instantly health

As the provider market for the healthcare consumer continues to consolidate through merger, acquisition, liquidation, or disintermediation, there is one clear outcome. Fewer providers mean heightened competition within hospitals or health systems in a bid you stay atop the food chain. But with the consumer's realization that they need a hospital for only three things, emergency care, intensive care, and care for complex acute medical conditions, they are more in control with their physician of the buying process that providers want to admit. To become part of the consumer's choice for healthcare, successful providers will recognize that understanding the healthcare consumer buyers' journey is the new way of thinking about marketing, how it impacts growth, and can drive the organization in a better direction that is more customer-focused and responsive.  Customer Buyer Journey In this environment, providers are already losing meaningful differentiation. Marketing campaigns f...

Given the extraordinary competing needs in hospitals to meet the of the healthcare marketplace from EMRs to employed physician, too new treatment and diagnostic modalities and declining reimbursements, marketing gets the short straw most of the time in those resource allocation decisions.  And that is a dangerous position to be in with a healthcare market that is a semi-retail, consumer-centric model with numerous consumer choices available for diagnosis and treatment that is far more convenient, accessible and affordable then a hospital setting. When you have constrained marketing resources, with the requirement to have a continuous presence in the marketplace to shift healthcare consumer’s attitudes, preferences and choices, the triple combination of earned media, public relations and social media working in an integrated strategic fashion can achieve that end for you. Make no mistake about it, combining social media, public relations, and earned media is hard. It is much more th...

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...