Healthcare / Hospital Marketing Trends

Advancements in technology, changing consumer behaviors and new government regulations will all impact the way marketing is approached in the healthcare / hospital sectors. Here are some emerging trends for 2015.

The implications of value-based care reimbursement.

The recent US Health & Human Services (HHS) mandate has set clear goals, and a timeline for shifting Medicare reimbursement from volume to value. HHS is targeting 50% of Medicare payments (totaling more than $180 billion annually) to be performance based by the end of 2018.

Medicare, which covers more than 50 million Americans, has already started to pay some doctors and hospitals on the basis of their performance as part of a provision in the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Currently, around 20% of payments are made in this way.

The overall goal of this alternative payment model is to fix unnecessary expenses and inefficiencies in our healthcare system, while improving quality and consistency measures. A large part of this new process will be the need to better manage the patient’s end-to-end healthcare experience.

In order to make this all work smoothly the healthcare industry will need to provide patients with the real-time information they need to properly utilize healthcare. They will need to have a firm understanding of their care path.

This will be challenging because multiple studies have consistently shown that a majority of patients cannot accurately articulate their complete diagnosis, or fully grasp their continuation of care instructions. In essence patients will need to be reminded to fill and take their prescriptions, and not skip their follow-up appointments.

Teaching patients the importance of staying within recommended care paths will be essential, and providing effective communications tools and patient portals for both them and their caregivers will be key to achieving a successful transition.

This creates a communications challenge for hospitals and healthcare providers of epic proportions, owing to the fact that patients don’t always read or understand paper materials provided for follow-up treatment plans.

Various communications / content platforms will need to be created – ranging from outbound e-mails to web landing pages, as well as ink-on-paper materials. The materials need to be easy to understand, using more pictures, info-graphics and engaging approaches to follow-up care in order to improve long-term  patient outcomes.

Mobile First

According to Pew Research nearly 2/3 of Americans now own a smartphone, with a similar number using their phones to access the internet. 34% of mobile device internet users go online mostly using their phones, and not using some other device such as a desktop or laptop computer.

And recently Google announced that it was changing its search algorithm to reward mobile-friendly websites by giving them higher ranking than sites that are only optimized for desktops / laptops in a widely reported event termed “Mobilegeddon.”

Given these trends it is absolutely necessary that healthcare / hospital websites now employ a “responsive design” for their digital marketing efforts that takes into account optimizing content delivery on mobile devices. This digital design approach makes sure websites look great on devices ranging from smartphones to tablets, creating better “user experiences.”

In essence information needs to tailored to both answer the most pressing patient needs of visitors, and fit the mobile screen in a clean, easy to navigate layout.

Continued Emphasis on Brand Building

A clearly defined, benefit-based brand will help build loyalty among patients and help set your organization apart from other hospitals and retailers such as Walmart and Walgreens who are joining the primary care business. Give prospective patients and referring doctors a reason to choose you, and current patients to stay with you. Smart hospitals are putting the patient experience first.

A great example of strong hospital branding is the Cleveland Clinic. Sparked by a desire to attract patients outside its immediate area, they identified dedication, passion and a tradition of teamwork to be at the core of their brand culture.

The brand promise is delivered clearly on their website homepage – with “Looking for a top-quality doctor” backed by online physician ratings and high overall patient satisfaction ratings featured front-and-center.

Other patient-centric features on the website include call or book an appointment online, getting a online medical second opinion through the MyConslut program that offers access to Cleveland Clinic’s expertise at the click of a mouse. Site visitors can also check to see if their insurance is accepted by the hospital.

 Shorter Content / “Info-snacks”

Consumers are displaying increasingly short attention spans. The UK Guardian reported last year that the current generation of internet consumers live in a world of “instant gratification and quick fixes” which leads to a “loss of patience and lack of deep thinking.” In world of instant gratification and where alternative websites are a key-stroke away, website owners need to first grab the attention of a user, then keep it long enough to get the desired message across.

Savvy marketers are now focusing on short, snack-able and shareable content that provides valuable information quickly and concisely. A combination of words and images are being used increasingly to convey information fast and better engage consumers.

An interesting example of this approach is infosnack.net – a blog of medicine and technology written by Joshua Schwimmer, a nephrologist, general physician and health tech advisor based in NYC. He also has created the kidney.nyc website that focuses his medical practice. The site provides a wealth of information on kidney disease, dialysis and kidney replacement therapies and related topics.

Improvements in website traffic and social media / content marketing efforts are all easily measurable using data sources like Google Analytics and the analytic data from social media sites.

Leverage Disruptive Ideas

Disruptive business model are now moving into healthcare, fueled by venture funded start-ups. Many of these ideas – from wearable devices to walk-in urgent care clinics – will likely revolutionize medical care in the coming years. Some of these business models may add value to existing hospital / healthcare brands and are worth exploring.

Take the example of Theranos, founded by Elizabeth Holmes. The company has created a painless finger-prick blood test, that uses new methods to run hundreds of tests on a mere drop of blood, far more quickly than could be done with whole vials of blood in the past, at a fraction of the cost.

 Last year Walgreen Co. announced that they will be installing Theranos Wellness Centers in its pharmacies across the country. Holmes has raised $ 400 million in venture capital, which has created a $ 9 billion valuation for the company.

Holmes targeted lab medicine because it drives about 80% of clinical decisions made by doctors. By zeroing in on the inefficiencies of that system, the Theranos approach completely revolutionizes it. The new tests can be done without going to the doctor, saving time and money. Results are available in about four hours, not many days.

The Theranos approach allows for dozens of tests using a single drop of blood. It’s cheap too, with each test costing less than half of the standard Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates. Holmes estimates that using Theranos could save the government over $ 200 billion over the next ten years on blood tests.

All of these approaches are “testable propositions” and we encourage our clients to always be testing various marketing, service approaches and content to see what resonates with their targets. This approach can help balance the “art” and “science” of marketing, improve the customer experience and help building healthy brands and businesses in the process.