mommyjenlin

The discussions on 30 plus LinkedIn groups across the wide healthcare industry spectrum has been revealing to the question "Is the Healthcare Consumer Ignorant?" To summarize, there are many contributing factors, from healthcare diagnosis and treatment complexity, the inability of providers too communicate in an understandable way their process, to economic factors that cause the consumer to be disconnected. And some are just like arrogant parents who know all and see all. And I thank everyone who contributed to the discussion no matter what side you are find yourself. But it is time to move the discussion forward and start the dialogue on how to change the healthcare consumer from ignorant/uneducated to informed. The task at hand is not insurmountable. It will require innovation, creativity, change, an attitude adjustment and perseverance. Anything is possible. This means a long-term commitment that most likely is generational in nature across all healthcare industry segmen...

It's the kind of question that pauses one for a minute or two. How this question came about was in response to a post of mine a few weeks ago, regarding pricing at Urgent Care Centers and the $500 Band- Aid. In comments on a couple of LinkedIn groups, a few healthcare executives called consumers ignorant. Really. From a marketing perspective, that is a most interesting characterization of a healthcare consumer. And a dangerous belief to hold about one segment of your audience. Ignorant. I don't think so. Informed. Connected. Questioning. Seeking. Paying. Shopping. These words describe the healthcare consumer of today. A consumer who is awakening and demanding a voice in diagnosis and treatment options. After all, isn't that one of the major premises for healthcare reform, and CMSs' one opening statement in the proposed ACO regulations? In ignorance there is opportunity. So if you really believe that the healthcare consumer is ignorant, then what are you doing to chang...

A story on hospital urgent care centers the other day in the Sun Sentinel, Orlando, Florida caught my eye. In a nut-shell, some hospital and system owned urgent care centers charge emergency room prices. When I started looking around the country, the same story can be repeated in community after community. This is just not an isolated one-time event. What don't they get? In a consumer-driven healthcare market, pricing matters. And charging $500 for a 15-minute visit that required a Band-Aid is the perfect example of why there is such an uproar by government, employers, consumers and health plans regarding healthcare cost. It also points out why Walgreens, CVS, Wal-Mart and entrepreneurs are driving the expansion of retail healthcare and outperforming the more traditional healthcare providers. I get it. Hospitals and health systems need to expand and see the urgent care market as a means of revenue generation for combating falling volumes and declining reimbursement. Urgent care ...