How Healthcare Marketers Impact Quality

When I decided on a career in healthcare, like most people, the decision was driven by a strong need to make a positive impact in other people's lives. Throughout my career, I am happy to say that I have been able to do this, with the assistance of amazing coworkers and colleagues and it led me to think more about the role of the healthcare marketer in elevating quality of care.

My first taste of this came at my first job in an acute care hospital where I was the Marketing Manager in the "Government and Public Relations Department." Marketing was still a new concept back then (it was the early 90's) and people weren't sure what it meant.

I had several responsibilities in this role, but my main role was assisting in a then burgeoning technology to track, analyze and report out on what was then referred to as "patient satisfaction surveys." I had to interact with virtually every department in the hospital and my primary responsibility was advancing the awareness amongst all departments of what former patients (we called them "Guests" back then) had to say about their stay in the hospital.

This was before Medicare Compare, HCAHPS, Value Based Care, etc. A credit to the hospital that I worked for (Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ) for being ahead of the curve - few were investing in this at the time. The organization wanted to know patient feedback solely because they cared!

That got me thinking that while a marketer’s role in healthcare is to grow market share first and foremost, the best marketers do this by inserting themselves heavily in championing ideas, relationships, programs, and strategies that improve quality in their organizations. Afterall, we all know that what helps grow market share the most in any healthcare organization is a stellar reputation for quality and care.

If you are a marketer or an executive in healthcare looking for ways to do this, I have outlined some areas that have worked for me overtime below, and here they are:

1.???Program Development: Marketers are the "eyes and ears" of their communities and the customer. They are often the first to hear requests from patients, clinicians, and their community on where gaps in care exist. I have spearheaded countless clinical programs in my career that I am proud of, such as dedicated post-acute oncology programs, ethnic based programming, neurological programs, post discharge to the community care coordination programs, etc. Marketers are trained to identify resources and pull teams together to get a job done. Every healthcare organization should at least include marketing in their program development plans and ideally have them lead the development along with their clinical counterparts to ensure success.

2.???Partnerships, Affiliations, and Joint ventures: Tapping into the creativity and networking skills that marketers possess is critical in this area. You see great collaborations taking place in healthcare now. For example, smaller hospitals co-branding and developing clinical collaborations with giants such as The Cleveland Clinic, MD Anderson. etc. or large sports organizations, pharmaceutical companies on clinical trials, and large technology companies. But this practice works on a smaller, local level as well. Collaborating as health care organizations in the communities we serve is just as important. One of the most meaningful relationships that I was a part of developing was with the largest multi-specialty physician group in the region who had no involvement with their patients in senior living or post-acute care. Partnering with their geriatricians to develop programs and systems to better communicate with patients during their stay, and coordinating discharge back to their offices was key in ensuring the best quality, as well as becoming their provider of choice for elder care.

3.???New Technology Adoption: I spend at least 30 percent of my time searching for, assessing, demoing, and working on technology that can elevate quality in senior care. I started doing this early in my career, simply because no one else was in any of the companies I worked for. As a result, I am proud to have found technology and which enabled companies to be the first to market in areas such as robotics, clinical certifications, new respiratory technology, new methods, and protocols to care for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia, and on and on. ?Not only did these technologies improve patient care, but they also heightened the awareness of the organizations and brands I was affiliated with. But you must invest the time and not be afraid to be an early adopter. From a marketing perspective, I love to be a part of organizations and follow other companies who are "the first to offer” new technology.

4.???Improving the Patient Experience: As I mentioned, my first role in healthcare marketing was focused on improving customer service. Fast forward to today, CMS is publishing hospital patient satisfaction scores and reimbursing a portion of their payments based on customer service. Marketing should play a big role in developing processes and systems to ensure world class customer service. This includes developing training and educational programs and materials as well as promoting the importance and results of patient experience surveys throughout your healthcare organization.

5.???Improving Access: How customers/patients/guests "get to you" is extremely important.?Believe it or not, however, often not enough attention is paid to this. Healthcare marketers should be the driving force in designing the critical access points for patients to not only receive care from your organization, but also how they learn about you and your services in the first place. This entails obvious areas such as websites, social media and traditional advertising and marketing, but it also involves how and what you are communicating to your community. Access is dramatically impacted by how your message is communicated. If it is not simple, clear, and consistent, your audience may ignore you. Its best to have marketing spearhead all areas of patient access - including operational areas, to ensure the needs of the patients in your community are fully met.

6.???Employee Recruitment: Recruitment is a focus for every healthcare operator today. The shortage of practitioners and support team members has never been greater. But many healthcare organizations ignore their most precious asset in helping with this...their marketing department! Marketers can employ their creativity, connections and results oriented focus to partner with your recruitment and human resources teams to ensure that your campaign is not solely dependent on Indeed ads and sign on bonuses. Also, the branding of your product or service should be consistent with your recruitment branding - something marketers can ensure and something that I often see is siloed.?Vacant positions = quality and service issues, harness the power of your marketers to assist with this.

7.???Community Education and Outreach: All healthcare organizations today need to extend beyond their service offerings and take a broader approach to the health and wellness of the communities you serve. Marketers are key in developing community health and wellness educational programs that support this mission while simultaneously positioning your healthcare organization as a leader in healthcare - not just one sector of healthcare. ??Health, wellness and prevention educational seminars, screenings and events for the public not only extend your brand and mission, but they also play a pivotal role in improving the health of the communities you serve.

8.???Outcomes and Metrics: As a marketer, I have always tried to be the loudest voice in the room when it comes to paying attention to important clinical data and outcomes within the organizations I have worked. It is important that marketing be a driver of awareness of publicly reported quality data and a strong influence in making sure this is a focus operationally within an organization. Whether it is Medicare Compare data, Leap Frog, JCAHO, Vaccination rates, etc., healthcare marketers can play a huge role in positioning your organizations strengths out in your messaging, while also being a strong advocate and leader in your culture for performance and quality improvement.

I hope these ideas and suggestions are helpful to you. The bottom line is that the best healthcare organizations don’t write off marketing as "fluff" or put them in a lane solely focused on traditional marketing and business development. Healthcare marketing is increasingly about improving and strengthening the service and care offering to differentiate a healthcare organization to better position for longevity, economic success, and quality success. These are not mutually exclusive any longer.

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