Pricing

Hospital Billing Overhaul: Northern Light Health’s Reputation Rescue

Vince Galloro headshot

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

How to Manage the Reputation Risks of Hospital Billing

Headshot of Suzanne Spruce smiling. She has short blonde hair and is wearing a black blazer with a white shirt.

Focus on what you can control and create patient-friendly bill pay web pages with clear financial assistance information. // By Suzanne R. Spruce and Vince Galloro // In August 2022, the Portland Press Herald — the paper with the highest circulation in the state of Maine — published a long article on unexpected medical bills. Read More

Expand Your Virtual Care Options to Improve Access and Attract New Patients

Jeff Stewart, system director of strategic marketing, CHRISTUS Health

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

Virtual Care Stays True to the Brand at CHRISTUS Health

Jane Weber Brubaker

There are many options for expanding access through virtual care. CHRISTUS Health’s thoughtful approach is guided by its mission, and its recognized brand attracts new patients. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // When CHRISTUS Health launched its “On Demand Care” urgent care service in May 2022, some clinicians were concerned about visit erosion from the Read More

How to Take Control of the Health Care Cost Narrative

Ryan Colaianni, executive vice president of Communications & Crisis/Issues, Revive

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

Why Health Systems Must Manage and Accelerate Growth Going Forward

“Growth is important for every organization,” says Daniel Fell of Optum. “Whether it’s for-profits or not-for-profits, start-ups or established market leaders, every business depends on some level of growth to succeed in the near term. Growth is also essential to long-term sustainability, especially when navigating dynamic markets and overcoming unforeseen market disruptions.” Here’s an excerpt Read More

The Growth Imperative and Why Marketing Must Lead

Daniel Fell, marketing consultant and senior strategist at Optum

// By Daniel Fell // Growth is far from one-dimensional and shouldn’t be thought of in terms of new patients and new revenue only. Growth is important for every organization. Whether it’s for-profits or not-for-profits, start-ups or established market leaders, every business depends on some level of growth to succeed in the near term. Growth Read More

Consumer Voice Is Essential to Launch of Medicare Advantage Product

Darrell Beneker, director of consumer insights, Advocate Aurora Health

// By Sheryl S. Jackson // There’s no substitute for market research when launching a new product and designing a campaign to support it. Advocate Aurora Health relied heavily on consumer research to support the launch of its Medicare Advantage plan.  The success of Advocate Aurora Health’s launch of a Medicare Advantage product can be Read More

CX Is a Key Weapon in the Battle for Market Share

Indigo Urgent Care Logo

“Disrupt or be disrupted.” That’s the advice Shari Campbell offers to anyone in traditional health care who is concerned about losing market share to retail health care stores as Walmart, Amazon, CVS, and others move into the business. Campbell, marketing director, retail health at MultiCare Health System in Tacoma, Washington, says MultiCare Health began to Read More

Can Traditional Health Care Hold Off the Retail Invasion?

James Gardner, marketing strategist and retail health expert

// By Jim Samuel // We’ve all been expecting it, but now that Walmart, CVS, Amazon, Walgreens, and others are upping their games, the question is more important than ever. Can traditional primary care and health systems survive the retail health onslaught, and what do they need to do to maintain market share and thrive? 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

Learn From the Retailers. They Are Stealing Your Customers.

Gary Druckenmiller, senior vice president, strategy and innovation at Healthgrades

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

Retail Disruptors Stealing Your Customers? Time to Disrupt Back

jane weber brubaker

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // 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 Read More

6 Ways to Market Telehealth As an Essential Service for Your Patients

// By Sue Spaight // Successful technologies have their big adoption moment — the event that pushes them past the “tipping point” and across the chasm to become a part of everyday life. Telehealth surged across U.S. health care systems during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis reduced barriers to virtual care and Read More

The Key Components of an Effective Health Care Marketing Plan

Health Care Marketing Plans That Work - book cover

If you’ve ever had a physician demand a billboard that wasn’t in your budget — and who hasn’t? — you can attest to the value of a well-constructed marketing plan. It gives you a blueprint to guide your marketing activities throughout the year, and arms you to defend against misguided requests. What are the components Read More

How to Develop a Marketing Plan That Works

David Marlowe

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // If you’ve ever had a physician demand a billboard that wasn’t in your budget — and who hasn’t? — you can attest to the value of a well-constructed marketing plan. It gives you a blueprint to guide your marketing activities throughout the year, and arms you to defend against Read More

Walking the Talk with Price Transparency

Kathy Delis, administrative director of revenue cycle support, University of Utah Health

A 2017 price transparency study published in the journal Hospital Pediatrics found 30 out of 45 pediatric hospitals contacted provided price estimates. Only 12 of the 30 that provided estimates had online price calculators. A new price transparency guideline from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which went into effect in January, is Read More

How Much Does It Cost? Addressing Price Transparency

Althea Fung

// By Althea Fung // Health care is in the midst of a shift toward a consumer-centric model — empowering patients to have a greater role in how their health care dollars are spent. But there’s a problem. It’s hard to shop around if no one can tell you how much services cost. A 2017 Read More

What Do Consumers Want From Your Health Care Organization?

Dan Clarin, senior vice president of Kaufman, Hall & Associates

Want to increase your health care organization’s market share? Think like a consumer. That’s the advice of Dan Clarin, CFA, senior vice president of Kaufman, Hall & Associates, a health care consulting, software, and data company. Improving access to care, aligning price with value, and providing better patient experience are key to increasing market share, Read More

Think Like a Health Care Consumer to Increase Market Share

Wendy Stark Healy

// By Wendy Stark Healy // Want to increase your health care organization’s market share? Think like a consumer. That’s the advice of Dan Clarin, CFA, senior vice president of Kaufman, Hall & Associates, a health care consulting, software, and data company. Improving access to care, aligning price with value, and providing better patient experience Read More

Ambulatory Pricing: Transform Your Pricing Strategy to Protect and Grow Market Share

Craig Ahrens, managing director, health solutions, Ankura

// By Craig Allan Ahrens and Sarah Hull // Hospital systems will be required to publish their chargemaster “list pricing” online by January 1, 2019, with the finalization of the Fiscal Year 2019 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System Final Rule (CMS-1694-F). Many states have Read More

A Focus on Well-Being Improves Patient Satisfaction

Sometimes the best marketing opportunities come from just naturally doing the right thing for the people you serve. That’s certainly been the case for Beaumont Health, headquartered in Southfield, Michigan. Its commitment to caring for the community extends beyond addressing people’s physical health to also supporting their mental and spiritual well-being through an array of Read More

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