Influencing Hospital Choice at Key Moments, Understanding the Patient's Decision Matrix

 

Image by PixxlTeufel from Pixabay

As the provider market for the patient and physician continues to consolidate through merger, acquisition, liquidation, or disintermediation, there is one clear outcome due to the lasting effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Fewer providers meanheightened competition within hospitals or health systems in a bid to stay atop the food chain. But with the patient's realizationthat they need a hospital for only three things, emergency care, intensive care, and care for complex acute medical conditions, patients are more in control with their physician of the selection process.

To become the patient's choice for healthcare, successful providers will recognize that understanding the patient’s selection decision matrix is the new way of marketing and how it impacts growth.

Patient Decision Matrix

In this environment, providers are already losing meaningful differentiation. Marketing campaigns with fluff messaging about caring, facilities, or quality awards with no context, the best facilities, technology, or better yet, “our doctors care more,” are meaningless.  All hospitals and health systems do the same thing. How they communicate with variations on features across the continuum of care may differ, but still at its most basic level are substantially the same. 

Of course, brand reputation can be a powerful influencer, but some providers struggle when they don't have a considerable brand reputation, a clear brand promise or more than basic patient understanding.

Now that being said, this discussion is not for the successful hospitals or health systems that are already using patient decision matrix and building patient evangelists along the way. 

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

What change is required?

The requirement is to move from an overreliance on features marketing to organizational patient-focused culture and strategy. The marketing operation becomes highly integrated and shifts to inbound marketing. Marketing's job is now to provide the right content, at the right time, in the proper healthcare context during the patient’s selection process.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Influencing patient selection is effective marketing.

When hospital marketing understands the selection processes, then marketing becomes far more beneficial. Marketing moves from putting the heads in the beds or focused on brand and image in the hopes that they are noticed to a defined process that impacts and enhances growth.

What follows are the critical decision points to understand as the patients move through the stages of Awareness, Consideration, Decision, and Post-utilization to influence are: 

1.       Initial moments that lead to the first contact. 

2.       The conversationspatients engage in to find solutions. 

3.       The directional flowthat a patient takes in engagement and experience leading up to the selection decision. 

4.       The key touchpoints and informational Items used that are associated with the patient’s decision and utilization. 

5.      An understanding of the patient’s post-utilization experience to treatment and experience in interacting with the non-clinical aspects of receiving care, such as finance.

After all, if you want to survive, thrive, and grow in turbulent, shrinking markets, you must understand the patient better than they understand their medical needs to influence provider selection.

Michael is a healthcare business, marketing, communications strategist, and thought leader. As an internationally followed healthcare strategy blogger, his blog, Healthcare Marketing Matters, is read in 52 countries and is listed on the 100 Top Healthcare Marketing Blogs & Websites ranked at No. 3 on Feedspot.com. Michael is a Life Fellow American College of Healthcare Executives. An influencer in healthcare marketing strategy, communications, digital marketing, and social media, Michael is in the top 10 percent of social media experts nationwide. For inquiries regarding strategic consulting engagements, you can email me at michael@themichaeljgroup.com. 

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The opinions expressed are my own.