Please join us for a Luncheon Event hosted by MSHPM at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital June 24th in Ann Arbor.
Our distinguished panelists will discuss what hospitals, health systems and physicians should be thinking about as they develop an ACO. Areas of discussion will include physician alignment, network and hospital partnership strategies, ACO structure options, legal implications and use of technology to improve patient care, control costs and meet government regulations. Click here for the details. and to register.
re:group is pleased to sponsor this event. Contact Liz Conlin, V.P. Client Services for the inside scoop 734- 320-6606 or liz.conlin@regroup.us
Posted in
communication,
events,
healthcare Tags:
ann arbor,
event,
events,
health,
healthcare
Consumers expect their hospitals and health systems to figure out how to implement health care reform by 2014. Even though we know that there are still more questions than answers, and a lot of skepticism on all sides, it is clear that health care as we know it is undergoing a sea change that will play out over the next ten years. The ultimate question is: how will your organization adapt?
Here are the top ten areas that your marketing department will need to address as health care reform approaches.
1. Structure. Health care reform will involve change at every level of your organization and those changes need to be integrated throughout. Organization-wide planning and internal communication will be paramount. Marketing will be in an ideal position to think strategically about the implications of these changes on your internal and external audiences. Your CMO/Marketing Director must have a seat at the leadership table.
2. Collaboration. Are you planning on becoming or joining an Accountable Care Organization? Will your hospital or physician group be one of the first to become an ACO or are you considering joining with another hospital or physician group to provide services? Collaboration will be the name of the game in the new health care world. What are you doing to build provider relationships and develop a strong offer to attract them to your organization?
3. Branding. What is your brand’s value proposition and can you continue to deliver and support it in this new environment? To complicate matters, if your organization will become an ACO, what branding strategy will you use? Will you build a separate brand or will it be a companion brand to your primary brand offer? There are many things to consider, not to mention the impact on your marketing budget and staff. It is not too early to begin thinking about brand strategies and planning.
4. Service Strategy. What are your service line strategies? What services will you offer? Which ones are the most and least profitable? Winners in the new health care arena will market to their strengths. You do not need to be all things to all people. Think about how you can drive traffic to the specialties that are the most profitable or those that serve a unique need in the market.
5. Physician Alignment. How strong are your relationships with Primary Care Providers? PCP’s will only be allowed to participate in only one ACO. Have you created an environment where physicians want to practice or refer to your hospital? Do you make it easy for them to practice there? Do you have the EHR’s, online and mobile tools to make it easy to access the information they need? Do you have a marketing plan to help them attract new patients?
6. Internal Communication. Are you preparing your staff for reform? Are you helping them to understand and prepare for the changes ahead? Your physicians and staff are the ambassadors for your hospital. Information can be absorbed and change can be accepted a lot better if it is phased in over time. Are you developing a communications plan to teach them over the next two years what they will need to know?
7. Measurement. Are your marketing measurement tools in place? Do you know what the ROI is on your most prevalent procedures? Did your online campaign drive the traffic you anticipated? Do you have the information in place to justify your marketing budgets? Metrics are the new cost of entry. You are already behind if you haven’t started a formal tracking process, but you can catch up if you start now!
8. Relationship Management. Do you have a patient database and is it tied into your overall IT system? Are you tracking your patient’s visits? Do you know how often they utilize your services? Do you communicate with them regularly? What do you know about them that will help you market to them more efficiently? In the not too distant future, your hospital’s compensation will be directly tied to your quality and satisfaction scores. Your CRM system needs to be in tip-top shape for what’s ahead.
9. Information. Patient education, wellness programs and disease management will be more important than ever before. It goes without saying that one measure of quality will be the patient’s ability to follow doctor’s orders. Organizations that fine tune their patient education and look for new ways to reward compliance will have an advantage. Where does your organization stand in this area?
10. Social Connection. Despite fear and trepidation concerning HIPPA regulations, more health care organizations are biting the bullet and at least putting their big toe into the Social Media waters. Social media is your opportunity to engage with your patients, convey your brand personality and to provide meaningful, helpful content. As health care reform rolls out, the consumer is going to have a lot of questions. Don’t let them go to another resource, because you are afraid to engage. Remember, you are in charge of your social media strategy so you can decide what strategies will work best for your organization.
You will need sound thinking and smart communications to stand out in the new world of healthcare. re:group is uniquely qualified to help you with strategies, planning and execution to make transitions easier and the future of your business healthier, too.
Posted in
healthcare,
marketing
While consumers will always be important for health systems, it’s the doctors who are the number one target for systems under healthcare reform.
- Physicians influence or control 70% of hospital admissions. Yet few hospital marketing budgets spend adequately to market to them.
- 60% of physicians refer to more than one hospital. They refer to doctors they know, not a system. It is important that hospitals encourage their physicians to get to know one another and their capabilities.
This means that hospitals and systems need to encourage engagement in person or online.
Travel specialty physicians to other hospitals in the system to speak on various topics with a Q& A following. Host dinners with new doctors and invite some of the more senior doctors so they can meet one another. Put doctor profiles on a physician portal site. Put referral forms online on physician portals. In other words, make it easier – even more profitable – for physicians to confidently refer within a system.
- Consumers and physicians view a regional hospital health system as offering more advantages. Consumers perceive there are more resources- better physicians, staff and technology.
- Physicians viewed regional health systems/networks as very important for providing patient resources.
Individual hospitals within the system can benefit from the umbrella of their health system.. You just must make sure leadership claims are promoted even if not all hospitals have the same strengths. Lead with strongest offers, and this will have a positive impact on the entire system. Showcase the best and brightest, talk about technical innovation, and give both physicians and consumer to come to you.
Medicine is moving further into the retail sector every day. Make sure your hospital, practice or system is ready for that.
Posted in
healthcare,
marketing Tags:
healthcare
Keeping family members in their homes as they age just makes sense to me. But as a working person, I need information, help and direction to make that happen. So I reach out for those things, through the internet, local resources and friends.
And here’s the catch: the plethora of providers do almost nothing to distinguish themselves. I was having a conversation with a friend about several home care providers I had researched, and their brand names were so similar I couldn’t keep them straight. Their visual images did little to help me out either, and the messaging was so “me, too” I had nothing to grab on to. I think they all use the the same royalty-free mom pictures in their marketing, and when they don’t, their imagery is so corny or of such low quality, I’d be afraid – or at least embarrassed – to leave a loved one there.
I wish all care providers would convey the client experience in a meaningful, engaging way. One that would truly set their service apart and imbed it in my memory. Is that really too much to ask?
Posted in
advertising,
branding,
general,
healthcare Tags:
care,
health,
healthcare,
home,
home health care,
in-home care,
mom,
senior,
senior care
Because of my keen interest in the health care industry, I have been closely following news about Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and online patient service. I knew that doctors and health systems who adopt these practices will save a lot of time and money, but I didn’t really realize how great they could be from a personal standpoint until last week.
I needed to schedule an appointment with a new doctor, so I went to their website to get the phone number. There I discovered that I could register and make my appointment on line, so I decided to try it. I will admit that the registration process took a bit longer than I would have liked, but in the end I was able to register with all my vital health info and request an appointment. A few minutes later I received a message confirming my appointment. A week before the appointment, I was sent information about the test I was going to have. The day before my appointment I received an email message and a pre-recorded reminder phone call at home. I was impressed that this doctor’s office really made an effort to design an online system that works for their patients.
I arrived at my appointment, half expecting that I would sign in at a kiosk with not a person in sight. But to my surprise, there was a real person at the reception desk who typed my name into her computer and up popped all my info – no forms to fill out or sign! Five minutes later I was led into see the Dr. who called up my information on her computer screen. When she was finished seeing me she entered her diagnosis, which was automatically sent to my regular physician. She told me that my scripts had been emailed to my pharmacy and I could pick them up in half an hour.
I’ve decided that I am all for online patient service. In this case, it was designed and delivered with me in mind. And it actually worked – oh, the wonders of modern technology!
Posted in
general,
healthcare Tags:
healthcare,
on line records,
online records,
patient service
