instantly health

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay. If you’re a hospital CEO or a Board of Directors member of a tax-exempt hospital, you’re not going to like this post. I know hospitals don’t care much about optics unless they get caught, but there are times where an action crosses the line of ethical behavior. No matter how well-intentioned the idea was of the senior leader in the hospital who thought of or approved the idea, it’s still wrong. There is a growing trend in hospitals in adding job candidates to their fundraising efforts by Development departments. I don’t know who the rocket scientist was in the hospital that came up with that idea, but it’s a breach of trust and confidentiality. Especially after receiving the standard HR “thank you for your interest email” and never hear another word from the hospital. Until, of course, they receive a communication from the hospital Development department asking the applicant to contribute to the latest Capital Campaign or give us some money becaus...

Idea image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay. The title, in a nutshell, explains why so much hospital marketing is features based, not a value proposition, brand promise, experience or benefits to the patients based. Ponder that statement for a minute. Now review some of your advertising and messaging- all about your beautiful facilities and locations, your technology for diagnosing and treating disease, third-party awards, how much you care about the patient, even specialized medical services that few people need. Hospital marketing, in that case, is focused on the Board, senior management, and medical staff with all the points they hold near and dear to their hearts.  Cold and soulless, these messages are devoid of meaning for the patient yet allow senior management to pat themselves on the back for a great job of building facilities. Other hospitals and health systems in the market take the same approach with a slightly different spin. And then you hear from the medical staff with...

The last 20 or so months have seen an unprecedented wave of change in healthcare. The way patients search for information, access care, and its delivery due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Direction image by Kalhh from Pixabay The patient is more in charge with the adaption of telehealth, new entrants stepping into areas that were previously the domain of the hospital, and other care delivered in more convenient, affordable, and accessible locations. Add on top of all of this access to pricing information, and you can see why I call it Healthcare 3.0 Healthcare 3.0 Healthcare 3.0 is an entirely different market animal from anything hospital leadership has ever had to contend with.  The competitive animal has teeth with little regard for whether a hospital or health system survives. Highly competitive, innovative, and retail, the sole focus is on understanding and meeting patients' needs.  Most hospital marketing by focusing on features of the hospital- facilities, technology, s...

  Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Think for a moment using the lens of marketing and ask what a hospital or health system does control? Do they control the insurers? No. They negotiate but do not control them. Do they control Medicare or Medicaid? Do they control the independent physician they need to utilize the hospital inpatient, outpatient, and emergency room facilities and services? No. Can they control the patient at any other time when they are not in the system of care receiving some medical care?   I think that is a no as well. For the sake of the discussion, let's agree that control is too harsh a word in its truest sense. So maybe the better choice would be the ability to influence the patient and others. However, the answer would still be a resounding no from a brand marketing viewpoint, especially in a buyer's market beginning to exist today. Four areas of influence to manage. The four areas that ultimately impact the hospital or health systems' ability t...

  Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay Last week’s Lessons from the Field post was about the hospital brand promise asking basically, what is it. An exciting number of discussions ensued. Except for a few notable hospitals and healthcare systems, the conclusion was that hospitals might not have a complete understanding of their brand promise to patients.    Most may not even be able to define the brand promise. During those discussions, I took a step back and asked what the hospital brand is? Suppose you cannot articulate clearly and succinctly what the hospital brand promises are. In that case, the chances are excellent that the hospital and its employees do not know what the hospital brand is. Hint, it’s not the logo and tagline. Image by Andreaooi from Pixabay Though the hospital logo and tagline should graphically communicate the core brand as best as possible, that is not the hospital brand.  In hospitals and other providers, the non-marketing professionals, fro...

  Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Since 2016, much has been written and experimented with regarding the three marketing buckets to patients: engagement, experience, and choice. Much of what we wrote was applicable for the times, but the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic changed everything. Everything from how care is delivered and accessed to patient paying a more significant role in accessing care through telemedicine and other innovations, hospitals are forced to become more patient-focused and responsive then they may have been in the recent past.    Society is now beginning to emerge from the pandemic, returning to some semblance of normalcy, so marketing should not be focused on freshened up pre-pandemic messaging. The hospital should concentrate on communicating the hospital brand promise for today's changing healthcare market. Understand that with the new healthcare reality, engagement, and experience of the patient, initial steps with searchable prices for consumerism and ...

  Image by expresswriters from Pixabay All health care is local, but is shaped by events nationally, regionally, and locally. Changes in healthcare caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic with the rise of telemedicine, digital health, and new entrants in the healthcare market changes the competitive hospital landscape regularly. It still comes down to medical care delivered in the physician’s office, the local hospital, and other care settings where patients form opinions and then share in a variety of ways on social media channels. Despite all the market uncertainty, new price transparency regulations effective January 1, 2021, growing healthcare consumerism, data transparency driven by third parties, retail, medical innovation, and non-traditional competition, health care is still a game of influence.     Many hospitals and health systems are turning to influencers to promote the brand in creative campaigns. Then you see the same influencers in the same market promoting oth...

With all the things that hospital leadership have on their plates and keeping them up at night, there is one area that could improve their marketing. That is making the hospital marketing stickier by being more creative. Image by ptra from Pixabay Creativity in hospital marketing is not a sin.  Now that being said, the creative and production values of cable and broadcast television advertisements are particularly good and of excellent quality for the most part. Where the hospital marketing fails is on the creative side is with email, digital, paid social, print advertisements, and direct mail.  Nobody remembers the advertisements.   But the healthcare and patient remembers what they saw on social media or the Internet. The healthcare consumer is talking and searching for healthcare information to learn and make choices.   But is the hospital or health system listening?  Welcome to the experience economy, where the experience of care trumps the products and s...