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.
“I am a medical television junkie,” confesses longtime health care journalist Richard L. Cohen. “Starting with ER seemingly forever ago, I have watched hundreds of episodes of medical television shows over the years. I am also a veteran health care marketing journalist, having covered the profession since the mid 1980s.” Here’s an excerpt from Cohen’s new Read More
If acquiring a new customer is up to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one, why is so much attention paid to patient acquisition and so little to retention? Even the definition of “new patient” is relative. At what point does a former patient who has leaked out of the system have to Read More
“The ability to attract, activate, and guide consumers through health care’s labyrinth depends not only on reimagining the business of health care but building relationships of value and trust that result in inspired, confident customers,” says Lindsay R. Resnick of Wunderman Thompson Health. Here’s an excerpt from his new article: Health care transformation was all Read More
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in West Virginia, with more deaths each year than breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers combined. According to the 2019 West Virginia Cancer Burden Report, lung cancer accounts for 18 percent of all new cancer diagnoses in the state. Only 22 percent of those receiving a lung Read More
With the ongoing public health threat posed by COVID-19, a growing number of hospitals, health systems, and medical groups are adopting employee vaccine mandates. The opposition this has generated among some groups of medical workers and the general public make crafting mandate communications and messaging critically important for health care marketers. At Geisinger Health in Read More
“For two years, marketing and communication professionals have faced the excruciating crisis of a pandemic nothing fully prepared us for,” says Rhoda Weiss, president of the Rhoda Weiss Consulting Group. “We’re changing how and from where we work, balancing dichotomies of layoffs and staff shortages, experiencing colleague and personal burnout, dealing with new and conflicting Read More
Family caregiving is an emotionally charged issue that creates an opportunity for providers to create highly engaged and valued relationships. As the shift to value-based care gains momentum and more health systems participate in accountable care organizations and hospital-sponsored Medicare Advantage plans, management of services related to seniors and their caregivers has great potential to Read More
“Traditional primary care is being disrupted, right in front of our eyes,” says sales and marketing consultant James A. Gardner. “Blink and I suspect you soon won’t recognize it.” Here’s an excerpt from Gardner’s new article: Look around and new competitors, new thinking, and new delivery models are seemingly everywhere. Venture-backed startups, large employers, government Read More
If you’ve called any business in the past 18 months, you’ve probably heard a cheerful robotic voice apologizing for the hold every 30-60 seconds due to “unusually high call volume.” In some industries, call volume to call centers jumped over 600 percent from normal levels, while agent call capacity dropped by 20 percent, according to Read More
COVID testing. Vaccines. Health equity. Do they fall under public health or clinical care? In most cases, it’s both, or should be. The gap between hospital-based clinical care and public health is shrinking, as community health initiatives increasingly focus on wellness and prevention. Health systems typically function as separate entities. Nationwide, the drive for revenues and Read More
Dr. Larry Moss, president and CEO of Nemours Children’s Health, shares a story about one of his patients as a way to explain the strategy behind the organization’s new brand, “Well Beyond Medicine,” launched in mid-September. Early in his career as a surgeon, Moss was called to the ED to evaluate a 10-year-old boy, Wendell, Read More
How do you connect the dots between a health system, hospital, and its other programs and services throughout the community, and ensure consumers know they will continue receiving the same high-quality, personalized care throughout the network? Recently, Providence successfully navigated this situation and launched a new brand. Unifying the brand was among the initiatives Jigar Read More
“Truly exceptional patient experience programs thrive at the intersection of culture, engagement, and experience,” says Sally Mildren of Boss Lady Consulting. “This has played out in study after study by Monigle, PwC, McKinsey, Medallia, and many others. Good experience equals growth — in revenue, reputation, loyalty, satisfaction, and employee engagement. “Yet inconsistent consumer experiences, misaligned Read More
Getting a cancer diagnosis is bad enough. Having to jump on the freeway and drive two hours each way to access care adds significantly to the stress. But that’s what many residents of Orange County, California did when they needed highly specialized cancer care. “Your first shot is your best shot, because it’s really important Read More
Measuring brand loyalty is a constant challenge for health care organizations. Marketing professionals use different measures to determine if they’re capturing patients throughout their health care journey. One of the parameters being used today is called Share of Care. Share of Care is a revenue-based measurement that gauges the health of the patient relationship, according Read More
“In a health sector bombarded with labels such as InsurTech, HlthTech, FemTech, and AgeTech, it’s no surprise that confusion and mis-categorization run rampant,” says Lindsay Resnick, executive vice president of Wunderman Thompson Health. “And now there’s another category being promoted by consumer-centric health companies bringing a tightly integrated financial and clinical health care experience to Read More
The pandemic forced massive change on the world in a very short space of time. The health care industry shouldered its share of the disruption — and benefited from it, as provider organizations found new ways to safely connect with patients and deliver care. “Change and disruption can be an incredibly positive force in our Read More
When asked in an interview with StartUp Health founders earlier this year if he thought more physicians would pursue business training along with their medical training, Toby Cosgrove, MD, executive advisor and former CEO and president of Cleveland Clinic, said, “Well, I hope so, because health care has become a very big business, and I Read More
Increased economic pressures caused by the pandemic and other factors are making it more important than ever for marketers to partner with their chief financial officers to develop a deeper understanding of finance and demonstrate return on investment for marketing spending. In this COVID-19 age of tight budgets and heightened expectations to produce results, it Read More
People living with HIV live longer, healthier lives when regularly taking antiretroviral medication. But a few decades ago, the fear and judgment for those who contracted this deadly disease were high. Recently a team of health care professionals at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York City created a documentary to chronicle the experiences of Read More
Consumer expectations have changed since the pandemic, and patients are shopping for health care much like they shop for retail goods. They want a seamless, Amazon-like digital experience and they expect to schedule an appointment, check in, pay a bill, or see a doctor virtually, all from a mobile device. Moreover, they pay attention to Read More
Infectious-disease specialists are beginning to give the all-clear signal to bring patients and families back for routine care. But luring valued community members back to health care facilities is proving to be a communications challenge. Consciously or not, families have created their new normal, which may include telehealth instead of office visits, reducing the frequency Read More
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
“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
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