Reducing Readmissions by Improving Email Open Rates

Kentucky's Kindred Healthcare revamps its email marketing strategy and sees readmissions rates shrink.

When hospital leaders brainstorm strategies to reduce readmission rates, email marketing probably isn't the first (or second, or third) thing that comes to mind—but maybe it should be.

Kindred Healthcare, a Kentucky-based post-acute care provider, revamped its email marketing strategy to prepare for penalties linked to hospital readmissions as mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The organization operates in 2,787 locations, including 97 transitional care hospitals, 16 inpatient rehab hospitals, 90 nursing centers, and 21 subacute units, so it had a lot of ground to cover when it came to educating physicians, case managers, and C-suite members about best practices to avoid readmissions.

"Reducing rehospitalizations is the right thing to do for patient care—we all know this. But with task forces on performance improvement initiatives ranging from infections to patient satisfaction, it can be difficult to know where to focus efforts for the greatest impact,' says Lori Beaton Riggs, senior director of enterprise marketing at Kindred Healthcare.

"We have provided information about what programs are working, based on industry research, so that providers know where to focus their efforts. Summary information and direction in best practices is very helpful in initiatives such as this, where information is prolific and ever-expanding."

Content Should Solve Problems, Not Sell
Working with marketing automation platform Marketo, Riggs and her team crafted emails that were informative and inviting with the aim of improving open rates.

"No one wants to feel marketed to or sold to," she says. "When you provide your audiences and customers with relevant and helpful information, they take note. You are able to establish yourself as a thought leader and partner, showing you are dedicated to helping make their lives easier, not simply promoting your companies' services and value propositions."

The new email marketing strategy adheres to a strict 80/20 rule that is designed to keep readers engaged.

"All content should be at least 80% related to solving a problem or explaining an industry trend to your audience, and less than 20% about your company specifically," Riggs says. "This is resonating with our audiences."

And readmissions are down as a result; between 2010 to 2014, Kindred Healthcare reduced rehospitalizations from its transition care hospitals by 4.1%, and from its nursing and rehabilitation centers by 5.1%. Additionally, between 2013 and 2014, the health system improved its Kindred at Home hospitalization rates by 8.9%.

More Opens, Fewer Readmissions
"As for open rates, we continue to meet or exceed email marketing benchmarks, even with this hard-to-reach population," Riggs says.

She believes the improvement in open-rates directly correlates to the 80/20 content rule.

"If you change your mindset to one of a customer advocate for your audiences, not simply a brand ambassador for your company, you will become more relevant and increase your engagement," she says. "When your subjects seem self-serving or are not completely in line with what your audiences need at that point in time, open rates and engagement will suffer."

While email marketing is just one piece of Kindred's much larger communications plan, it has aided the work of clinical liaisons who communicate with physicians and case managers, and helped facilitate patient transitions to post-acute sites of care.

"These campaigns have raised awareness of these services, which can truly change the lives of patients who might [have] otherwise not received this much-needed care," Riggs says. "Research shows that appropriate utilization of post-acute care can improve outcomes, lower healthcare costs, and improve the patient experience. These campaigns help us communicate these messages to many additional people that we otherwise would be able to do in person or through other communication channels."