Chennai: In this southern city, and in cities across Tamil Nadu, the gigantic billboards of politicians and film stars have competition from an unlikely source--hospitals. Most hospitals advertising their offerings pitch specific and specialized ones.
Although great strides have been made in the past few years, healthcare Web sites in general haven't had a reputation for being cutting edge. While most count content, ease of use, design and copywriting among their strengths, healthcare provider sites have historically scored low in innovation and use of technology. So, how do you get health seekers to your site and keep them there?
How do you practice Word of Mouth Marketing? Give people a reason to talk about you and make it easy for them to talk about you. After all, good marketing is starting and continuing a conversation.
A new branding effort for Saint Thomas Health Services, a 4-hospital system headquartered in Nashville, takes a unique look at life. In an extremely competitive regional market, the system decided the way to stand out from its competitors was to guarantee it would be a permanent part of the community, demonstrate its continued dedication to faith, and emphasize the importance it places on the emotional and physical health of its patients.
Saint Thomas Health Services focused its initial efforts on Baptist Hospital in Nashville and its two primary service lines, orthopedics and obstetrics. Working with D S Tombras, an ad agency with offices in Tennessee, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C., they created the "We're Here for Life" campaign, which captured life's most emotional and memorable moments. (Click to view full sized version.)
From the birth of a child to being rehabilitated after surgery, the multi-integrated campaign initiative features modern production techniques, such as fast-motion filming, accompanied by modern music for their commercials and beautifully planned imagery for their print collateral. "The message was significant and the production values helped to make it stick out and break out of the clutter," says Steve Dennison, president of D S Tombras. "This reflects positively on the overall brand."
Another important campaign message for Baptist was 'let our faith be your strength.'
"We were interviewing people on the street to get a community perspective and were being told the most amazing stories about the care and compassion at Baptist," said Steve Castle, vice president and account supervisor at D S Tombras. "One woman even said that before her surgery at Baptist the staff came in and prayed with her. That's reassuring to people and it's a significant differentiator in this campaign."
The campaign helped Baptist and Saint Thomas Health Services increase consumer preference by 30 percent and unaided awareness by 38 percent.
When I look back on the healthcare marketing stories I've covered this year, there are two interviews that stand out from the rest. The first was with M. Bridget Duffy, MD, the Cleveland Clinic's chief experience officer. It wasn't her trendy new title that made an impression on me, but how clearly she made the case for the business benefits of internal and customer satisfaction. The second person who made a lasting impression on me was Dorothy Wooddell, the 69-year-old retired schoolteacher who volunteers at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, CA. Along with politicians, CEOs, and activists, she was one of the 20 people who make healthcare better featured in our November 2007 cover story. We chose her as a symbol for all those who make patients' experiences as pleasant as possible, given the circumstances. Thanks to these two stories and countless others, 2007 will stick in my mind as the year of the consumer.
There's one common thread that runs through all of the hot topics I covered this year, from price and quality transparency to retail clinics to medical tourism. There's a reason that hospitals are overhauling their menus, offering concierge services, installing wireless Internet and adding private, curtained beds, televisions and 30-minute guarantees in the ER. There's a reason internal communications is so hot right now. There's a reason hospitals are hiring staff and sending them out into the field to connect with referring physicians. The driving force behind all of these trends? It's the powerful patient consumer.
Consumers today have choices--and lots of them. They can comparison shop online and then go down the street to another hospital, drive to the mall for a quick checkup, or fly to Mexico for cosmetic surgery. They won't stand for green-flavored gelatin and Salisbury steak the texture of cardboard delivered at 5 p.m. whether they're hungry or not when they can order from a gourmet organic menu and choose a delivery time that's convenient for them. They won't wait in line if they don't have to.
Increasingly, hospitals are treating physicians and other employees more like customer/consumers, too. Why? Because they are the ones who interact with the patient/consumer and most influence his or her experience.
If you'd asked me to predict the impact of consumer-driven healthcare three years ago, I'm not sure that I would have gotten it right. Even last year I might have hemmed and hawed and wondered if it wasn't one of those buzzwords that's hot one day and gone the next. This year, however, Duffy and Woodell and others like them convinced me that consumerism and the focus on patient experience are here to stay.
Healthcare was in the political spotlight for much of 2007 as state Legislatures debated coverage expansion, presidential hopefuls released plans for healthcare mandates and/or tax incentives to encourage more Americans to obtain coverage, and Congress continued its fight with President Bush over the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. That spotlight is expected to shine bright again next year, as much of the work from 2007 is still unfinished.
In California, for example, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared 2007 the year for healthcare reform in the Golden State. The Republican governor reached a late compromise with the State Assembly, which on Monday approved a plan to cover most Californians through a series of healthcare coverage mandates and subsidies. The state Senate, however, will not address the plan until 2008 as it seeks assurances that funding for existing programs and providers is not endangered by the expansion.
In Illinois, meanwhile, Gov. Rod Blagojevich took executive action to bypass the state Legislature and expand coverage to an additional 150,000 uninsured residents. But that plan is facing a legal challenge from the Illinois Coalition for Jobs, Growth and Prosperity, which filed a lawsuit earlier this month challenging the governor's authority to unilaterally change eligibility and expand coverage.
And at the federal level, Congressional Democrats will continue efforts to line up support for their plan to expand coverage to 10 million children at a cost of an additional $35 billion. A first test will come in January when President Bush's recent veto of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 is due for review in the House.
In spite of the setbacks and delays, 2007 did include some significant highlights on the coverage front.
In Massachusetts, the state is reporting that more than 300,000 residents will have signed up for health insurance coverage under the state's new coverage expansion program. Slightly more than half enrolled through Commonwealth Care, the state-subsidized program, while another 70,000 will be covered by the Massachusetts Medicaid program. Overall, nearly 100,000 will be covered by a private insurer to comply with the state's individual mandate for coverage.
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley was also able to hammer out a compromise with the state Legislature to cover approximately 140,000 uninsured Marylanders. The state program will expand eligibility for Medicaid and offer subsidies to some small employers who have not offered coverage to their low-wage workers.
And in Wisconsin, Gov. Jim Doyle approved a restructuring of the state's healthcare programs that will allow every family in the state to obtain either free or low-cost coverage for their children through its BadgerCare Plus program. Rates for middle-class families start at $10 a month and are capped at $68.25 per child. Enrollment opens in early February.
So what's in store for 2008? Will the issue remain a largely esoteric one to be debated ad nauseam in state houses and on the campaign trail or will our political leaders find a common voice and move forward on reforms? I'm not taking any bets, but I would be interested in hearing your odds on the outcome.
Editor's note: Health Plan Insider will not publish next week in light of the holidays. Look for your next issue to arrive on January 2, 2008. See you next year!
Brad Cain is editor of California Healthfax and executive editor for managed care with HealthLeaders Media. He may be reached at bcain@healthleadersmedia.com.
A campaign that claims support from Michigan labor and religious groups, the AARP and Lt. Gov. John Cherry plans to launch a petition drive to ask Michigan voters to approve statewide, universal healthcare.
Unlike other presidential candidates who want to control obesity and smoking to cut health care costs, Republican candidate Ron Paul said he would not promote preventive medicine and instead provide more choices for patients.
Connecticut-based Aetna's preferred provider plans have been granted full accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance. The private nonprofit organization reviews health plans on access to and quality of care, claims payment and customer service.
After more than a year of negotiations, the University of Kansas Hospital, University of Kansas Medical Center and Kansas University Physicians Inc. have reached a new affliliation agreement. The five-year deal was approved by the KU Hospital Authority Board, and calls for the hospital to increase its support for the medical center and the physicians group from about $31 million during the current fiscal year to more than $46 million next year.
