Insights: Healthcare Marketing

There are a lot of questions involved in delivering healthcare.

What are your symptoms?
When did they start?
Do you have any family history?
Are you currently taking any medication?

We all have forms and electronic health records with lots of boxes to check off and fill in to gather the background information we need. This process has become more automated in recent years which while it certainly has its advantages, can have a downside, too. The danger is that we become more detached from the human side of practicing medicine if we are not careful and intentional in our approach.

Are you there for them?

A patient calls your office … 

In our last post, we talked about how initiating and growing relationships is critical to the success of your practice. I also introduced you to my friend Bob Kodzis, a nationally acclaimed writer, marketer, and president of Flight of Ideas who contributed to my new book It’s Personal: The Art of Building Your Practice. Bob has developed what he calls The Relationship Continuum©:

I think this is a powerful visual that conveys how relationships evolve:

As a practice leader, one of your roles is to encourage physicians in your group to develop and nurture positive relationships with referring physicians.

My friend Bob Kodzis, a nationally acclaimed writer, marketer, and president of Flight of Ideas, shared in my recently released book It’s Personal: The Art of Building Your Practice that, “There is no marketing tool or promotion known to man that is more powerful than a good, sincere, and mutually beneficial relationship.”

I wholeheartedly agree. Here are the traits he believes build good relationships:

We’re all busy. It’s become the American way — less time to do more. And this is especially true for women, who typically manage the healthcare decisions for their families, sometimes caring for multi-generations at the same time.

As a result, we demand convenience in everything — shopping, dining, entertainment and yes, health care, too. We want to access quality care that is quick and easy, and gets us back to our busy lives. This includes:

We know patients want it, and some providers are even measured on how well they provide it. But are we delivering it?

Compassion has two core components:

1. An awareness and concern of another’s suffering
2. A desire to alleviate it

Patients want to be comforted, heard, informed, understood, respected, supported and engaged.

So what does compassion look like for you and your team? It can include:

Too often I hear that healthcare today has become corporate, cold and dare I say indifferent. 

Indifference is defined as a lack of interest, concern or sympathy. And it is one of the greatest threats to any business, especially a medical practice. Because when customers feel that you don’t care, they will find someone who does.

Patients too frequently report that they feel like “a number,” that no one cares about them as a person. Indifference.

Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel beautifully said,

A culture of gratitude is contagious. The more you thank others, the more they become thankful as well. Each encounter you have — whether with a patient, colleague, referring physician, member of your staff, vendor or community contact — is an opportunity. 

Be humble. Be honest. Be open. Be aware. 

Who are you thankful for today? Take a few minutes to let them know.

There is a church in town that encourages its members to extend an “extravagant welcome” to everyone who walks through its doors. It is a philosophy that no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, your are welcome there. What began as a simple idea has grown to become the culture, the “brand” if you will of that congregation. And it is working. The church has experienced steady growth in a time when when many churches are watching their membership and attendance decline.

In medicine today, we’re pushed to achieve efficiency and compliance. And we’ve all been taught that in order to survive in this pressure-cooker environment — both personally and professionally — we need to learn to say, “No,” to prioritize and stay focused. Many of us have gotten quite good at it.

But what would happen if we said, “Yes” a little more often? 

In our quest to meet benchmarks and achieve our goals, saying “No” too often can limit our ability to innovate, to serve, to delight those we are working so hard to serve. And it can squelch the engagement and ideas of those whom we need to listen to most — our patients, staff and referring physicians.