health tips

  Image by PixxlTeufel from Pixabay As the provider market for the patient and physician continues to consolidate through merger, acquisition, liquidation, or disintermediation, there is one clear outcome due to the lasting effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Fewer providers mean heightened competition within hospitals or health systems in a bid to stay atop the food chain. But with the patient's realization that they need a hospital for only three things, emergency care, intensive care, and care for complex acute medical conditions, patients are more in control with their physician of the selection process. To become the patient's choice for healthcare, successful providers will recognize that understanding the patient’s selection decision matrix is the new way of marketing and how it impacts growth. Patient Decision Matrix In this environment, providers are already losing meaningful differentiation. Marketing campaigns with fluff messaging about caring, facilities, or q...

  Image by Gerd Altmann ffrom Pixabay I could have written a rant about how healthcare vendor sales executives are using LinkedIn to prospect. It doesn't matter if it's revenue cycle management, medical device, pharma, information technology, analytics, or any other vendor segment. But I didn't as that would have been too easy.  Unfortunately, there are some common characteristics in prospecting using LinkedIn, causing wasted time, effort, and rejection. But in thinking it over, I decided to provide some helpful tips for using LinkedIn for becoming more sales productive .   And maybe in the process, stop getting useless, poorly targeted, as well as disjointed sales emails and calls. Oh, and this goes for their employing companies too. Now that being said, I get that currency for being on LinkedIn is relationships, connections, networking, and the ability to prospect. I am good with that.   What I am not okay with is the seemingly increased amount of inappropriate ...

  Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay First, let me ask you a few questions. Have you ever used an alias and tried to access the hospital services like find a physician, schedule an appointment, or used the hospital or health system website to find information? Have you ever gone to your website and reviewed the informational content that a new patient searching for a physician would find to verify that the content is correct? How about calling central scheduling for a test or getting a call back from your call center after completing an online request to schedule an appointment with a physician service? Was the website easy to use? Was the information on the physician correct? When you completed the form, how long was it before you heard back? When you heard back, could you schedule the appointment easily, or were you told information opposite of what your website contained like you have to call the doctor because they schedule their appointments?   Was the call center repre...

  Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Think for a moment using the lens of marketing and ask what a hospital or health system does control? Do they control the insurers? No. They negotiate but do not control them. Do they control Medicare or Medicaid? Do they control the independent physician they need to utilize the hospital inpatient, outpatient, and emergency room facilities and services? No. Can they control the patient at any other time when they are not in the system of care receiving some medical care?   I think that is a no as well. For the sake of the discussion, let's agree that control is too harsh a word in its truest sense. So maybe the better choice would be the ability to influence the patient and others. However, the answer would still be a resounding no from a brand marketing viewpoint, especially in a buyer's market beginning to exist today. Four areas of influence to manage. The four areas that ultimately impact the hospital or health systems' ability t...

  Image by Anastasia Gepp from Pixabay Word-of-mouth marketing. We all talk about it. We all understand the importance of patients and clients spreading the good work of our hospital or business. So, while we all talk a good game, little attention is paid to the "how" of how you leverage word-of-mouth marketing. Taking an "if it happens, that's a great approach," providers and vendors then turn their attention to the traditional and digital marketing channels to get the brand message out. Interruptive marketing is easier the implementing a word-of-mouth marketing plan. Word-of-mouth means you will take a risk to identify strategies, tactics, and metrics to execute.   It also means that in highly undifferentiated markets such as those that exist for hospitals and revenue cycle management companies, word-of-mouth marketing can be a powerful way to break away from the competition. Word-of-mouth marketing is far more targeted and persuasive than traditional forms...