Last year, when every hospital had to pivot quickly to adapt to the realities of COVID-19, clinicians at Boston Children’s Hospital approached the digital strategy team for help. They wanted to see if QR codes could be used to facilitate in-hospital teleconferencing for COVID-19 patients. “They needed 500 and something [QR codes] for every room Read More
Healthcare is undergoing dramatic change. Whether the change is in response to growing consumer pressures, technological advances, or the COVID-19 pandemic, it is bringing new challenges and opportunities for healthcare marketers. The American Hospital Association’s Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD) publication Futurescan looks at some of the most important and impactful Read More
“Few things are more routine — pre-pandemic, anyway — than the semiannual dental cleaning,” says Neal Linkon. “Routine, that is, until the dentist stops in for a quick exam and asks: ‘How long have you had that white spot on your tongue?’ “I had no idea what she was talking about. But the quarter-size white Read More
If you’re trying to reach mothers — the primary healthcare decision-makers in most households — then Pinterest may be an attractive opportunity for your health system. As of October 2020, U.S. monthly active users on Pinterest numbered 98 million, and more than 78 percent are female. Pinterest reported in March 2019, the month before it Read More
While 75 percent of consumers prefer to do business with organizations that create a personal, relevant shopping experience, 60 percent don’t think the communications they receive from healthcare institutions meet the mark. With more and more patient acquisition processes occurring online — from health research to appointment scheduling — dynamic personalization presents an opportunity to Read More
Three experts from Geonetric recently shared tips for overcoming community hesitancy and misinformation about getting vaccinated. “There’s a lot of interest in this topic,” says David Sturtz, vice president of marketing and business development. Sturtz, along with Stella Hart, content strategist and writer, and Tim Lane, director of digital marketing, reviewed data concerning people’s beliefs Read More
When Virtua Health, a southern New Jersey-based health system, acquired Lourdes Health System in 2019, the leadership team decided it would be a good time to continue to build on how the now five-hospital system was investing in its marketing initiatives. “[The marketing department] had an opportunity to build technology platforms that could help them Read More
Predictions for 2021 are still anyone’s guess, according to Paul Szablowski: “The coronavirus continues to rage, and many economists are forecasting slow economic growth.” Nonetheless, Szablowski, an independent consultant and former senior vice president of brand experience at Texas Health Resources, sees room for hope: “Amid the uncertainty, there is opportunity. “Healthcare and digital health Read More
Give someone a good experience, gain their trust, and you’ll earn their loyalty. That’s consumerism, the bargain consumers strike with any company they do business with, whether they’re shopping for products or services — including healthcare services. “Healthcare consumerism is looking at everything through the lens of the patient, even starting before they become a Read More
The ratings and reviews that consumers post online can advance or damage the reputation of any organization, and healthcare is no exception. Online reputation management (ORM) and ongoing analysis of reviews have the potential to significantly improve the patient experience and positively influence customer lifetime value (CLV). BayCare Health System has spent the past two Read More
Is it possible for health systems to have their own version of “set it and forget it”? Can they really set up campaigns in their CRMs and let them run automatically based on pre-set rules? Maybe not right out of the gate, but with diligence, healthcare marketers can learn to crawl, then walk, then run Read More
The American Hospital Association estimates that hospitals and health systems across the country have lost more than $200 billion as a result of the pandemic, and total losses may top more than $320 billion by the end of 2020. With COVID-19 cases still surging, how will health systems address the healthcare needs of their communities Read More
Hospital digital teams continue to ask lots of questions about resuming and revising their digital marketing campaigns as COVID-19 infection rates continue to rise. For many, it continues to be a challenge to make decisions about how to revive key service-line campaigns while simultaneously mixing in COVID-19 informational messaging. JK Lloyd, president of Eruptr, recently Read More
“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every industry in the U.S., but not all in the same way or to the same degree,” says Ben Dillon of Geonetric. “Healthcare’s experience has been unique, with the combination of shutdowns early in the crisis coupled with costly emergency response plans for many health systems. Teams pivoted to focus Read More
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been a defining moment for humanity. It has been equally defining for healthcare,” says Carrie Liken, head of industry, healthcare at Yext. Here’s an excerpt from Liken’s new article: As long as COVID is part of our world, people will travel less for care, and they will search more for local Read More
The COVID-19 outbreak has been challenging for healthcare organizations, but one positive for marketers is that the pandemic has presented new opportunities to engage consumers digitally. When patients can’t see their providers in the office, they use virtual care or telemedicine services. Rush University System for Health, a network of physicians and hospitals in the Read More
“Now more than ever before, reviews and star ratings influence consumers’ purchasing decisions, especially in retail,” says Ed Rafalski, Ph.D., MPH, FACHE, chief strategy and marketing officer, BayCare Health System. Here’s an excerpt from Ed’s new article: When it comes to healthcare, consumers are factoring pandemic safety measures taken by physicians and care facilities into Read More
Health systems and hospitals can use data they already have to help set marketing priorities and determine the best use of their budgets, according to Brandy Hill, director of marketing and public relations at Riverview Health in Noblesville, Indiana, and Mahek Thakkar, manager of integrated marketing at Healthgrades. Hill says Riverview’s experience showed that brand Read More
In this digitally saturated age, we’re all running as fast as we can to keep up with the latest marketing trends and technology innovations. But for Cleveland Clinic — a digital juggernaut — a simple reactivation program designed to bring back patients with chronic conditions is working well. Cleveland Clinic has been running reactivation programs Read More
What does a healthcare logistics company that’s had success distributing medical supplies to remote healthcare facilities in rural Africa have to offer large, technologically advanced, geographically distributed health systems in the U.S.? Plenty. Zipline, whose mission is “to provide every human on Earth with instant access to vital medical supplies,” developed a system for delivery Read More
Physician liaison and outreach departments should focus on more than volume growth and instead use data and analytics to help hospitals and health systems achieve their population health objectives. That, in turn, will help make outreach departments indispensable to senior leadership as they work to guide their organizations out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Intermountain Healthcare Read More
Connecting the dots. That’s the value provided by a customer relationship management (CRM) database, a tool health system marketing and communications leaders increasingly use to deliver precision marketing to consumers and calculate accurate return on investment (ROI). Yet having a CRM is only one part of the digital marketing puzzle. Hospitals experiencing the highest level Read More
It’s time to stop thinking about marketing as two separate components — traditional vs. digital — and blend the best tactics of each discipline. “Tradigital” combines the best of both strategies and is redefining healthcare marketing today. That is the message of healthcare marketing consultants Kathy Divis, president and co-founder, Greystone.Net, and Rob Klein, founder Read More
When the pandemic blocked the normal channels of consumer access to healthcare, physicians’ groups, hospitals, and health systems around the country scrambled to establish or expand their telehealth capabilities. The question is, what happens next? What is the roadmap to scale and improve telehealth while the pandemic still rages, and what is the plan when Read More
“There’s no doubt that recent circumstances surrounding COVID-19 have reshaped the way hospitals and healthcare facilities connect with their patients,” says James Ramey of DeviceBits. “Shelter-in-place ordinances and stay-at-home mandates have forced many provider organizations to rely on technologies like chatbots and knowledge management tools that use artificial intelligence (AI) with machine learning (ML) to Read More