Health Care Marketing Insights

1. Responsibility is Paramount

You must always keep in mind that at the end of the day, your marketing is about enhancing health and well-being. People’s lives may literally be at stake, and all marketing efforts should be honest and accurate.

2. Achieve Motivation Through Education

What are perceived as hard-sell tactics are increasingly rare. In an age where patients are being asked to assume more of the financial burden of their own care via higher copays and deductibles and to be their own advocates, consumers are looking for brands they can trust to give them the information they need to make informed, medically sound decisions. For example, many end users remain unclear on the distinctions between emergency rooms and urgent care or primary care centers. Brands that provide clear, straightforward information will be greatly appreciated.

3. Communicate the Value of Value

Although the business is shifting more and more to value-based care from fee-based care, customers still need to receive compelling reasons to embrace this shift. Whether you’re helping a hospital system cut costs through improved processes or helping consumers find the treatment that is right for them in the long term – even when it is not necessarily the lowest priced one initially – communicating the importance of value is crucial.

4. Use a Range of Media

Digital is the fastest growing channel for marketing, but traditional channels including print, outdoor advertising, radio, event booths, direct mail, and sales collateral still remain effective. Digital channels can offer attractive targeting, with tools including search-engine ads, sponsored social media, and marketing automation technology.

Consumer Health Expenditures

• U.S. per capita national health expenditures: $9,523 per year. (Source: Centers for Disease Control)
• Total amount Americans devote per year to health expenditures: $3,000,000,000,000 ($3 trillion). (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Digital Health Information Seeking

• 62% of smartphone owners use their device to search for health information. (Source: Pew Internet Research)
• 72% of Internet users search for health info online. (Source: Pew Internet Research)

Hospital Administrator Research Behavior

• 50% of hospital administrators research equipment and vendors online.
• 82% of hospital administrators compare products. (Source: Clarity Quest)

Healthcare Marketing Budgets (United States, 2015)

• Average marketing budget across all health care companies: $11.9 million.
• Companies above $500 million in revenue spent an average of $24.1 million on marketing.
• Companies below $500 million in revenue spent an average of $3.3 million on marketing.
• (Source: Statista)

Channels Used by Healthcare Marketers to Reach Health Care Professionals (HCPs)

(Source: MM&M’s Healthcare Marketers Trend Report 2016)

• 86% are using digital tools, including websites, social media, digital ads and mobile apps.
• 80% are marketing at meetings or events.
• 69% are using printed sales materials.
• 48% are using journal print ads.
• 47% are using direct marketing/direct mail.
• 29% are using point-of-care materials.

Naming, Identity & Positioning – CareNow

Tagline: “The convenience you need, the care you deserve.”

Website – Hospitalists Now

Website design and development for Hospitalists Now healthcare practice management platform.

Digital Marketing – VHA

Digital marketing campaign for VHA (now Vizient) featuring webinar promotions. Sample ad copy: “An Overview of Successful Supply Chain Strategies – Monday, March 30, 2 p.m. CST. Register now.” and “Four strategic approaches to supply chain success. Free webinar.”

Print Sales Collateral Systems – Tenet/Broadlane

Broadlane Surgery Center Services brochure copy: “Providing high-quality care balanced with effective cost control is one of the biggest challenges facing surgery centers today.”

“Dedicated Account Management: As a Broadlane client, you will be matched with an account manager who will provide personalized, dedicated customer service – from answering questions about products or pricing to offering guidance on gaining even greater benefit from our contract portfolio and complimentary services. Our Surgery Center Services account managers have specialized knowledge about surgery centers, and will work with you to develop customized solutions for the specific challenges you face. They will also work closely with suppliers to ensure a smooth and easy transition for your organization.”

“GET THERE WITH BROADLANE: Thousands of surgery centers across the country have lowered their costs and improved their performance through Broadlane. If you are committed to increasing efficiency and lowering costs through better procurement management, Broadlane has the services, deep clinical and operational experience and powerful portfolio of national contracts to help get you there. Ready to take the first step towards a higher level of success? Contact us today to see how Broadlane’s Surgery Center Services can help. Call 866.BROADLN (866.276.2356) or visit our Web site at www.broadlane.com.”

Transit Advertising – Metrocare Services

Transit ad copy examples:

• “Feel Like This? Affordable behavioral and mental health counseling and medication. Midway & Keller Springs.”
• “Change Your Mind. Affordable behavioral and mental health counseling and medication. Midway & Keller Springs.”
• “This Bus Can Get You to a Better Place. Affordable behavioral and mental health counseling and medication. Midway & Keller Springs.”

Outdoor & Signage – CareNow

Billboard and exterior signage for CareNow urgent care locations. Tagline: “Handy medical care, right here.”

Social Media – Southwestern Medical Foundation

Facebook sponsored post copy: “While you’re thinking of the people and causes you love, remember: giving is good for you!”

Annual Reports – Children’s Health

2014 Annual Report design for Children’s Health. Locations: Dallas | Park Cities | Plano | Southlake. Website: childrens.com.

Product Packaging – Instead

Packaging for Instead feminine care product. Copy: “A proven alternative to pads and tampons that you can wear for up to 12 hours.”

Capabilities Brochures – MedHost

MedHost capabilities brochure content:

Easy to Analyze: “Ease-of-use yields abundant and reliable data, which helps you manage and fine tune processes with confidence. MEDHOST incorporates the reliability of Crystal Reports, so it’s easy to see trends by viewing data from across the enterprise. Your questions, quickly answered. ED Management at the enterprise level. Compliance assessment with accuracy. Utilizes power of Crystal Reports with our intuitive user interface. Manage your processes with confidence.”

Easy to Interface: “Our system adheres to HL7 standards and uses technologies including XML, CDA, PDF, ASCII and proprietary protocols. These technologies enable us to interface seamlessly with ADT, ancillary departments including Lab and Rad, EMR, MPI, Billing and Syndromic Surveillance Systems. Your data, seamlessly shared. Interoperability with any HIS, including MEDITECH. Bi-directional orders to your ancillary departments. Clinical data to and from your CDR and EMR. Web browser access to all of your clinical data.”

Print Advertising – NRC+ Picker

Ad headline: “It Looks Like It’s Contagious.”

Ad copy: “Are you getting a clear picture of patient experience? More and more hospitals are turning to NRC+Picker to get a clearer picture of their patient experience. That’s because patient-centered care is our focus. We help you measure your patient experience. Then we help you improve it by offering actionable solutions. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Trinity Healthcare Organization, UCLA Healthcare, Sentara Healthcare, Orlando Regional Medical Center and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center use NRC+Picker to understand and meet the needs of their patients. Ready to get a more complete picture of your patients’ needs? Call 800-388-4264 or visit www.NRCPicker.com.”

Second ad headline: “Patient-centered care is catching on.” Copy: “These are just some of the growing number of hospitals that are using the patient-experience method to evaluate the performance of their organizations. And they’re turning to the patient-centered care expertise of NRC+Picker to help them do it. We invented the patient-experience approach. Our family of surveys provides insightful data that identify your hospital’s problem areas. We then provide you with actionable solutions to help you improve. Get better soon. Call NRC+Picker at 800-388-4264 or visit www.NRCPicker.com.”

Hospital clients listed: The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Orlando Regional Medical Center, Sentara Healthcare, Stanford Hospital, Trinity Healthcare Organization, UCLA Healthcare.

Tagline: “NRC+Picker — Measuring and improving the most important aspects of the patient experience.”

Training Brochures – Essilor of America

Tagline: “It’s good to know a Pro.”

Trade Show Displays – VHA

VHA trade show exhibit content: “VHA has the expertise and experience to help you navigate the complexities of health care. Look to VHA for: Greater cost performance. Enhanced operational efficiencies. Improved financial performance. VHA brings industry-leading innovations, thought leadership and know-how to help you manage in the changing health care environment. We have an integrated array of solutions that enable VHA members and customers to achieve exceptional cost performance. When you are a member or customer of VHA, you become part of a network that connects you to proven experts, advanced analytics, and dialogue with others who are experiencing, or who have solved, challenges similar to your own.”