The Side Note

I’ve been reading online posts for moms who live in my area, and one thing has become rather repetitive over the last month or so during the health insurance open-enrollment period – health insurance costs are skyrocketing and people are making changes. The post I see most often goes something like this:

“Anyone a member of Kaiser that can give me some feedback on selecting a primary care physician? My insurance premiums are doubling and my family needs to make a change to something we can afford. Kaiser seems like the best option.”

Kaiser Permanente, an HMO system, seems to be an affordable choice for many people in this area. Healthcare reform, in whatever shape or size it may finally come, won’t come fast enough to prevent people from changing their insurance programs to combat the ever-increasing premium costs.  And as more and more people move to an HMO type of healthcare/insurance treatment model, hospitals outside of the HMO system (in Denver there are more than a dozen non-Kaiser hospitals) will fight for fewer potential patients.

If, as I believe it will, the patient pool for non-HMO facilities shrinks, what are hospitals going to do to maintain or increase revenue? More importantly, how can a hospital or hospital system increase a sense of loyalty that is strong enough to override insurance/financial changes?

First and foremost, hospital executives need to evaluate any potential operations, as well as staffing and technology concerns. The next step is making sure their marketing messages resonate.

What do you offer patients that other facilities don’t?

We get it. You care about your patients. You have advanced technology. You deliver beautiful babies. You probably have private hospital rooms. And you have great docs. So what? This doesn’t make you any different from your competitors. Don’t embark on a marketing campaign that doesn’t differentiate your facility from your competitors. The public has heard these messages and doesn’t listen anymore. What really makes your hospital different? If you don’t know, it’s time to find out. Community focus groups or surveys are a great way to get this information. Don’t be afraid to also do your own competitive research. Take tours of the other hospitals. Check out their Web sites and collateral materials. Conduct focus groups and/or man-on-the-street interviews to find out what people like and don’t like about your hospital and your competitors. Good planning starts with good research.

Why should patients care?

Make sure your marketing message includes the benefit to your patients. It’s not enough to just say you have the highest percentage of patient satisfaction in the metro area, you need to include the information on why this is important. It may be obvious to the hospital marketing team, but is it obvious to your audience? Why is your satisfaction rate so high? Why does this make you the best hospital choice? Don’t take for granted the benefit to our audience.

How do you deliver the information?

The medium for your message is just as important as the actual message. The communication and advertising landscape has changed dramatically over the last few years, and you need to make sure the online, broadcast or print media you are paying for is the most effective way to get your message out. What online portals are you using for banner ads? How effective is your public relations campaign and are your news releases being optimized and distributed to maximize results?

Those are just a few steps you can take and questions you can ask yourself to ensure your hospital stands out and your marketing message resonates.

What is your hospital doing to increase your audiences’ sense of loyalty?