Lessons from the Field – When the Patient Experience Fails the Brand Promise

 

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 representative courteous, understanding, listening, or did the pushback with an attitude at questions?

Now, think about your brand promise and brand tagline. 

Image by Fernando Zhiminaicela from Pixabay

You know, the brand promise and tagline you make to patients old and new every day. Those brand promises and taglines come in many flavors of the day and fashions, but essentially all come down to how you take care of the whole person or are focused on you or even some kind of nebulous statement that sounds good but is not clear in the meaning.

These are everyday patient experience touchpoints.

While these actions may seem little in the grand scheme to things to you, they are of great significance to the old and potentially new patient. Please think of how the patient must feel after reading about all the great things you do for them, only to find in reality that brand promise that does not meet the real-world experience or expectation you set.

Those experience touchpoints need to be delivered every single time.

Image by Lukas Moos from Pixabay

That is why marketing leadership, especially in the health systems need to become a searching new patient to test out the experience against the brand promise.

I speak from the experience as a new patient searching out information, finding a specialist, and interacting with the call center. And at each touchpoint, the health system failed.

I will not go into a litany of errors and bad experiences; there are already plenty of negative reviews about the health system hospitals on social media that have gone unanswered. One must wonder if anyone is paying attention because the optics are bad and contrary to the brand promise.

The pandemic, the Amazon experience, and innovations in treatment and care delivery have changed how people search for healthcare, seek convenient and accessible treatment, and choose physicians. Amazon and Walmart are going at warp speed to provide a more patient-focused, technology-driven, innovative, timely, high-quality experience while delivering on the brand promise at every touchpoint.

The next time you look at your tagline and brand promise, go back and make sure that you're delivering the experience that supports your brand promise and tagline. There are no more second chances.

Michael is a healthcare business, marketing, communications strategist, and thought leader. As an internationally followed healthcare strategy blogger, his blog, Healthcare Marketing Matters, is read in 52 countries and is listed on the 100 Top Healthcare Marketing Blogs & Websites ranked at No. 3 on Feedspot.com. Michael is a Life Fellow American College of Healthcare Executives. An influencer in healthcare marketing strategy, communications, digital marketing, and social media, Michael is in the top 10 percent of social media experts nationwide. For inquiries regarding strategic consulting engagements, you can email me at michael@themichaeljgroup.com. 

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The opinions expressed are my own.