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.
Getting access to care has been difficult in many parts of the country for years. Even in densely populated urban areas, a shortage of physicians and clinicians often made setting appointments for primary and specialty care a frustrating experience. And then 2020 hit. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the staffing shortage and further restricted access. Today, Read More
Continuous improvement of patient access is an enterprise-wide initiative, deeply embedded in and supported by the culture, and now reflected in every patient touchpoint, beginning with how patients start looking for care. Providing start-to-finish patient care — whether it’s scheduling a patient’s appointment with the right provider, providing directions to the care facility, or determining Read More
Hospital billing practices have a direct and significant impact on a health care system’s brand reputation. Take this first-hand account shared by Suzanne Spruce and Vince Galloro in a new article: “In August 2022, the Portland Press Herald — the paper with the highest circulation in the state of Maine — published a long article Read More
The Healthcare Equality Index defines industry best practices for LGBTQ inclusion and recognizes progress achieved by health care organizations to reach their health equity goals. How does your health system measure up? Health care is a necessity. But not everyone has equal access to medical services, which can negatively impact a person’s long-term health outcomes. Read More
There are many ways to expand health care access through virtual care. When CHRISTUS Health launched its “On Demand Care” urgent care service in May 2022, some clinicians were concerned about visit erosion from the primary care provider patient base. That didn’t happen. “Our primary care physicians who were initially skeptical, as you can imagine, Read More
Acute care telehealth expands access to care by connecting community hospitals with specialized experts, which helps to close gaps in knowledge and keep care local. When patients in a rural community get sick and need access to intensive care or specialized care, the typical small community hospital — if there is one — doesn’t have Read More
When working with a creative agency, how do you ensure the end product meets your marketing team’s expectations? John Ferin, in a new article, describes the scenario like this: “The meeting is about to begin. Your creative agency has spent days, weeks, maybe even months massaging their concepts, tactics, and messaging into the perfect presentation. Read More
Assuring timely access to care — an individual’s ability to obtain health care services — has always challenged payers, providers, and without doubt, consumers. The industry’s constant back-and-forth blame game over cost and access must end. Customers are listening, and so are competitors. Recent market moves are making care more widely available than ever before. Read More
In the middle of the pandemic, Michigan Medicine launched a new brand campaign, Michigan Answers, spearheaded by Rose Glenn, the organization’s chief communications and marketing officer. In explaining the meaning of the campaign, the branding guidelines emphasize, “At Michigan Medicine, we believe there’s a difference between an answer and a Michigan Answer. Michigan Answers are Read More
Virtual care visits have become a new normal for many health care patients and providers in the aftermath of the pandemic. But for some patients, adapting to the technological advancements is not so simple. Technology is great — unless it’s a barrier. We don’t have to look back very far for a good example. When Read More
Change happens. And it should, as internal and external forces inevitably alter an organization and the constructs it operates in. Managing change in health care can be a risky and uncomfortable process. But to face today’s many challenges, change is often necessary. Health care is in a constant state of flux. New technologies, best practices, Read More
You get into work, grab your coffee, boot up your computer, and look at your to-do list for the day. The one and only thing you’ve left for yourself on the to-do list is the thing you’ve been putting off for days — weeks even: Write that blog on the dangers of high blood pressure. Read More
If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves, unwind, and soak up some inspiration for your biggest challenges, then the 2023 Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit (HMPS 2023) is tailor-made for you. The Summit’s fully-packed program will send you home with plenty of actionable ideas to help your organization succeed. HMPS 2023 is the Read More
For complex health systems with numerous specialties and subspecialties, referrals are their lifeblood — particularly referrals from external providers. Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH), a specialty pediatric hospital, was having difficulty keeping track of referrals. There wasn’t a standard process for sending and receiving referrals or tracking them once they were received, usually by fax, and Read More
Marketing is all about understanding the needs of your market and finding ways to show how your product or service is the best solution for meeting those needs. As marketers, you know that part of your challenge is keeping your solution top of mind when people are in the consideration phase. If your service is Read More
As health care costs in the U.S. continue to rise, hospitals haven taken a disproportionate share of the blame in the media. While they bear some responsibility, current news coverage pins most of the blame on them. So how can your health system take control of the health care cost narrative? The cost of health Read More
When WebMD announced its acquisition of Mercury Healthcare in June 2022, the press release focused on patient engagement solutions. The headline reads “WebMD Health Corp. Acquires Mercury Healthcare, Building on Leadership in Patient Engagement Solutions.” But we learned that WebMD’s strategic vision is broader, also encompassing provider engagement. In a video explaining the vision, Ann Read More
If your organization is investing in highly compensated specialists to grow your service lines and provide needed care for patients, you want those physicians to be as productive as possible as soon as possible, and you want them to be the first choice of referring physicians. Doctivity, a novel physician relations management (PRM) platform using Read More
Which is better — Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) or Medicare Advantage (MA)? Sachin Jain, MD, MBA, president and CEO of SCAN Group & Health Plan, doesn’t think it’s the right question. “We all know we have a broken health care system, and we have to try in our own ways to make it better,” he says. Read More
Sometimes, the best input on health care marketing comes from an outside party. In a new article, George Danner, chief data scientist at Endeavor Management, offers a fresh insight on how data modeling can help improve the health care marketing process. He puts it like this: “I am not a marketer, but I have listened Read More
Health care marketing has entered a new “era of change,” according to Amalia Stanton, senior vice president and chief strategic communications & marketing officer at Memorial Hermann Health System. It has been 34 months since the COVID-19 pandemic uprooted our lives and altered the way we work — perhaps forever. This time period has been Read More
Although cancer affects all populations in the United States, because of various social, environmental, and economic factors, some groups bear a disproportionate burden of the disease than others. For example, Black men are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than non-Hispanic White men. In addition, Hispanic women are 40 percent more likely to Read More
Connections between hospitals and doctors working outside the hospital aren’t as strong as they used to be. “So many organizations have realized we have completely lost touch with our primary care physicians,” says Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA, principal at Barlow McCarthy. “They don’t come to the hospital, they use hospitalists.” The pandemic has added to Read More
“As 2022 draws to a close, two issues have dominated industry talking points and sparked record-breaking investment in hundreds of specialty ventures: customer experience (CX) and digital health,” says Lindsay R. Resnick in a new article. “I hope my newfound perspective on these trends can serve as thought starters going into 2023. “This past year Read More
Let’s talk about something that often isn’t talked about enough in the health care industry: health care stigma. But more specifically, the role marketing can play in impacting social stigma around medical conditions. If you’re embarrassed by your medical diagnosis, you will probably keep it hidden. You may not seek help, or if you do, Read More