Free Weekly Ezine

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.

Corporate and Brand Strategy Alignment Offers Competitive Advantage for Recruitment and Retention

December 28, 2023

When brand promise rings true for employees, organizations have a competitive advantage when it comes to recruitment, retention, and engagement. In health care organizations, the relationship between corporate strategy, culture, and brand is vital, complex, and often overlooked. But it holds immense potential for driving success. Across all industries, successful businesses achieve this relationship by Read More

3 Health Care PR Challenges to Be Prepared for in 2024

December 21, 2023

What is the greater challenge: identifying challenges that health care public relations will face in 2024 or limiting those truths to a 1,200-word article? The answer is clearly the latter. Year after year health care public relations professionals see unanticipated new challenges pile up on those left over from the year prior until the hill Read More

A B2B Marketing Approach to Increasing Physician Referrals and Growing Patient Volume

December 14, 2023

The population of the Phoenix metro area is booming. During the past decade (2012-2022), the region gained 800,00 residents to surpass the 5 million mark in population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is good news for Phoenix Children’s health system, which is benefiting from an influx of young families moving into the area. Read More

Strategies to Turn Your Health System’s Executives Into Effective Thought Leaders

December 7, 2023

Among the most important currencies in health care is trust. Meanwhile, trust in leadership today is at an all-time low. According to PwC’s 2022 Consumer Intelligence Series on Trust, 87 percent of executives think customers highly trust their companies. In reality, it’s roughly 30 percent. That makes thought leadership from hospital executives a key method Read More

Tension in the U.S. Health Care System is Growing: What You Need to Know

November 30, 2023

Conflict between the sector’s “haves” and “have-nots” has been brewing for years and is coming to an inflection point. Health care in the U.S. has been very good to those who participate on the business end of the enterprise, but the comfort they enjoy is often at the expense of others. Those frictions are likely Read More

How Community Engagement Can Boost Your Health Equity Strategy

November 22, 2023

How can a health system make a difference in utilization, quality and outcomes, and cost — and improve engagement with underserved members of its community? This was the topic of a recent presentation at the 2023 SHSMD Connections Virtual Conference. Lindsay Cosimano is senior director of marketing communications at Nebraska Health Network, an accountable care Read More

Beyond the Headlines: Health System Leaders Share Their Crisis Communication Strategies

November 16, 2023

Health systems rely on their communications teams to keep all stakeholders informed during a crisis and help to bring healing to the community in the aftermath, through empathetic messaging. At SHSMD Connections in September, three health system communications leaders shared their experiences following a crisis in their respective communities. “Sometimes the strength of the people Read More

Creating the Blueprint: 5 Ways to Develop National Health Care Brand Recognition

November 9, 2023

An effective public relations effort can give organizations a megaphone to amplify health care brand recognition. As a faith-based, mission-oriented organization, OSF HealthCare (OSF), founded in the late 1800s, has historically met internal and external challenges through innovation. In the past decade OSF, headquartered in Peoria, Illinois and serving patients in Illinois and Michigan, has Read More

How a Data-Driven Media Strategy Can Deliver Cost-Effective Results

November 2, 2023

Last year, Central Pennsylvania-based WellSpan Health established two major goals to combat breast cancer and strengthen the health system’s market position: 1) heighten awareness of breast care services, and 2) increase mammography screenings. These relatively common goals for health care organizations are often supported by the same time-worn tactics that marketers have used for years Read More

Boosting Your Fundraising Success With Effective Advertising

October 26, 2023

A recent report on philanthropy trends in the U.S. describes giving as “getting bigger and wider.” The proliferation of big-ticket donations continues, with billionaires pledging to give away their wealth. However, growth in donations is not limited to the super-rich. Online donation platforms and social media campaigns along with the can-do attitudes of younger generations Read More

How Marketing and PR Collaboration Can Help Address Staffing Shortages

October 19, 2023

According to a recent report in Becker’s Health IT, health care marketing budgets have declined by 8 percent over the past year — down markedly from 2019 when budgets peaked. Marketing leaders also indicate that they are experiencing increased pressure to quantify results and demonstrate a return on investment. Aligning marketing and public relations efforts Read More

Geisinger Unifies Efforts to Establish a New Brand Platform

October 12, 2023

In the aftermath of COVID-19, hospitals and health systems are pressured to do more with less. The 2023 Healthcare Marketers Trend Report reveals that marketing and advertising budgets have shrunk by 8 percent. At the same time, marketing departments are being asked to produce measurable results and contribute to business objectives. One strategy to make Read More

Healthcare PR: Strategies for Navigating Today’s Complex Media Landscape

October 5, 2023

Public relations, or PR, is first and foremost about building and maintaining trusted relationships externally, with consumers and patients, providers, the media, and the larger community. We spoke with two healthcare PR leaders about how they forge those connections and raise the profile of their organizations to key audiences. Their work requires a multifaceted approach Read More

What Marketing Teams Can Do to Bring Awareness to Women’s Health Disparities

September 28, 2023

“When it comes to women’s health, there’s a lack of attention, funding, research, and education,” writes Wendy Margolin in a recent article. “From the moment we start menstruating, it’s a secret. Girls are often embarrassed to tell their mothers, which is partly what makes Judy Blume’s book and recent movie, Are You There, God, It’s Read More

Aligning HR and Marketing to Enhance Recruitment and Retention

September 21, 2023

Health care industry experts have been sounding the alarm about the staffing shortage for decades, with a variety of factors contributing to the problem — the aging population, lack of nursing faculty, competition from other industry sectors, and burnout. Now, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and health systems face unprecedented challenges as Read More

How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market? Lessons From Emory Healthcare’s Rebranding Success

September 14, 2023

Emory Healthcare’s rebranding initiatives enable the health system to stand out in Atlanta’s crowded market. Emory’s success should serve as an example for other hospitals and health systems looking to develop a successful rebranding strategy and drive growth. There are hospitals and health systems with reputations verging on veneration. But for all the world-renowned research Read More

Navigating a Health Care Rebrand: A Guide to Managing Your Assets

September 7, 2023

A successful health care rebrand requires two things: effective project management and clear communication. Your brand is more important than ever, especially for organizations seeking to be recognized over an expanding number of marketing platforms and sales channels. Shifts in the market, mergers and acquisitions, and other company changes also drive the need for brand Read More

Medicaid Redeterminations: What Health Systems Are Doing to Safeguard Patient Coverage

August 31, 2023

As many as 24 million people could lose their Medicaid coverage by late 2024 as part of an ongoing process of Medicaid redeterminations. Hospitals have a vested interest in making sure they stay on the rolls. Providence has embarked on an ambitious outreach campaign with a singular goal: Keep its patients insured. The Renton, Washington-based Read More

How Aligning HR and Marketing Can Bring Your Recruitment Brand to Life

August 24, 2023

The scarcity of health care workers is not new. Since the 1980s, there has been significant industry chatter, particularly surrounding the critical shortage of nurses. When COVID hit, demand skyrocketed, just as the “Great Resignation” struck. Workforce shortfalls threaten patient care and have significant financial implications. One study finds that labor shortages have cost hospitals and Read More

Conference Preview: SHSMD23 Connections Aims to Inspire and Challenge

August 17, 2023

Each fall, the SHSMD Annual Conference brings together the best and brightest in our industry — from seasoned veterans to tomorrow’s leaders — for three days of sharing, growing, and learning together. This year, the health care strategy and marketing community will convene in Chicago from September 10-12 at SHSMD23 Connections. The conference is an Read More

Children’s Hospital Colorado Campaign Drives Brand Awareness with Stories that Resonate

August 10, 2023

Being in the middle of the western half of the United States — between well-known East and West Coast medical facilities — presented Children’s Hospital Colorado with a marketing challenge. In addition to making potential patients and their loved ones aware of its existence, the hospital wanted to demonstrate the individualized, innovative, and often complex Read More

Marketing’s Role in Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

August 3, 2023

DEI is about more than representation. It’s all about creating an environment where everyone feels heard, respected, and empowered. No other industry has more of an imperative to embrace DEI than health care as the path to a healthier future for everyone. At this year’s Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit (HMPS23) in Austin, Texas, Read More

Branding vs Acquisition: Why Health Care Marketers Should Rethink Growth Strategies

July 27, 2023

Health care marketers are sometimes on the defensive when proposing budgets to their CEOs and CFOs, feeling the pressure to justify the expense and project the expected return on investment — especially for “softer” initiatives like brand building. So, it was refreshing to hear a different perspective from Bill Robertson, CEO of MultiCare, a 12-hospital Read More

How Digital Wayfinding Improves Patient Navigation and Saves Money

July 20, 2023

As a health care provider, how can you ensure your patients are able to easily navigate your facilities to access care when they need it? Health care facilities lose an estimated $200,000 per year due to scheduling conflicts directly caused by patient navigation challenges, reports Clay Anderson in a new article. First impressions are crucial. Read More

Health Care Disruption: Improving the Patient Experience With a Consumer-Centric Approach

July 13, 2023

Improving the patient experience is an ongoing challenge for health systems—especially in the age of health care disruption. Leadership buy-in and actionable data are essential to driving meaningful change. When Matt Gove entered health care marketing, first with Grady Health and then Piedmont Health in Atlanta, he considered it “the ultimate consumer business because everyone Read More