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.
“Hey, there’s a pandemic going on!” writes Peter Hochstein, crackerjack copywriter and regular SHCM contributor. “Hospital workers are supposed to look harassed, grave, and ready to collapse from exhaustion, right? That’s not quite the way the communicators and staff at Johns Hopkins Medicine saw it. Result? Internet views by the — no, not by the Read More
When Bettina Tweardy Riveros joined ChristianaCare as chief health equity officer in 2016, she assumed responsibility for engaging community stakeholders in partnerships that advance ChristianaCare’s vision for a healthy Delaware. According to Riveros, the guiding principles of building strong community partnerships can be summed up in the phrase “nothing about us, without us.” This method Read More
As the marketing communications function has grown in health care over the years, many hospital systems find their MarCom organizations continually growing in responsibility and staff size, with no master plan for how everyone will work together. David Feinberg, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer of Mount Sinai Health System, and Karen Read More
Jason Reminick, MD, MBA, MS was stranded. In the fall of 2012, the then fourth-year medical student was gearing up for a series of residency interviews when Hurricane Sandy, a Category 3 hurricane, came barreling through the Northeast, making it impossible for him to attend his in-person interviews in New York City. “All the bridges Read More
Suicide rates in the United States have increased substantially over the past two decades, according to the American Psychological Association. Since 1999, the rate has jumped 35 percent. For teens, the suicide rate is also on the rise. The rate of suicide rose 50 percent between 2000 and 2016 for women and girls, and 21 Read More
Trust. Respect. Transparency. These are the words that describe how a good relationship between the CMO and CEO can lead to effective investment in marketing communications. “It is important to listen and ask questions of the CEO and other C-suite members to discover what is important to their stakeholders,” says Christine Albert, senior vice president, Read More
See those retailers in your rearview mirror? They are the health care disruptors you’ve been hearing about — Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Amazon, Google — and they are coming for you. They are closer than they appear, and they will steal your customers — if you don’t disrupt back. “The retailers have already nailed positive customer Read More
Google is often the place people look first when seeking health information online. Assuming your health care system has done all the right things to optimize discoverability, the patient’s next step is to access care, most often by making a phone call. That first impression determines the course for a potentially long-term relationship. For a Read More
“We’ve been exposed!” exclaims Lindsay Resnick, executive vice president at Wunderman Thompson Health. “COVID shined a bright light on American health care — the best and the worst: gaps in its value chain, disparities in communities, advances in technology, changes in consumer behavior, and a culture of collaboration in crisis.” Resnick says health care consumers Read More
“The repercussions of consumers putting off both routine and essential care (most likely a result of both the voluntary shutdown of elective procedures around the country by many health systems as well as growing concerns over being exposed to the virus) are significant,” says Daniel Fell of Optum. “From both a public health and a Read More
Telemedicine came to the rescue when COVID-19 first rattled the capacity and safety of health care delivery. It didn’t take long for hospitals, providers, and patients to embrace the conveniences, especially when federal waivers allowed for expanded access to virtual care services, and payers relaxed their reimbursement guidelines. But there’s a problem: The pandemic shed Read More
Los Angeles is home to many world-class health care organizations, and they compete vigorously for the same patients. But even in a competitive market, joining together for the greater good may be the best way to get an important message across to the community. “It became apparent early on that people were not accessing health Read More
In this topsy-turvy world we’re living in, everything familiar has had to change to accommodate the new normal, and conferences are no exception. The Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development annual conference, SHSMD Connections, will now be held virtually as two conferences, “Navigating a New Reality” on September 14-16, and “SHSMD Connections Bytes” Read More
“The situation seemed dire at Vassar Brothers Medical Center,” writes Peter Hochstein, copywriter and SHCM contributor. “Doctors at a large medical group were under orders to refer patients to a different hospital. Then Vassar launched an ad campaign that empowered patients to defy their doctors. And everything changed.” Here’s an excerpt from Hochstein’s new article: Read More
“People will remember how they’re treated,” says Rob Klein, founder and CEO of Klein & Partners. “And how you treat them will determine whether your brand comes out of this with momentum.” Klein & Partners and The DRG recently released the results of the third wave of an online national survey measuring consumer reactions to Read More
Health care marketers know that building a successful brand is not just about new logos, taglines, and ads. The brand must accurately reflect the vision and beliefs that make up the culture of the organization, drive all strategic decisions, and form the foundation for communications with all audiences. “If your brand is authentic, you can Read More
The pandemic is hitting hardest among certain racial, ethnic, and minority groups. Through mid-June, non-Hispanic Black people had a COVID-19 hospitalization rate about five times that of non-Hispanic White people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hispanic or Latino people had a hospitalization rate four times that of non-Hispanic White people. In Read More
As the U.S. emerges from what is likely the first wave of the COVID-19 global pandemic, many health care organizations are launching campaigns to encourage patients to seek the medical care they have delayed. Northwell Health, a 23-hospital system with nearly 800 outpatient facilities in the New York metro area, wanted its campaign to communicate Read More
Rebranding a large health system is a complex undertaking that is more than a marketing and design challenge; it requires a thoughtful, strategic approach to be successful. ChristianaCare, the largest health care provider in Delaware, unveiled its new brand identity in October 2019, after an 18-month planning process with its agency, Wax Custom Communications. The Read More
“A group of musicians in Iceland demonstrated that promoting social distancing doesn’t have to sound like somber, top-down marching orders from an authoritarian central command,” says SHCM contributor and copywriter Peter Hochstein. “Instead, they tapped into something uplifting, communal, and perhaps instinctively primeval.” Here’s an excerpt from Hochstein’s new story: I feel sorry for the Read More
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” is the motto at Richmond-based NDP. Last year, the full-service marketing and advertising agency added a media planning division — Neathawk360. As the name implies, this new service embraces a 360-degree approach to the many and diverse forms of media that can impact a consumer’s engagement Read More
During the initial stages of the pandemic, health care marketing leaders found their mission changing from brand and service-line promotion to crisis communication management, with staffs focusing efforts on sharing up-to-date information for patients and communities. Now that businesses are beginning to reopen, employees are returning to work, and restrictions on daily activities are loosening, Read More
“Nothing triggers an emotional reaction like watching someone trying to resist it. There’s a kids’ game in which the object is to stare at all the other kids and try to make one of them laugh while they resist. Trying not to laugh usually ended with an explosion of giggles all around,” notes veteran copywriter Read More
People age 50 and older represent the largest demographic of health care consumers. But do you know how to best reach and market your health care organization to this audience, and which products and services resonate the most with them? A recent national consumer survey conducted by Cox Media Group revealed surprising insights about how Read More
The United States has experienced hundreds of thousands of confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 100,000 deaths. On the economic side, millions have been furloughed or have lost their jobs. And, sadly, “we are not anywhere near done yet,” notes David Marlowe. Here’s an excerpt from Marlowe’s new article: The health care system has been hit Read More