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Image by Here and Now from Pixabay, Sooner or later, the COVID-10 pandemic will eventually move to the endemic phase. While COVID surges and new variants require continued vigilance and preventive measures, the impacts to the current patient experience are profound and lasting. It is not too early to begin thinking and planning for an endemic patient experience in 2022. As hospitals develop their business and marketing plans for an endemic world, special attention needs to be paid to the patient experience. Image by Alexandra Koch from Pixabay. A changed “normal” healthcare experience is in place with patients choosing and accessing healthcare services in new ways. Change is never easy and sometimes unrecognizable. Providers now live in a world where the patient exercises far more control in the selection process of the healthcare services they choose, the method of access, and delivery. Hospitals have had to engage more closely and meaningfully with patients, families, and the commun...

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Healthcare marketers, all marketers, are awash in data. I postulate that healthcare marketers’ amount of available data are complex data sets similar in the amount and velocity to what clinicians use. And in turn, enterprising marketers have turned to AI and algorithms to sift through the data for their next best action. You have developed your ideal patient personas, targeted the appropriate demographics, age, gender, lifestyle, community, etc. Some have even conducted primary research. All well and good. But are you measuring what matters to take the next best action? Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Would you consider this is an important question? If you do not measure what matters, then how do you know that the proposed next best action will have a chance to succeed? Artificial intelligence and algorithms are necessary and valuable. These tools have come a long way in a brief period. But, as we get enamored with the “gee-whiz” of Martech, it...

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay As healthcare continues its rapid evolution into a far more accountable, cost-effective, price-conscious, and patient-driven model, it begs the question, why are your patient engagement efforts not all the time? Secondary to that question is, are healthcare organizations prepared for that new marketing reality? Like anything in life and business, some are, and the majority are not.   But be that as it may, it would seem that healthcare consumer and patient engagement is not a part-time or some of the time activity. It should be viewed as the opportunity to create, engage, foster, and nourish an enduring relationship with those individuals and families. That is a scary proposition for some healthcare organizations. It means being accountable and responsible to those you serve and meeting their needs by delivering on the brand promises day in and day out.  I would also suggest that this extends to area employers as well.  Otherwise,...

Health systems, and hospitals, for that matter, have an experience problem. The problem, while complicated, can be summed up as the inability to present an experience to the patient that is consistent across the entire health system. Connection image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Hence one patient to the health system, one health system to the patient. Here is an example from an actual patient. A patient is seen at one hospital of a multihospital system for several years - inpatient, outpatient, and rehab.  That person is medically complex with multiple comorbidities.  With numerous chronic conditions, no matter how well it’s managed, an acute episode will require a short-term hospitalization. An ambulance is called, and due to the disease, the patient needs to be transported to the closest system hospital, not the one where they regularly receive care. Hospital image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay This is where the fun begins for the family. Immediately new specialists unfamil...

Clarity image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Suppose there are some intuitive insights that have occurred during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic for hospitals. In that case, it may very well be that to gain organizational efficiencies, increase cash flow, and provide a higher quality of patient care, experience, and engagement, that outsourcing will be required.    It is understood that one does not outsource every department in the hospital as some functions still need direct organizational control, such as nursing.  However, it has become increasingly apparent as healthcare 3.0 is further defined with digital healthcare, the decentralization of care to community-based sites, innovations in treatment, technology, and pharmaceuticals, the hospital or health system faces formidable challenges. Changes and reductions in reimbursement also have significant impacts are that can negatively impact cash flow and the ability to meet internal or external demands. While leadership understa...