instantly health

A funny thing happened to what was ‘social’ media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Instagram, etc., where communities of people formed and came together to share funny videos of baby’s and dogs and photos of “here are the dishes I am having for dinner” postings. Social media platforms have evolved for better or for worse into the new mainstream media #NMM. Twitter and other platforms now drive the news cycle. A racist tweet comes out, and a TV show canceled. The last petulant Twitter escapades of POTUS make headlines. Reporters post their stories on Twitter, Facebook, Flipboard for example, before they ever hit the website or print editions.  Reporters who previously loathed the ICYMT in an email, now use the acronym to accompany their story posts and reposts. Action and reaction drive the news cycle. Everyone is a reporter without the benefit of an editor or having to fact check. “If it’s on the Internet and social media than it must be true.” A statement that has gone from being a...

All health care is local and is shaped by events nationally, regionally, and locally. Changes in healthcare policy and reimbursement such as the Affordable Care Act, state regulatory action, and new or experimental payment methodologies change the game on a regular basis.  But in the end, it still comes down to medical care delivered in the physician’s office, the local hospital and other alternative and nearby ambulatory care settings that may or may not be hospital-based. Places of care where the healthcare consumer forms opinions and then shares in a variety of ways. Even with all the market uncertainty, growing healthcare consumerism, data transparency driven by third parties along price and outcomes, retail innovation and non-traditional competition, health care is still a game of influence.   Many hospitals and health systems are turning to micro-influencers to promote the brand in pithy clever campaigns. Then you see the same macro-influencers in the same market pr...

I came across an old post from December 2010 written with the passage of the Affordable Care Act on how the role of hospital marketing needed to change to meet the new evolving consumer-directed marketplace .   Then in 2012, a reader asked if hospital marketing had changed nearly two years later. My answer is 2012, sadly enough not much has changed in the current state and role of hospital marketing.   Today on May 20, 2018, nearly eight-year after the original post, I decided to revisit the question. The answer is still ; not much has changed overall.   Oh, we have added an expanded social media and online practice, but much of the changing role and strategic marketing leadership that I envisioned with the passage of the Affordable Care Act hasn't taken place.   It's pretty much standard operations as in the past.   And that is disappointing.   Understand that I am not talking about pharma, medical device manufacturers, insurance companies, suppliers, an...

I read an interesting article on April 27, 2018, “Providers jittery over the ‘Yelpification’ of healthcare” , Tony Abraham, Healthcare Dive from the Manhattan Institute report, “Yelp for Health” . The striking part of the report is that consumer Yelp reviews and other text-based reviews correlate with Medicare consumer surveys. Oh, oh. We all know that consumers are increasingly turning to social media to find and select healthcare providers.  Why is that such a surprise? Now that the horse is out of the barn and not going back anytime soon, what is the hospital to do?  It’s time to stop having the yips or jitters over patients and consumers using Yelp and other social media channels. It’s now time to respond strategically and tactically from a marketing perspective. You must get over it organizationally and stop believing your press releases about how great you are. The yips and jitters come from inaction and refusal to accept the reality of the market driven by the growing ...

Do you know who your patient hospital brand evangelists are? I ask this question for a very important reason.  In an age of little provider differentiation in the retail medical marketplace with me-too messaging, how is a healthcare consumer to make a choice? Now that being said, I realize that many healthcare leaders will dispute the above statement.  But the fact is it is little if any messaging differentiation.  I was there in the same place but made a conscious effort to move away from the “me too” messaging. So where am I going with this? Healthcare consumers and patients are demanding price and quality transparency, as is CMS, employers, and other key constituents. Maybe what they want is more price certainty and to know what the value is they are receiving for the dollar paid?  But few in the hospital or health system segment are listening to the needs and demands of the healthcare consumer. Then they howl loudly than a third-party releases data that is p...

Something in the integration of sales and marketing in healthcare vendors could be amiss. One camp is still living in the 90s. Another in the 2000s and yet another in the 2010s around the selling and marketing process. I forgot to mention as well, leadership reading an article, attending a conference, or hearing speaker assuming they know it all and then mandating a change in organizational direction. Size of the company matters little for it happens in all of them. The healthcare vendor world regardless of product or channel is a very competitive place with clear winners and losers. It’s a winner take all proposition with physicians, hospitals, and health systems, hence the need for a sales and marketing strategy that can give an edge. And that can be difficult in a parallel world of messages, product capability, and solutions. Enter the concept of OODA LOOP applied to sales and marketing. But, let’s first start with what is an OODA Loop. Developed by USAF military strategist Colonel ...

Last time I looked, hospitals were 24/7 operations. And the other thing I noticed, individual use of health care in many ways is 24/7 too. Since healthcare continues evolving into an innovative, accountable, cost-effective, quality outcome and consumer need-driven model, it begs the question, is engagement now an all the time new reality? Secondary to that question is, are healthcare organizations prepared for that new marketing realty? Like anything in life and business, some are, and the majority are not.   But be that as it may, consumer and patient engagement is not a part-time, or as we happen to think about the activity. What patient and consumer engagement is the opportunity to create, engage, foster, and nourish an enduring relationship with those individuals and families. And that engagement is regardless of what day, time of day, social media channel, or location in space and time the individual resides. That is a scary proposition for some healthcare organizations. ...