How Ochsner Built Market Share and Volume Long After Katrina

Ochsner Health System's growth in recent years has largely been driven by the acquisition of community hospitals. But in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, some of those assets conjured up negative connotations—until Ochsner turned around public opinion.

Just as Hurricane Katrina is still affecting the Gulf Cost more than eight years after the storm devastated the area, damage caused by the storm continues to impact local hospitals and health systems.

One such organization is Ochsner Health System, a seven-hospital system anchored by a 564-bed acute care medical center in New Orleans. The system encompasses nearly 40 health clinics, 13,000 employees, and an employed medical group of about 900 physicians in 90 medical specialties and subspecialties.

Ochsner's growth in recent years has largely been driven by the acquisition of community hospitals formerly owned by Tenet Healthcare, which permanently shuttered many of its locations after Hurricane Katrina.

The mental association between Ochsner and Tenet made by consumers posed a problem; although Ochsner scored high awareness levels among consumers, it did not convert to preference across all hospitals. Marketers found that the high number of Tenet hospitals abandoned after the hurricane caused area residents to form a negative opinion of them.

Setting Marketing Objectives
In order to combat this trend, Ochsner hired La Grange, IL, firm SPM Marketing and Communications in 2012 to establish a market position that would help consumers embrace the benefits of the Ochsner system no matter where they entered it.

The specific marketing objectives were to:

• Increase unique patient visits for the system
• Grow volumes for the community hospitals
• Increase volumes of key system-wide service lines, such as oncology and cardiology

SPM designed the campaign after interviewing key executive, physician, and service line leaders of the organization as well as analyzing external research and market data. "We wanted the tone of the work to be a lot warmer. More approachable," says Rick Korzeniowski, creative director for SPM.

A Warmer Connection
 "Ochsner is well-known for providing climically excellent care, but we also wanted to focus on how it feels to be cared for at Ocshner because that is just as important as facts and figures. The use of the female spokesperson helped convey both characteristics." 

The "Connections" campaign launched in Fall 2012 and included television, radio, print, and outdoor ads. Oncology and cardiovascular service lines were also integrated in some areas.

"Our system-wide campaign helped consumers understand the breadth of Ochsner's services and capabilities while our service line-focused campaigns demonstrated the exceptionally high level of clinical expertise offered by Ochsner's main medical center," says Terri McNorton, assistant vice president of marketing for the health system.

"The concept of 'Connections' was especially important to the campaign's messaging so that consumers understood that no matter where they entered the Ochsner system, they'd have access to the region's highest quality healthcare."

Results
The campaign, which reminded patients that the organization ranks nationwide in several specialties, soon began raking in results.
As of June 2013:

• Ochsner has seen significant improvements in its already strong image, reputation and consumer preference scores.
• In the New Orleans area, Ochsner's reputation for having the Best Quality improved from 42.0% to 51% during 2013.
• Overall Image and Reputation also improved to 55% (a 13% increase)
• Consumer Preference for Ochsner improved from 37% to 47%.

Additionally, from October 2012 through August 2013, the two system service lines that were targeted experienced significant increases in unique patients:

• Cardiovascular increased by about 5,000 unique patients
• Oncology increased by about 1,000 unique patients