Insights: Healthcare Marketing

The pressure to perform has never been higher, and the demands on your time and energy continue to increase. We’re all trying to do more with less and do it all faster.

In this rush, it is easy to look for the shortcuts, to check things off the list and make those we serve happy — at least for the moment. 

Marketing guru Seth Godin wrote a great blog post recently that highlights the importance of not sacrificing standards and knowing when to “push back” to stand up for quality and what is right.

If you have a practice Web site, you know about the importance of search engine optimization (SEO). It is a process for generating increased visitors to your site by enhancing performance and ranking on search sites like Google, Yahoo and Bing. So, if someone searches for your name or terms related to your practice, like “family practice physician Springfield,” your site appears at or near the top of the list on that user’s screen. 

Why is this important? Today’s “prosumers” increasingly turn to the Internet first to gather basic information and compare their options. Your online profiles provide the perfect opportunity to ensure you bubble to the top of a search while also showcasing your professional qualifications, experience and reputation. 

Office moves happen. In addition to communicating your move proactively with patients and referral sources, you most likely know the importance of promptly updating your practice Web site and social media sites with your new address and phone number. But that is only one part of your online identity. 

Delivering health care is complex — no doubt about it. Hospitals have been struggling with the challenges of “silos” and care coordination for decades now. And even at a routine physician office visit, a patient experiences several different staff interactions and multiple “hand-offs.” 

The practices and organizations who will succeed in 2017 and beyond are the ones who see the big picture and connect the dots. From the moment a patient calls to make an appointment until they walk out your doors, how can you ensure the care and communication that you provide is seamless?

Technology, implemented properly, can certainly help. But that is only half the solution. Nothing replaces your staff and the human connection they provide.

How are you connecting the dots?

A friend’s husband recently had an outpatient surgical procedure at his local community hospital. As they were preparing to go home, one of the staff at the front desk handed my friend a red rose and told her to have a good day.

At first glance, this seems great — something that goes above and beyond what is expected to brighten the day of a patient and his family. And if their overall experience had been wonderful, it would have been. 

The problem? It wasn’t a good patient care experience. There ended up being several care coordination blunders — one of which landed the patient back in the emergency room later that evening. 

OK, so you’ve successfully made it past the first date. A new referring physician has decided to give this a try and has referred a patient to you. Congratulations! What now? 

Your relationship-building has only just begun. This “second date” is a bit of a test and perhaps even more critical than the “first date” when you met the physician as this patient’s experience will determine whether or not the physician refers more patients to you in the future. 

The basics of good dating/relationship-building come into play again:

You might wonder what one has to do with the other. Actually, a lot.

Like dating, referral development is something some people are really good at and others cringe at the mere thought. Yet, it is essential to building a successful medical practice. At its core, referral development is about building relationships. And the best approach to that “first date” or first meeting is basically the same:

At a recent doctor’s appointment, a friend of mine was told he needed surgery. The physician's surgery scheduler coordinated with the hospital and let my friend know the surgery date. All set.

Or perhaps not.

About a week later, my friend received a call from the hospital wanting to schedule another procedure that was needed  -- to insert a probe -- prior to the surgery. This essential procedure had to be done a couple of days before the surgery as an outpatient procedure and required general anesthesia. 

A nurse promises that the physician will be right in to see the patient.  Over an hour goes by, and the patient has to go ask when the physician is coming in.

A hospitalist promises a caregiver he will take care of the patient as if he were his own father. Then the patient is hospitalized for a week and never sees or hears from that physician again.

Promises are powerful and can help forge a connection — a valuable trust between provider and patient. But only if you deliver on that promise. If you don’t, the betrayal can cut deep, and the empty promise can do irreconcilable damage to not only the relationship, but in the social media world we all live in, your reputation as well.

Patient service and satisfaction. It is the name of the healthcare game these days. And we all know that the little things can sometimes make the greatest difference. But be careful not to get so focused on the little things that you lose sight of the big picture.