How to Keep Health Care Marketing Ethical & What are some of The Unethical Things we Should Refrain from as Healthcare Marketers.
Millan Ochieng Otieno
Health Systems Manager I Resource Morbilizer I Strategic Management I Certified Quality Manager I CQSP
INTRODUCTION
HEALTHCARE MARKETING
Health Marketing is a multidisciplinary area of public health practice which involves, creating, communicating, and delivering health information and interventions using customer-centered and science-based strategies to protect and promote the health of diverse populations.(CDC, 2005)It is a process of strategic outreach and communications designed to attract healthcare consumers, guide them through their healthcare journey, and keep them engaged with the health system.
HEALTHCARE ETHICS
Health care ethics (a.k.a “medical ethics”) is the application of the core principles of bioethics (autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice) to medical and health care decisions (Vermont Ethics Network, 2020). Marketing ethics is an inquiry into the nature and grounds of moral judgments, standards, and rules of conduct relating to marketing decisions and marketing situations. In more recent works, ethics has also been considered as the study and philosophy of human conduct, with an emphasis on the determination of right and wrong. For marketers, ethics in the workplace refers to rules (standards, principles) governing the conduct of organizational members and the consequences of marketing decisions. Therefore, ethical marketing from a normative perspective approach is defined as “practices that emphasize transparent, trustworthy, and responsible personal and organizational marketing policies and actions that exhibit integrity as well as fairness to consumers and other stakeholders”.
Marketing ethics focuses on principles and standards that define acceptable marketing conduct but we must emphasize that, today, marketing ethics goes beyond legal, regulatory and marketing issues which help build long-term marketing relationships. The Marketing ethics should be considered from an individual and organizational perspective. From the individual perspective personal values and moral philosophies are the key to ethical decisions in marketing. Honesty, fairness, responsibility, and citizenship are assumed to be values that can guide complex marketing decisions in the context of an organization. From an organizational perspective, organizational value, codes, and training is necessary to provide consistent and shared approaches to making ethical decisions. Accordingly, in marketing exchanges the relationship between a customer and an organization exists because of mutual expectations built on trust, good faith, and fair dealing in their interaction. However, marketing ethics also requires avoiding the unintended consequences of marketing activities by taking to consideration the stakeholders and their relevant interests and the society (Dincer Caner et al, 2014)
A patient with a serious suffering will be easily influenced and will tend to trust any promise easily, with the desire to heal. Ethically, the information presented must not alter the reality and should not give false hopes to patients. Those responsible for marketing in the healthcare field must keep in mind the ethics code of the medical profession, must maintain an honest marketing communication, which does not create inaccurate expectations, must not denigrate other colleagues, and must use a message whose content should respect the dignity of the profession (Solomon M et al, 2016).
Ethical standards in Healthcare marketing
The evolution of medical activity performance forms has inevitably led to the emergence of competitive competition, which in turn led to the emergence of healthcare marketing(Solomon M et al, 2016). Healthcare organisations were morally bound to follow ethical practices in providing healthcare services to its consumers. But of late, due to economic pressures and competition, hospitals were jockeying their marketing activities to increase revenue. But, patients were distinct from other consumers as they were vulnerable and lacked knowledge in choosing the appropriate medical care for them (Punithavathi Srikant, n.d). Thus, a health institution requires the application of various marketing strategies in order to maintain itself on the market field. Advertising and promotion are part of the strategy aimed at developing and maintaining relationships with the targeted audience (patients). To regulate this activity, it was necessary to develop ethical rules of healthcare marketing (Solomon M et al, 2016).
One of the most frequent discussions that arose with the development of healthcare marketing was due to the concern that advertising will lead to a situation in which the medical activity will turn into an overly commercial one. Of course, this is quite difficult to avoid, considering that the medical units providing services and healthcare have the right to make their own activities known and inform consumers on the health services they provide. In the past, it was considered that advertising and promotion were below the dignity of the medical profession and that the only way to gain new patients was by recommendation from satisfied patients and other clinicians’ positive assessments. Such thinking is no longer compatible with the current patients’ requirements, which want to be more and more informed (Solomon M et al, 2016).
Today, the marketing of healthcare is still tightly controlled, while physician boards continue to provide ethical standards for marketing hospitals and practices. However, it is much easier for healthcare organizations to establish themselves through the wide variety of traditional and digital marketing and advertising platforms available today (Gaughran, 2020). Today, it is considered ethical for health institutions or individual clinicians to promote their work as long as the information is truthful, honest, non-discriminatory, and not misleading (Solomon M et al, 2016). There are some specific guidelines recommended and/or enforced among most physician groups worldwide.
·????????Follow any and all marketing and advertising guidelines set forth by the medical boards. For example, the Kenya Medical and dentist Council (boards) provide for advertisements to:??be objective, true and dignified; be respectful of the professional ethics of the profession; not attempt to denigrate other practitioners or health institutions or the profession; and not infringe on patient confidentiality..
·????????Remain regulatory framework compliant and cover all legal bases when using actual patient information.
·????????Avoid superlatives like “best,” “most effective,” or anything you cannot prove.
·???????Do not use any wording that promises results you cannot consistently deliver; make realistic claims and promises.
·???????Don’t disparage other providers or claim that other fields of medicine or other doctors are inferior. Prove your value through your own expertise and skill
·???????Examine and identify unintended adverse effects (Kathy Roy Gaughran n.d)
·???????Ensure the marketing does no harm
·???????All paid advertising must be clearly identified as such (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2011)
According to (Ophthalmol, 2016) special attention should be paid to the language used, as well as information, message content, communication and attitude. The available advertising space is often limited. This leads to the need of shortening and compressing the message and it can lead to an extremely different version of the original message, thus, advertising misleading by providing information that is different from that intended
In today’s times some form of marketing is required and is essential as you need to make society aware of the services offered as well as the newer technologies being introduced in the market. Initially large number of medical institutes preferred marketing by organizing healthcare camps, educational seminars which was an informal way of promoting their services. Previously marketing was not preferred for hospitals and other medical organizations however, now we have use of print, television and other social media to make the community aware about the quality and infrastructure available in these institutions.
Large numbers of patients are not only aware about social media but also like to do the research before visiting any healthcare service provider hence if social media visibility is not present chances are you will lose out on a prospective client as an individual will seek services elsewhere. To rely only on referrals is a thing of the past where word of mouth was considered a valuable review. Hence today a large number of healthcare providers market themselves by having an online presence personal as well as sites which even has reviews by patients who visited the healthcare center or the Doctor in question. Thus it’s highly important to be socially relevant by making your patients aware about the quality and the standards of treatment provided by a physician or healthcare organization. Healthcare professionals should be mindful not just about the intent of any advertisement but also its effect on the public’s view of the profession as large section still might consider advertising as a degrading aspect to the integrity of a medical professional (James Lind Institute, 2019).
Unethical Healthcare Marketing
According to the University of Naveda. Ethics is rarely black and white. There is a spectrum a bit of grey. What is unethical to one healthcare marketer might be acceptable to another. There are several ways in which health care professionals can employ unethical advertising and marketing. For example, they might play on patient fear and vanity, minimize risks or exaggerate effectiveness.
According to the Medical Practitioners and Dentists (Practitioners And Health Facilities) (Advertising) Rules, 2016, practitioners shall not participate in health related advertisements or endorse health related medical products and procedures unless provided for under the same regulations.?A practitioner or health institution shall not provide the following information in an advertisement under these Rules:
a.??????the names or identities of patients;
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b.?????a picture of the patient or client, which includes images, graphic or other visual representations or facsimiles;
c.??????information that creates or is likely to create unrealistic or unwarranted expectations about the effectiveness of the health services offered;
d.?????a promise by the practitioner or health institution to achieve a particular outcome for the patient or prospective patients or clients;
e.??????a promise to complete treatment of patients in any particular time or faster than other practitioners or Health Institutions;
f.??????a promise that failure to obtain the outcome promised shall constitute a waiver of the fees for the practitioner or Health Institutions, and
g.?????Deceitful, erroneous or misleading information.
h.?????A patient or legal guardian shall retain autonomy to consent or decide whether their information or otherwise may be shared.
Some practices that one should definitely steer clear off when it comes to health marketing as ?according to Continuous care, 2017 that are deemed unethical.
a.??????Refrain from using superlatives: it is best to avoid usage of superlative such as “the best”, “top”, “world-famous”, “most qualified” etc. This can be misleading to patients who may be trying to make a choice regarding their caregiver. It can also have negative consequences if the services do not meet the expectations of th patients who read such statements.
b.?????Do not promote specific services or medication: Health providers are ethically expected to discuss the pros and cons of medical procedure, benefits and risks associated with prescribed medications and not provide only a partial view of the facts.
c.??????Do not employ actors to provide patients testimonials: Using actors or fake imagery to portray patient’s stories or patients testimonials is disingenuous and seen as an unethical promotion of a medical practice and its services.
d.?????Refrain from showing competitors in bad light: Promoting ones practice should not be done at the expense of denigrating your competitors.
e.??????Do not reveal sensitive patient information: Disclosing patient’s information which would mean revealing their identity is definitely not permissible on your web page or social media pages.
f.??????Avoid being discriminatory in your promotions: all content that could be taken to be promotional should not be discriminatory on the basis of color, sex, financial status, or nationality.
g.?????Stay away from fear-mongering: Resorting to fear-mongering to persuade patients opt for new procedures, scans or test is unethical as it puts patients under duress to make decisions about their health that may not be warranted.
h.?????Paid advertising is a strict no-no: Paying an agent to advertise your practice through newspapers, billboards or online advertisement is strictly prohibited for some medical professionals.
Conclusion
There is a very thin line between ethical and unethical deeds when handling health marketing. Today advertisement has become a field with an unprecedented dynamism therefore, marketers must recognize trends and understand them correctly.?Various institutions individuals have found themselves on the wrong side of the law following marketing and advertisement that portrays lack of ethics in healthcare. Even though the marketing strategy may not land one in court, it may still damage the reputation of an institution based on how the consumer views it and the judgment from their perception.
Therefore those responsible for marketing in the healthcare field must keep in mind the ethics code of the medical profession, must maintain an honest marketing communication, which does not create inaccurate expectations, must not denigrate other colleagues, and must use a message whose content should respect the dignity of the profession.
Recommendations
·? Development of policies and guideline to follow when marketing healthcare services.
·????????Setting up of laws and regulations to govern healthcare marketing
·????????Healthcare marketer should adhere to code of health care marketing ethics.
REFERENCES