instantly health

UGC image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay. User Generated Content (UGC) is the holy grail for healthcare vendors when all is said and done.  It doesn’t matter what vendor segment you’re in; the content and potential thought leadership from clients and prospects turned into customers are worth its weight in gold. Why? Having worked both sides of healthcare in providers and vendors, UGC has far more value and meaning. Providers expect vendors to produce the usual case studies, white papers, research briefs, blog posts, webinars, speaking opportunities,  press releases, media position statements, or any other brand tactical content forms used in a well-designed and executed thought leadership program. That does not mean you throw away case studies et al.,  but what it does mean is that if the vendor is unsuccessful at obtaining UGC, those other activities do not carry the same weight in supporting the vendor’s position. Platform image by Andrew Martin from Pixabay Providers ...

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...

Woman physician image by Daniel Damn outsideclick from Pixabay Let’s face it, the current efforts by local, state, and federal governments are falling way short of the target number of vaccinations needed to reach community herd immunity. While availability and access of the COVID-19 vaccines are widely available, convenient, and free,  the efforts by anti-vaxxers, science deniers, conspiracy theorists and disinformation 12 continue to gain followers and support. While many efforts are underway to reverse the trend, from state lotteries, free giveaways, public relations, etc., it’s just not working. Now comes the finger-pointing and blame game focusing on the social media tech giants as the source of the problem by allowing COVID-19 misinformation to be shared. What hospitals and health systems are now facing as the COVID Delta variant spreads like wildfire, as society opens up, is the fourth wave of the pandemic, that of the unvaccinated. It’s time to stop blaming third parties...

Image by ganderboy from Pixabay Marketing to physicians is hard. It is tough to reach physicians trying your mightiest to get that elusive appointment for face-to-face selling. Then came the pandemic, and it became nearly impossible. One segment of the vendor healthcare market hit particularly hard was revenue cycle management (RCM) vendors. These companies battle among the thousands of local mom-and-pop billing and coding shops and the national behemoths. Competition in the healthcare vendor segment is primarily price-driven and can be considered in many ways that billing and coding are commodities. So how can an RCM break through this loggerhead? You need to get the physician's attention in the right marketing channel, with the right message, the first time. Image by Sammie Mendes from Pixabay Getting the attention of physicians and practice leaders can seem like a nearly impossible task for business development executives. At the same time, cold calling sometimes works and re...