Business Development

Subtopics: Partnering, Mergers, Acquisitions, Referrals, etc.

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Health Care Convergence: Are You Ready for This New Model?

Mark Fish, Managing Director, Health Solutions, FTI Consulting

In pursuit of high-quality, cost-effective care that revolves around the patient, many health care organizations seek new ways to foster system-wide collaboration. This concept involves breaking down barriers that have traditionally separated payers, providers, and patients to enable everyone to work more closely together to meet common goals. Such a way of doing business, commonly Read More

Could You Gain by Affiliating with a Larger Health Network?

Grinnell Regional Medical Center Logo

Is bigger better? For Grinnell Regional Medical Center (GRMC), a 49-bed rural hospital in Grinnell, Iowa, affiliating with the larger Mercy Health Network in Des Moines has certainly had its benefits. Back in 2009, when GRMC first decided to explore creating an affiliation with a bigger network, there was growing recognition that for a community Read More

Post-Merger Branding: How A Marriage of Equals Becomes More Than The Sum of Its Parts

“It’s a marriage made in heaven,” notes Melissa Fors, Executive Director of Marketing Strategy for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation: “In February 2014, two of the nation’s best-known substance abuse treatment organizations—Hazelden and the Betty Ford Center—said ‘I do’ to a merger. This agreement marked the culmination of more than 30 years of connectedness between Read More

Let’s Rethink Your Hospital Call Center

// By Andrea Simon, Ph.D. // A hospital “call center” often has been considered an irritating expense health care organizations have to endure, because people use phones and want to reach a doctor or patient in the hospital. But maybe it’s time to ask, “What if we’ve always been wrong?” Maybe a call center actually Read More

How to Build a Health Care Brand with Multiple Ad Agencies, Multiple Specialty Campaigns—and in the Face of Multiple Competitors. (Hint: It’s Complicated.)

Peter Hochstein

Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // So let’s say you’re out to build a hospital system’s brand. And let’s also say you’re in one of the biggest markets in one of the biggest states, competing against some of the biggest regional names in health care. Although, exclusive of direct marketing, you’ve got Read More

Is Your Organization Well Positioned to Adopt Value-Based Care? These 7 Questions Can Help You Assess Your Readiness

Lisa D. Ellis

By Lisa D. Ellis In pursuit of high-quality, cost-effective care that revolves around the patient, many health care organizations seek new ways to foster system-wide collaboration. This concept involves breaking down barriers that have traditionally separated payers, providers, and patients to enable everyone to work more closely together to meet common goals. Such a way Read More

You Don’t Have to Go It Alone: Why One Rural Health Care Organization Joined a Larger Network—and What You Can Learn From Its Example

Lisa D. Ellis

By Lisa Ellis Is bigger better? For Grinnell Regional Medical Center (GRMC), a 49-bed rural hospital in Grinnell, Iowa, affiliating with the larger Mercy Health Network in Des Moines has certainly had its benefits. This affiliation was approved back in 2009, after GRMC’s leadership decided to look for new ways to position itself so it Read More

Are You Ready for the Moment Your CEO Asks, “How Is Marketing Contributing To Our Revenue Opportunities?”

“Eighty percent of CEOs don’t really trust marketers,” says Mike Milligan, President of Legato Healthcare Marketing, Inc., citing a recent Fournaise Marketing Group survey of high-level decisions-makers. “This is painful for me to say because I’ve been on both sides of the health care marketing table. But I’ve also learned that before you can overcome a Read More

The Best Marriages Are Built on Commonalities: How Two Organizations Became One—and What You Can Learn From Their Example

By Melissa Fors It’s a marriage made in heaven. In February 2014, two of the nation’s best-known substance abuse treatment organizations—Hazelden and the Betty Ford Center—said, “I do” to a merger. This agreement marked the culmination of more than 30 years of connectedness between the two organizations. A Snapshot of the Two Organizations Hazelden, founded Read More

Think Like a Health Care CEO and Elevate the Role of Marketing

By Mike Milligan Eighty percent of CEOs don’t really trust marketers, according to a recent Fournaise Marketing Group survey of high-level decisions-makers. Eighty percent! This is painful for me to say because I’ve been on both sides of the health care marketing table. But I’ve also learned that before you can overcome a challenge, you Read More

Humanizing Robotic Surgery Sets Michigan Facility Apart from the Competition

Back in 2008, Saginaw, Michigan-based Covenant HealthCare saw an opportunity to “own the robotic surgery market in the region,” says Larry Daly, Director of Planning and Business Development at Covenant HealthCare. The specific focus was da Vinci Surgical System robots, high-tech devices increasingly used in minimally invasive surgery. “Our strategy was to purchase the latest Read More

How to Map Consumer and Patient Behavior to Deliver More Marketing Impact

“In health care, it isn’t just the care that’s changing,” notes Claire Hovis, Vice President and Account Director of Capstrat, an agency that helps health care clients and others tell their stories with power and persuasion. “Power is changing.” She says “expert-driven” communications—which in the past have given providers and large corporations a strong position Read More

Hospital Leapfrogs Competitor’s Robotic Surgery Technology, Advertising Campaigns Leverage the Differentiation and Drive Dramatic Growth

Advertising Worth Noting By Peter Hochstein This tale begins in 2008, when the people running things at Covenant HealthCare, today a 643-bed multiple facility institution with campuses in and around Saginaw, Michigan, began hearing rumors about robots. Well, not just any robots. These were da Vinci Surgical System robots, those high-tech devices increasingly used in Read More

How Marketing Communications Can Navigate Patients Right to Your Door: 4 Steps to Get Your Facility on Your Customer’s Map

By Claire Hovis In health care, it isn’t just the care that’s changing. Power is changing. “Expert-driven” communications that placed providers and large corporations atop the information market are giving way to a generation of empowered consumers who are more engaged and have higher expectations. Access is changing. The Affordable Care Act has brought health Read More

Why Better Physician Onboarding Leads To Higher Profits

Matt Humphrey

Serving the central and northeast regions of Pennsylvania, Geisinger Health System is one of the largest rural health systems in the nation, operating nine hospitals, along with a 1,200 member multi-specialty group practice, two research centers, and a 467,000-member health plan. While some hospitals communicate with providers themselves, Geisinger decided to try a different approach, Read More

Rural Health System Maximizes Profits Through Better Physician Onboarding; Can You Cut Your New Docs’ Time to Profit by 78%?

By Lisa D. Ellis Relationships are the focus of attention at Geisinger Health System—and not just with patients, but also with its practitioners and specialists. In fact, aligning with providers, as well as with all of the internal service lines, is a key part of the organization’s strategy, enabling everyone to work collaboratively within the Read More

How To Position Your Service Lines for Success in Today’s Marketplace

Howard Gershon

Service lines may be the mainstay of your organization, but are you using them strategically for the realities of today’s marketplace? If not, you could be missing some important potential for getting, and keeping, your patients. Health care reform has changed the way most hospitals do business—and the impact includes an increased emphasis on value Read More

Spectrum Health’s Internal Communications Strategy Manages Medical Group Growth

Spectrum Health Medical Group (SHMG) has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years, and so has its onboarding and communication efforts, which are essential to helping new providers acclimate to the large, multi-disciplinary system. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Spectrum Health is the second largest health care provider in the state, offering inpatient and Read More

Restructuring Service Lines for Success

Service lines may be the mainstay of your organization, but are you using them strategically for the realities of today’s marketplace? If not, you could be missing some important potential for getting, and keeping, your patients. Responding to the Current Climate Health care reform has changed the way most hospitals do business—and the impact includes Read More