrase we hadn’t heard before: “The NEXT Normal.” What has the pandemic taught us? How did it stretch us as an industry, and how can we use what we’ve learned to shape strategies in the future? We asked our editorial advisory board members to weigh in on one question: Read More

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Kiosks Can Bring Telehealth To Populations That Need It Most

Broadlawns Medical Center logo

Telehealth usage has skyrocketed across the country. In the past year of the pandemic, the weekly number of behavioral health visits increased 25 percent on average compared with before COVID-19. This is due to expanded use of audio and video technology. But a study of insured patients published in Health Affairs found that in poorer Read More

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Hip Hop Public Health Reaches Communities With Music, Not Talk of “Herd Immunity”

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has become the new challenge in conquering the pandemic. Getting vaccines into the arms of vulnerable populations, including underserved communities of color, is a priority despite systemic distrust of the medical field resulting from generations of disparities in health care. “Medical institutions really have to find a way to speak the language Read More

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CX Is a Key Weapon in the Battle for Market Share

Indigo Urgent Care Logo

“Disrupt or be disrupted.” That’s the advice Shari Campbell offers to anyone in traditional health care who is concerned about losing market share to retail health care stores as Walmart, Amazon, CVS, and others move into the business. Campbell, marketing director, retail health at MultiCare Health System in Tacoma, Washington, says MultiCare Health began to Read More

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What’s Next for Health Care Marketing Post-COVID?

Dalal Haldeman, PhD, chief executive officer, Haldeman Marketing, LLC

COVID forced organizations to adapt quickly. Communicators’ skills were essential in navigating the crisis, and marketing led the way, meeting the extraordinary demand for information. Over the past year-plus, health system marketing departments radically shifted their priorities. The question is: Which COVID-era changes actually moved the industry forward and should remain? Which strategic initiatives have Read More

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Moving Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Initiatives From Philosophy to Reality

Karen Jones, director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Johns Hopkins Medicine

The status for diversity, inclusion, and health equity initiatives across America? It’s complicated. How do you train your staff about biases toward patients and colleagues when they don’t believe they have any? We all grow up with assumptions and stereotypical views of the world and the people in it. For the health care industry, fair Read More

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Waco Family Medicine Rebrand Leads to Name Recognition and Community Pride

Carlos Hinojosa, development director, Waco Family Medicine

One organization with too many names leads to an identity crisis and confusion for all involved. It’s a story we’ve heard many times, usually driven by the rapid pace of mergers, acquisitions, and consolidation in the health care industry over the past 10 to 15 years. Brand has become increasingly important as a way to Read More

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Now is the Perfect Time to Leverage Out-of-Home Advertising

Matthew O’Connor, CEO and co-founder, AdQuick

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a persistent challenge in health care: sharing public health and general health care initiatives with hard-to-reach and historically underserved communities,” says Matthew O’Connor of AdQuick. Here’s an excerpt from O’Connor’s new article: As health care systems and public health departments at the state, county, and local level look to gain Read More

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A Physician Reflects on His Hospital’s COVID Battle Strategy

Dr. Ron Nutting, chief medical officer, Reading Hospital, Tower Health

Health systems activate their hospital incident command systems (HICS) during a crisis, but usually the crisis doesn’t last for more than a year as the coronavirus pandemic has. From the start of the pandemic, hospital incident command centers became the temporary headquarters for crisis management. Leaders had to adapt day-to-day to keep their organizations and Read More

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Health Care Consumer Experience: Disney Veteran Helps Health Care System Boost Its CX

Kevan Mabbutt, chief marketing officer and chief consumer officer at Intermountain Healthcare

If you have been paying attention for the past couple of years, you know there’s been growing talk in health care about health care consumer experience, consumerism and digital health. Telehealth, wearable devices, online portals and scheduling, and other technological advances have caused significant changes in how consumers receive their medical care. It is a Read More

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Who Says Radio Is Dead?

Stacy Fender, associate marketing director at CoxHealth

In Peter Hochstein’s new story, he explains how a radio-focused advertising campaign enabled a regional hospital system to significantly increase its telehealth and urgent-care traffic, with relatively low media and production costs. Here’s an excerpt: Radio tends to be a medium that reaches people while their minds are on something else. There are exceptions, of Read More

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Adapting Event-Related Fundraising When the Event Is Cancelled

Boston Children's logo

Like every other health care operation, fundraising has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Foundations, trusts, and development departments have had to squeeze all the creative juices they could muster to tackle an unpredictable, unprecedented situation. Boston Children’s Hospital sets the bar high. Named the country’s #1 Pediatric Hospital by U.S. News & World Report for Read More

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Mentoring Program Creates Pipeline To Fill Health Care Leadership Roles

A few seminal moments led to the genesis of the Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute (BHLI). Marketed as an intense professional development program, BHLI has a self-proclaimed mission to “eliminate health care disparities among minority and vulnerable populations by cultivating a pipeline of culturally competent under-represented scholars for leadership roles in health care.” John W. Bluford Read More

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How UNC Health Got a Jump-Start on Preparing for Vaccine Rollout

“On December 14, 2020, the first COVID-19 vaccination outside the clinical trials was administered in the U.S. But UNC Health began preparing for the vaccine rollout months earlier,” writes Susan Dubuque, principal and co-founder of NDP. Here’s an excerpt from Susan’s new article. “Our consumer insights team conducts monthly Brand Trackers, and in the summer Read More

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Consider Leveraging the Vaccine Rollout as Part of Your Community Health Positioning

“Coming off an incredibly challenging 2020, health care marketers face a potentially rocky start to the new year,” says Danny Fell, a senior strategist with Optum’s innovation team. “Positive factors, like revolutionary new COVID-19 vaccines, are coming up against the ongoing reality of a pandemic that is still very much with us across many parts Read More

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Remote Monitoring Enables High-Level Care at Home

The current pandemic is pushing the boundaries for parity when it comes to telemedicine reimbursement. How long will it be before the entire health care system repositions itself to provide hospital-level care for patients at home through ongoing remote monitoring? That’s what Tony Slonim has been working toward since he took the helm seven years Read More

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Don’t Abandon Traditional Media Marketing Just Yet

While many health care marketers seek to limit their media outlets, the reality is that successful marketing plans need to incorporate a blend of many efforts to produce a desired reach, frequency, and outcome. Here’s an excerpt from John Gonda’s new article on this topic: For many years, hospitals have used traditional media outlets such Read More

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Ending the Pandemic Hinges on Overcoming Vaccine Hesitancy

Jeanine Guidry, PhD, assistant professor at the Robertson School of Media and Culture at Virginia Commonwealth University

“On May 8, 1980, the World Health Assembly issued an official declaration,” says Susan Dubuque of NDP: “‘The world and all its peoples have won freedom from smallpox.’ Global eradication of this disease through vaccination is considered international public health’s biggest achievement. “Fast forward to 2021. We’re once again in the clutches of a worldwide Read More

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