mommyjenlin

Interesting question isn't it? It presupposes that healthcare consumers know what they need in the way of healthcare services. Which many in the hospital and medical professional world will howl and say its way to complicated for the healthcare consumer to know what they need to be able make a reasonable treatment decision based on quality. Yes and no. On one side yes, in that medical care is complex and diagnosis is not as easy as reading a book or talking to someone. But the healthcare consumer, once they realize that their wellness is not to what they normally experience, will more often than not seek medical advice as to the cause of the illness. Then in seeking that medical advice they begin the process of gaining the necessary information to make reasonable decisions, or at the very least to participate in the process. On the other side no, in that once the healthcare consumer has acquired a basic understand of what is medically wrong, they have now the ability to use quality...

There is an article in the March, 2013 issue of Hospitals and Health Networks, "Is going it ALONE still an option for your hospital? YES!". It covers briefly the mission critical decisions and viewpoints, but sadly, it left untouched any discussion of marketing's role in all of this. So not being able to leave well enough alone, I started thinking about what role and competencies of marketing that would be needed to be in play to remain an independent, stand-alone hospital in an era of reform. First challenge, the current state of hospital marketing overall is not good enough and needs leadership, vision and new competencies. The second and even harder challenge is that hospital leadership is clueless about healthcare consumerism, how you market to the healthcare consumer and the marketing investment required, but they think they do. The third major challenge is admitting to the "I don't know healthcare consumer marketing" challenge in number two. If you...

Call me an optimist, but in my opinion there has never been a better time for marketing to directly impact sales productivity .   I'd even go so far as to say that we're experiencing a "perfect storm" for this opportunity - i.e., "an actual phenomenon that happens to occur in such a confluence, resulting in an event of unusual magnitude". Wikipedia   More specifically : O ver 45% of the buying decision today (i.e., for large purchases) is being made before a buyer even says hello to your rep. [translation:   marketing plays a much greater role today in influencing the buyer's journey, and it is incumbent upon us as marketers to better equip reps for this new buyer 2.0 reality] ( click here to learn more about the buyer's journey) Sales organizations are struggling to make more informed investment decisions, however, in many cases they lack the data and core competencies needed as part of this process [translation: marketing, your internal "cust...

Recent figures indicated that owned medical practices by hospitals and health systems are losing $170K a year. It's causing a lot of angst in the leadership suite and with the Board of Directors in hospitals and health systems. And everyone knows these losses are unsustainable. There are of course many reasons for this, some are structural, some are organizational, some are cultural, some are management decisions made and all playing a part in why the practice is losing so much money. But one reason should never be because you don't market that medical practice effectively. And sadly, there is a lot of ineffective medical practice marketing going on by hospitals and health systems. Medical practices are one of the few remain opportunities to drive volume and revenue. Its sure not the hospital, that's the last place you will be wanting to drive volume, especially to the inpatient side. The drive to create ACOs in a value-based payment environment demands a different t...

IDC's 2013 Chief Marketing Officer ROI Matrix If you are a B2B Marketer you've read the articles, heard the pundits, and attended the conferences - marketing is transforming. This is not ground breaking news. However, what you probably have not seen is a tangible and holistic way to measure your organization's marketing performance. Today you are in luck. IDC's CMO Advisory Service has just released our Chief Marketing Officer ROI Matrix. This Matrix not only provides measurement on Marketing ROI for those companies who participate in our annual benchmark survey, the recently published report also provides fact based analysis, actionable recommendations via IDC Analysts and best practices from leading marketing organizations. For the down and dirty on the report view our press release For some quick and interesting facts from the study look no further, you are in the right spot! You must have the muscle (ie: budget) to move the needle.  #CMOFact: As a percentage of rev...

A few weeks ago I come across a house for sale listing that really appealed to me. I emailed my friend and neighbor Michelle , and she offered to show it (as well as a nearby house) to me and Josh that weekend. We fell for the house--the first one we'd looked at since we bought ours almost 10 years ago--but felt we were being crazy. You can't just buy the first thing you look at! Especially when you haven't even decided to start looking!  So we quickly toured every other house in our price range on the south side of Oak Park. We saw everything from an obscenely large, spanking new 6 bedroom McMansion in a grimy, lonely corner of the village to a bank owned house where the roof was literally caving in. We saw lovely decks and ugly bathrooms and walk-in closets and crazy, fancy granite kitchens that were apparently designed without the advice of an architect. Each house made us like the first house even more, and we finally put an offer on it. Well below asking, but not an in...

The evolving healthcare consumer is seeking information on great experiences and outcomes. That's right, great outcomes and experiences, not ordinary outcomes or experiences. You are expected to care. You are expected to provide high-quality care. Telling the healthcare consumer that you provide compassionate care and high-quality medical care, is falling on deaf ears. Especially when the experience doesn't even come close to the claim. So when the healthcare consumer matches their expectations with your experience, chances are you are falling short somewhere. And in the reality of a healthcare market place that is evolving to one driven by cost, outcome and choice, healthcare consumers will bypass those hospitals, healthcare providers and insurance plans that have less than great outcomes or experiences. I am not saying that is fair, or right. It is a reality of a changing marketplace. When healthcare executives are surveyed, the majority say that patient/customer experience i...

And this was clearly evident as several CMOs shared their success stories at Mass Tech Leadership Council's recent 2013 Marketing Summit.   CMO's and other marketing executives shared valuable insight on how to do "more with less" - the theme of the event.   Sure, as marketers we've been using that term at least since the Internet bust ~13 years ago; however, we've come a long way since then. Not only has marketing slimmed down from a staff perspective, but more importantly, we've developed a laser focus on being more relevant to our buyers and internal customers. In addition, we've developed a healthy obsession with metrics to demonstrate our value to the organization and better manage our precious budget. But even with this greater maturity, the worst thing we can do at this stage is lessen our drive for innovation.   Here are just a few of the key insights from this summit to help you and your marketing team keep innovation at the forefront of your...

Many technology companies have directed their marketing and sales teams to look for business beyond the traditional IT customer.  The secret to marketing to the line-of-business executive is to think like they do. Huh? Is this a secret? Imagine you have a cute little terrier that you love dearly but who chews up everything in sight.  You fear that you will have to give the dog away if he keeps wrecking things.  As a super-busy person you rarely have time to read articles, however, one of the articles below will stop you in your tracks. Which one?        a) Animals around Our Home        b) Dogs: What do they do every day?        c) Why We Love Terriers        d) How to Stop Terriers from Destroying Your Home You know that the answer is D.  And if each of the authors had a dog training business, which one are you most likely to contact? Everyone...

There is a subtle but important market shift developing healthcare. And it's really a result of the growing healthcare consumerism movement I wrote about last week. That is the "patient" who is evolving into the healthcare consumer is making healthcare choices based on cost. Look, I get that we don't sell widgets. And as much as we decry and bemoan anybody that dares to bring up the subject of price, consumerism and patient dominated decision-making and choice in healthcare spawns from the devil himself, the fact remains that the "patient" is becoming a healthcare consumer and making choices based on cost. You can't ignore it, or hide your head in the sand anymore because it's not going away. Here's some of the evidence: (I receive no payment, nor have any contractual of relationships with the following aforementioned companies.) Aetna's easy-to-use, out-of-pocket payment estimator. Simple really, know the cost of a test, visit or procedure; ...