Hospital Marketing Strategy SeriesCourse One: A Marketing

RoadmapJENNIE PRICE, DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

HOMETOWN HEALTH, LLC

A Marketing Roadmap: Objectives

1. Discuss the challenges facing rural hospitals in

marketing

2. Discuss the Steps to Creating Your Hospital’s Strategic Plan

3. Learn important areas of hospital advertising liability, and tips on avoiding legal issues

What is Marketing?

“The codfish lays ten thousand eggs,The homely hen lays one.The codfish never cacklesTo tell you what she’s done.And so we scorn the codfishWhile the humble hen we prize,Which only goes to show youThat it pays to advertise.” - Anonymous

What is Marketing?

Marketing: the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, & services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives. - American Marketing Association

“Marketing is the sum total of all impressions.”

Developing a Marketing Roadmap

Preparing to go on a journey of identifying the healthcare needs of our community and then

meeting them.

Developing a Marketing Roadmap

Developing a Marketing Roadmap

Steps to Creating Your Hospital’s Strategic Plan

1.Know Where you Are: Market Position2.Know Where you Want to Be: Vision 3.Determine the Best Route: Marketing Objectives4.Determine Who’s Riding in the Car: Stakeholders5.“Ready to Navigate:” Action Items 6.Know What to Avoid

Step One: Know Where You Are

Understand Your Hospital’s Market Position

Community Information•Community Health Needs Assessment•Market Share Information (AHD)•Competition

Hospital Information•SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)•HCAHPS Scores/ Surveys•Social Media

Step Two: Know Where Your Want to Be

Determine Your Vision for the Hospital’s Future

A mission is the present state or purpose of your organization;

A vision statement is about the future--- it’s a mental picture of what you want to achieve over time.

•What do you want people/hospital leaders to know about your hospital?

•Where do we want to be a year from now?

Step Three: Determine the Best Route

Set Your Marketing Objectives

Marketing Objectives: the group of goals set when promoting your products or services to potential consumers that should be achieved within a given time frame.

At the end of this year, if our hospital has become what we envisioned it being, what will we have accomplished?

Step Three: Determine the Best Route

Set Your Marketing Objectives

Sample Growth Strategies To Consider

-Market Penetration:Increasing the sale of present products and services in present markets-Market Development:Initiating sales of existing products and services in new markets-Product Development: Providing new products to existing markets-Diversification:Developing new products or services for new markets-Strategic Alliances:Partnering with another resources to enter a new market-Divestment/ PruningSelling off a business or product line/ reducing the products/services it offers

Step Four: Who’s Riding in your Car?

- Current / former patients- Potential patients- Government- Board- Auxiliary- Providers- Health care Suppliers- Community at large – associations, clubs,

organizations, other businesses

Consider Your Stakeholders & Communication Plan

Step Four: Who’s Riding in your Car?

How are you going to communicate the message?

•Publications •Direct Mail•Press Releases to Local & State Media, Trade Associations•Advertising •Listings in Trade Directories and Internet Listings•Web Site Strategy•Local Events - Exhibits•Telemarketing•Specialty Promotional Items

Consider Your Stakeholders & Communication Plan

Step Five: “Ready to Navigate!”

Putting a Plan Into Place: Develop Action Items, Timelines and Budgets

Marketing Objective: the business goal (what you would like to achieve)

Action Plan: the strategies that can be implemented to reach that goal.

•Break down into small, achievable steps and then identify the actions you need to take for each step. 

Step Six: Know What to Avoid

Liability & Risk in Marketing

Federal Laws - Prohibits advertisers from competing unfairly by confusing the public as to the source of a product or by stealing a competitor’s ideas or work- Prohibits false or misleading advertising

State Laws

Legal Action by Patients

Step Six: Know What to Avoid

Managing Advertising Risk• Become familiar with professional standards related to healthcare

marketing and advertising practices: AHA issued an advisory, and the America Marketing also has standards

• Ensure that risk manager/compliance is involved when planning initiatives as a resource, and ensure there is a system in place for early review by legal and risk management to identify potential issues

• Avoid statements about success rates or specific outcomes of treatments• Pay attention to campaigns that may create the appearance of an agency

relationship with independent contractors (ER docs, anesthesiologists) who a patient does not specifically select. Make sure nature of relationships are spelled out, and signs are posted to reinforce this message, and language is in consent for treatment forms

• If using the name of a specific physician or provider in ad, assume the hospital will be held vicariously liable for their acts, and plan accordingly.

• Avoid any representations about the high quality of providers associated with the hospital, and ensure all are properly credentialed and insured.

Step Six: Know What to Avoid

Managing Advertising Risk: Physicians

AVOID: •Ambiguous reference to medical staff members as “our doctors”•Providing lab coats for ER physicians with both the physicians name and hospitals name monogrammed on the front•Physician ad or marketing that overemphasized hospital affiliation•Claims that the hospital is a “full-service” organization, having qualified staff in every specialty area•Hospital-based physician referral programs that do not clarify the independence of participating medical staff members•Claims made by a hospital that if offers “high-quality medical care” that may lead a patient to select that hospital and its physicians

Step Six: Know What to Avoid

Managing Advertising Risk: Messages

• Regularly review Factual Messages: Even if objective and verifiable, some facts about a hospital can change over time – i.e. religious affiliation, the cost of services, hours, appointment procedures, accessibility by public transportation – make sure to review these periodically

• Make sure Opinion Messages are substantiated: Especially those that are comparative or superlative: “best care,” “the latest technology,” – these must be substantiated by an outside group or a certification/designation

• Ensure Expert Endorsements are substantiated: for example, “tests prove,” “doctors recommend,” and “studies show” need to have the test, recommendations and studies to back up the claims

• Consumer Testimonials should be representative of what consumers should generally expect.

Step Six: Know What to Avoid

Language that Should Be Avoided in Advertising

• “The best”• “A world class facility” or “world-class care”• “First-class staff”• “Number one”• “Extraordinary”• “Individualized care… expert staff”• “Premier care”• “Your best call in an emergency”• The latest technology”• “Outstanding services and programs”• “High technology and high compassion”• “The best care comes from the heart” (from an ad for Sacred Heart Hospital• “Convenient, reasonable priced”• “The genius of healthcare” (from an ad for Albert Einstein Hospital)• “Make our medical staff yours”

Review of Objectives

1. Discuss the challenges facing rural hospitals

in marketing

2. Discuss the Steps to Creating Your Hospital’s Strategic Plan

3. Learn important areas of hospital advertising liability, and tips on avoiding legal issues

Next Time

• Marketing and Competitors

• Social Media

• Wellness and Community Outreach Ideas for January & February