Healthcare leadership and teamwork are being redefined—for greater efficiency and better outcomes—with an improved, collegial and patient-centered care delivery pathway. Doctors, staff members and other providers and professionals are investing in training for the next level in organizational and individual leadership. The challenge, however, is that the traditional hierarchy is slow to change. Some organizations, […]
Guest Post contributed by JT Ripton Telemedicine is a significant technological and business trend that is influencing medical practice marketing, patient engagement and revenue. Industry estimates report over 800,000 telemedicine consultations in 2015, and the president of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), Dr. Reed Tuckson, declaring telehealth a mainstream slice of healthcare. Advances in tele […]
The widely popular Snopes.com website—AKA the Urban Legends Reference Pages—has a problem with a famous quote by prolific American bank robber Willie Sutton. Supposedly, his reason for robbing banks is: “That’s where the money is.” It turns out that even Sutton denied having said it, but nevertheless, the logic is sound. The best fishing is […]
[Series Installment] When you begin to develop marketing ideas for hospitals and healthcare providers, you bump into some apparent contradictions to be sorted out. There’s the business of consumerism, for example, where traditional patients have become (or are rapidly becoming) informed consumers, newly empowered to make their own health care buying decisions. The medical purchasing […]
Not long ago I was speaking with a respected surgeon and thought leader about competition in healthcare. He brought home the idea that competition is indeed nerve-racking. In the practice of medicine and in business, you don’t have real competition unless there is an element of fear. Two notions come to mind. The first is […]
This question is a tantalizing, but kinda-easy, riddle. How can the largest retail operation in the US have no stores? The answer, of course, is that the Internet (and online shopping) has given us Amazon.com. And, by market value, it’s bigger than Walmart. But Amazon and other online shopping centers have a high-priority need to […]
Thank you Facebook! The American Academy of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) should send a warm note of appreciation to FB founder Mark Zuckerberg. The reason? The organization’s board-certified plastic surgeons are seeing a big jump in patient requests for facial procedures--because people want to look their best on social media. We don’t know if […]
[Series installment.] Today, one of the paramount themes for successfully marketing healthcare organizations is delivering value for the patient. Patients—now informed consumer-shoppers—are receptive to a persuasive message that connects health care quality to price. Recently, Dr. Thomas Lee, Chief Medical Officer of Press Ganey, and I discussed how healthcare delivery has become a consumer-savvy, patient-centric […]
More than a few doctors, dentists and other providers suffer from “case presentation phobia.” This seems especially common with elective care discussions. Skilled and experienced providers may have buried the ill-at-ease feeling, and they probably have “avoidance systems” in place that point to someone else in the office. But, in fact, they hate making a case […]
[Guest Post by Dr. Paul Rosen] I took my kids to a Philadelphia 76ers game a few weeks ago. The Sixers lost to the Boston Celtics. The Sixers have been doing a lot of losing actually. They finished the season with 10 wins and 72 losses, giving them the worst record of any team in […]
Recent Agency Growth Has Led Healthcare Success, LLC to Find a New Home Designed for Collaboration and Creating Impactful Campaigns. IRVINE, Calif., (May 16, 2016) – Healthcare Success, LLC, one of the nation’s leading advertising agencies for hospitals and medical groups has moved to a new office space located at 2860 Michelle Drive, Suite 230, Irvine, […]
As a student of marketing, I tend to dissect the brand name-logo-tagline combinations that I notice. Professionally and personally, I admire the good ones. But the bad ones in particular grab my attention. Like driving into a pea soup fog bank, there is a sudden disconnect with the highway, landmarks and even reality. When you spot […]
Just up the street there’s a popular restaurant that greets customers as they’re arriving. Often a staff person will open the door, and, with a bright smile, offer a warm greeting of “Welcome Back!” The thing is, EVERYONE gets the “welcome back” greeting, even first-time guests, and even if the greeter and guest have never […]
Face-to-face with patients, doctors are expected to do more and communicate better within the same or less time with the patient. It’s the “catch-22” of healthcare’s patient-centered, world. In addition to excellence in clinical care, and a positive outcome, effective and empathetic communications is the essential ingredient. The typical “10-minute-and-10-second” doctor-patient encounter is an agenda […]
[Series Installment] “First impressions matter. Experts say we size up new people in somewhere between 30 seconds and two minutes,” former diplomat Elliott Abrams observed. But doctors don’t have much of an opportunity to make a face-to-face first impression these days. In the Internet age, patients come in the door with a predetermined perception of […]
[Series installment.] Take a fresh and unbiased look at your hospital website. Now compare it, as objectively as possible, with others around the country. About a half-a-zillion would be a generous sample slice, but you will only need a few. If you’re keeping score—and even with a much smaller sampling—the back of your napkin tabulation is […]
I don’t remember exactly when the first flat screen television appeared in a retail store. It’s been a while, but at least some of our readers will recollect a time when the bulky cathode ray tube (CRT) defined the profile of everyone’s television set. What I do recall about the then-new “flat screen” television was […]
[Series Installment] Not long ago, we were talking with the lead physician of a multispecialty medical practice. She was losing sleep because the once-dependable physician referral pipeline had become a leaking bucket. We discovered that part of the problem was the competitive environment of roll-ups, consolidations, mergers and acquisitions in the marketplace. Longstanding referral bridges […]
The nation’s doctors and hospitals are well acquainted with the unprecedented dynamics of change in healthcare. The competitive landscape is shifting—seemingly every day. Yesterday’s passive patient is today’s informed (retail-trained and sometimes demanding) healthcare consumer. Insurance considerations—on both the provider- and the patient-side—are shifting sands of reimbursement tables, changing deductables, and out-of-pocket considerations. Physicians, who […]
[Series Installment] Once upon a time—as all fanciful tales begin—us good common folk of the kingdom never thought to question the reputation or chivalry of noblemen or knights. Nobles had their regal robes, and knights had their armor. And, in this bygone era in healthcare’s crown estate, legions esteemed their doctors, physicians and surgeons—the much […]
We spot something new in healthcare marketing and advertising almost daily. And a few new things make enough of a splash to hold our attention. Three items worth sharing crossed our radar recently. Facebook Canvas is in the “here and now” category. We would call Care Messenger “emerging, with potential.” And Virtual Reality Marketing, is just […]
We all face the challenge of working smarter, not harder. Healthcare marketing professionals know the struggle to deliver maximum results from limited or shrinking resources. So one of the important questions is: Where to get the biggest bang for your digital marketing? Glad you asked. It seems that the research folks at Ascend2 tested the […]
Let’s face it: There are a lot of doctors, medical practices and hospitals that wish they could go about their professional practice activities without the worry, hassle and distraction of marketing and advertising. But, as it turns out, modern medicine is a profession, but healthcare is a business. And, like it or not, the Affordable […]
Many doctors and medical practice executives have their marketing brains on overdrive. They’re looking for new, better, improved and/or more efficient ways to attract new patients and cases. The marketing and advertising plan (a left-over from last year) isn’t delivering results. The entire competitive landscape has changed, and not for the better. New patients seem […]
Fifty-plus years ago, a doctor would come to the patient about 40 percent of the time. The nearly-lost practice (and nearly forgotten name) was known as “a house call,” and it all but disappeared 30 years ago. That’s changing…again… Customer convenience is the new currency in healthcare delivery and marketing today. More than ever, the […]
Healthcare marketing and advertising entails a certain amount of risk. Always has and always will. So the challenge for modern medical practices—individuals and organizations facing the new consumerism and intense competition—is how to achieve business and professional goals with a limited element of risk. Many providers are uncomfortable with the need to market their services. […]
Every medical provider's office gets at least two kinds of “opportunity” phone calls (described below) that potentially mean new business. Unfortunately, most doctors, medical groups and hospitals are losing new patients and cases when the phone rings…and they don’t know it. Here’s what’s going wrong, and what do instead. We don’t mean to be unkind […]
[Leadership Podcast Series] In this insightful and inspiring interview, Thomas H. Lee, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Press Ganey, and Stewart Gandolf, CEO of Healthcare Success, discuss An Epidemic of Empathy in Healthcare. In an increasingly consumer-driven health care environment, organizations must compete on delivering value for the patient. The traditional physician-centered world of health care delivery […]
It seems like a large measure of healthcare marketing is digital-driven for doctors. It’s standard practice for providers, medical groups and hospitals to have a website. OK, check. And creating a Facebook page is simple fare. OK, check again. Then there’s Twitter. We’ll that’s only 140-characters; so that’s easy enough. Someone in the office can […]
[Series installment.] Telling a meaningful story in—one that captures the imagination and interest of a patient—is best done face-to-face. Storytelling in healthcare requires preparation and practice, but the payoff is greater case acceptance, better compliance, and best of all, improved outcomes. One example: It’s standard procedure at a particular specialist’s office to present the patient […]
Happy Birthday to Twitter. The ubiquitous social platform in everyone’s pocket has matured significantly since its launch just 10 years ago. Considering the 140-character constraint, and the non-stop, fire hose gush Tweet-stream, Twitter provides some surprising and beneficial advantages for marketing and communications. And, one of the quickly emerging capabilities of Twitter for healthcare, hospitals […]
Is the Millennial Generation—AKA Millennials—a lazy bunch? Or has the pervasive availability of technology in society shaped an expectation of instant gratification? Or is convenience a byproduct of working families constantly pressed for time and resources? In spite of the abundance of reference material that attempts to define and describe the Millennial Generation, researchers can’t […]
[Second of two parts] If you have not already done so, please read our previous post, Hospital PR Case Examples: One Bizarre, One Just Crazy about the hospital cyber-attack-for-ransom. This second case example is a different sort of hospital public relations (and media relations) squabble, between the local newspaper and the local hospital. Nobody wants […]
Exactly a year ago, Google used its considerable clout to “demand” that most websites become “mobile-friendly.” The world’s biggest search engine now tends to favor responsive web design as a ranking signal. What that means is: Websites (those designed for a desktop or laptop screen) that can be easily seen on users mobile device (Smartphone […]
[A continuing series.] The previous installment of this article, Care and Feeding of Doctor Online Presence, Reputation and Brand, describes the connected relationship of presence, reputation and brand. Quite obviously, the indispensible foundation for reputation building excellence is a consistently high level of patient satisfaction. When patients are pleased or satisfied with the healthcare service […]
One ever-constant factor in the highly competitive world of plastic surgery marketing is change. Change happens; in the geographic marketplace, in healthcare competition, and in the effectiveness and efficiency of your plastic surgery marketing strategy. Elective care patients are, more than ever, informed and value-cautious consumers. Discretionary purchase decisions for cosmetic procedures—even for many affluent […]
Many of us at Healthcare Success have visited many hospitals and health care campuses around the country; usually on business, and occasionally as a visitor or patient. More often than not, navigating a large and unfamiliar building is a confusing and unsettling experience. If simply finding their way around is a challenge for a patient […]
[First of two parts] Two “PR-painful” news stories caught our attention recently. They are the kind of thing that makes the job of hospital public relations and community relations a challenge and headache…but, they illustrate why there are times that hospitals need professional help. For the hospitals involved— South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta, GA, and […]
Doctors are no strangers to social media. Conservative estimates have it that at least 30 percent of physicians use one or more social media (SM) platform daily. Other estimates say it’s closer to 80 percent. The SM numbers are strong for hospitals, health systems and many group medical practices. Collectively, these are the progressive providers […]
[A continuing series.] If you ask 10 doctors about their professional reputation, most will say something about “what other doctors think about me.” True enough. Colleague attitudes—doctors who know you and others who recognize your name—are an important consideration. But there's more to it. From a business development perspective—your ability to attract more new patients […]
A breakthrough idea can be a scary thing. The nation’s healthcare delivery system has been a sea of change in general. But particularly off-putting are the notions that sharply depart from the comfort, familiarity and predictability of traditional ways of doing things. As a case in point, we might reasonably imagine the reactions of doctors […]
Social media has become so pervasive in American society that it’s impossible to ignore. Yet some physicians still dismiss it as the home for cute pet antics and baby birthday pictures. Mildly amusing, perhaps, but not professionally useful. Social media (SM) is a nearly indispensible tool in healthcare marketing and communications plans. Yet relatively few […]
As we visit with doctors and healthcare practices around the country, it’s usually easy to sense excellence in organizational leadership…or problems. Fortunately, the good examples shine through with a culture of talented people—the doctor, management and staff—working in a positively charged atmosphere that you can almost feel in the air. But then there are the […]
Ophthalmology specialists have long been aware of the need for marketing in their practice business plan. But as Yogi Berra might shrewdly warn, “the future is not what it used to be.” Under the general umbrella of “vision care services,” individual practice structures will vary in size, structure and operational emphasis. But ophthalmic practitioners and […]
Elementary advice about effective public speaking will remind you to know your audience, practice and know your material, smile, make eye contact, project your voice and other basics. With those tips alone—especially with practice and confidence—you’ll likely give a good presentation. When “good” isn’t good enough… For the president of the local Rotary club (a […]
It’s more than simply good fortune that our company enjoys a positive working relationship with our clients. The fact is that people want to do business with people and companies that they like and respect. And that’s a two-way street. This engenders a healthy environment and partnership attitude that drives new business and opportunity. There’s […]
There’s no battle royale here. Contrary to some heated discussions I’ve heard, direct response and brand or name-recognition marketing are both valuable tools in any healthcare marketing plan. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition. That said, direct response advertising—where immediate customer action is measurable—is really challenging, and success depends on creating effective advertising that works. Be it […]
Just last month a guest post by Paul Rosen, MD, observed how some progressive-thinking health systems are reaching out to non-healthcare businesses for lessons in problem solving. “Health systems that want to deliver the best in terms of patient safety, quality and experience,” he wrote, “should consider looking outside their own industry for benchmarking.” Benchmarking: […]
[Leadership Podcast Series] In this conversation with Stewart Gandolf, CEO of Healthcare Success, Dr. James Merlino, president and chief medical officer of the strategic consulting division at Press Ganey provides an insightful perspective on healthcare’s evolving landscape, significant leadership issues and the state of patient experience. Prior to joining Press Ganey, Dr. James Merlino—also a practicing surgeon—was […]
A professional colleague shared this slightly aggravating-but-true story with us recently. Not to sound like a second-hand rant, but this experience spotlights a big marketing lesson about those pesky little online directory listings. In the end, fortunately, things worked out for the better. This tale begins with a patient (our colleague) being referred from a […]
