Pandemic Recovery

Learn How (and Why) to Partner With Your Finance Department

Paul Szablowski, independent marketing consultant

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

5 Keys to Building Stronger Relationships Between Marketing and Finance

Elizabeth Ward, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Tidelands Health

// By Brian Griffin // Partnerships between CMOs and CFOs can raise marketers’ profile in the C-suite and enhance marketing effectiveness. 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 Read More

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

Live from San Antonio — It’s SHSMD Connections 2021!

Jennifer Weiss Wilkerson, vice president and chief strategy officer at Sheppard Pratt and SHSMD board president

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // Since the first major industry conference was canceled back in March 2020, we’ve missed out on the energy and vitality that a live conference generates. The 2021 fall conference season kicks off with SHSMD’s annual conference in September, with the option of attending virtually in October for those who Read More

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

Reshaping Marketing After COVID: What’s the New Normal?

Catherine Harrell, chief marketing officer, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System

// By Marlene Kurban // Top health system marketing executives weigh in on how 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. Were greater flexibility and agility unexpected byproducts of a challenging year? Will they propel health care Read More

Transforming Care Delivery in a Post-COVID World

Toby Cosgrove, executive advisor and former CEO and president, Cleveland Clinic

View from the C-Suite: Toby Cosgrove, MD, Executive Advisor and Former CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic // By Jane Weber Brubaker // In an interview with StartUp Health co-founders, Dr. Toby Cosgrove shares his perspectives on what we’ve learned from the pandemic, how technology accelerated innovation, and how it will continue to open new Read More

Where Health Care Marketers Should Focus in 2021

Danny Fell, Optum

// By Danny Fell // Marketers can help their organizations thrive in an increasingly competitive environment by introducing creative “outside the box” approaches that will help accelerate change. Coming off an incredibly challenging 2020, health care marketers face a potentially rocky start to the new year. Positive factors, like revolutionary new COVID-19 vaccines, are coming Read More

Data-Driven Efforts Help Systems Adapt During the Pandemic

Kevan Mabbutt, senior vice president and chief consumer officer at Intermountain Healthcare

Marketing budgets were already starting to tighten for some health systems at the beginning of last year. But when the coronavirus pandemic hit, some of those budget cuts became even more severe. Other systems saw budgets remain the same, but marketing departments had to be ready to quickly shift their strategy, messaging, tactics, and media Read More

2021 Will Be Difficult: A Flexible Plan Is Key

// By Alan Shoebridge // Predicting the future is always a dicey proposition, but from a marketing perspective it has generally been sort of, well, predictable. Most experienced professionals know how to prepare for an upcoming year with the general acceptance that a few minor bumps along the road will always come up. I know Read More

Better Data and Agility Help Marketers Justify Budgets and Measure Results

Jim Samuel, Copywriter and Content Marketer

// By Jim Samuel // Three health care marketing executives share how they use data and agility to justify budgets, achieve their marketing objectives, and measure the results. Marketing budgets were already starting to tighten for some health systems at the start of 2020. But when the coronavirus pandemic hit, some of those budget cuts Read More

How To Convince Patients It’s Safe — and Smart — To Return

Lewis Clark, vice president of marketing/media/public relations, Deborah Heart and Lung Center

At the Deborah Heart and Lung Center in southern New Jersey, the task of letting patients know it was safe and even wise to return evolved into a multimedia effort. The campaign has been paying off with a substantial increase in patient visits. In Peter Hochstein’s new story, he explains how they’re doing it. Here’s Read More

Who’s Looking Out for Consumers’ Health Care Interests These Days?

Lindsay Resnick

“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

COVID Has Lingering Effects For Providers and Consumers

Daniel Fell, Optum

“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

Four Challenges Facing Health Care Marketers in COVID Recovery

Lindsay Resnick

// By Lindsay R. Resnick // Consumers want to know, “Who’s going to do the right thing when it comes to my health?” We’ve been exposed! 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 Read More

Consumer Sentiment Evolving with COVID Spread

Daniel Fell, Optum

// By Daniel Fell // In early May, our company launched a biweekly tracking study to better understand and monitor consumer sentiment toward seeking health care services during the COVID pandemic. The Optum Consumer Pulse Survey asks a representative sample of 700 adult consumers nationwide how likely they are to visit different types of health Read More

What Are Patients’ Key Non-COVID Health Care Concerns?

Rob Klein, founder and CEO, Klein & Partners

“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

Creating a Brand That Can Withstand a Global Pandemic

Don Stanziano, chief marketing and communications officer at Geisinger

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

Communication Strategies Evolve as Pandemic Restrictions Loosen

Suzanne Hendery, chief marketing and communications officer at Renown Health

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