Insights on Healthcare Marketing

Marc Middleton and I had a wonderful audience this week at the FL MGMA State Meeting in Orlando.  We enjoyed a brave and progressive group who wanted to learn and discuss social media and healthcare.  

So you have taken steps to increase access and availability?  What’s next?  The 3^rd A -- Accountability. Patients want someone who will take responsibility and provide accurate answers and explanations. Typically, they are already anxious and under stress when they turn to you. Often, they are experiencing a health problem. They have questions and concerns, and are looking to you and your staff for answers and solutions. They don’t want to get passed from one person to another. They expect leadership, assistance and guidance in navigating what can be a complex maze.  One example of how many healthcare providers are addressing the need for accountability is the rise in care coordinators or care teams.

In my last two posts, I talked about the 4 A’s of effective medical marketing today – access, availability, accountability and accommodation. Today, let’s delve more into #2 – availability and how you can incorporate it into your practice or organization. Availability Do you offer convenient appointment times?  How long do your patients typically wait both to secure an appointment and in the office?  Are your physicians and staff approachable and easy to talk to?  Do they handle phone calls in an unhurried and compassionate manner?

In my last post I talked about the 4 A’s – access, availability, accountability and accommodation – and how they have become the cornerstones of a successful medical practice.  Now it’s time for the fifth A – action – how to incorporate these elements into your medical practice or organization.  First up, access. Access Patients want to be able to easily reach the highest level of care available when they need it, where they need it. And they want the freedom to choose and be involved in decisions about their care. Access is the primary reason behind the explosion in “walk-in” clinics. These businesses have capitalized on the simple fact that many patients could not get access to their regular physicians in a time they felt was reasonable.

Like it or not, healthcare today is a business.  And what many physicians once resisted – marketing and communicating to meet the needs of their patients/customers – is now an essential part of your everyday business.  Any basic business marketing book or course will talk about the “four P’s” – product, price, place and promotion. And these elements are still the building blocks of any successful enterprise. However, what today’s patients or “pro-sumers” believe they want, deserve and expect has really become the driving force in healthcare purchasing decisions. Service has become an increasingly important part of the “product” physicians provide, and healthcare has become will become an even more competitive marketplace.

From time to time, I often reflect on my 25+ years of advising physicians about how to market their practices.  And lately, I believe the old adage, “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” is ringing true. Sure, healthcare has changed a lot since the 1980’s, and those of you who work in the front lines of practicing medicine or managing a healthcare practice or organization live these changes everyday, from increased government regulations to lower reimbursements to explosions in technology.  Never mind healthcare reform and the impact it may have.