Where is innovation happening for provider marketing?
There is a lot of talk about the need for innovation in healthcare. You cannot go a week without seeing an article or listening to a podcast about a new technology that is going to “disrupt” the status quo in healthcare. But where is innovation needed most from a healthcare marketing perspective?
To get an answer to that question, I sat down with fellow Swaay.Health editor and founder of Shift Forward Health Production & Marketing Group – Jared Johnson. We spoke about where innovation is needed most and what companies he considers as innovators in this space.
Where is marketing innovation needed in healthcare?
According to Johnson, there is an opportunity and a need for healthcare organizations to be more innovative in their brand promise and brand messaging.
“There is a growing recognition that just focusing on a message of quality and US News rankings is not going to do the trick anymore,” stated Johnson. “Innovation needs to happen to adjust to the new expectations of consumers and patients.”
And what are those expectations? Patients want care that is convenient, accessible, personalized, and affordable – four characteristics that are not touted by many healthcare organizations today. Johnson believes it needs to be, not just because that is what patients expect, but because new entrants to the healthcare ecosystem are saying these exact things.
“Oak Street Health, CVS Health, Amazon, One Medical, and Walmart are all appealing to the consumer inside all of us,” continued Johnson. “Their go-to-market is all about how their doctors listen to patient, how easy it is to book an appointment, and how they are upfront about their costs. This is what modern patients want to hear. If traditional healthcare organizations don’t innovate their marketing messages and brand promise, then they are at risk of losing patients to retail health outlets.”
Who are the healthcare marketing innovators?
In addition to the retail health providers, Johnson sees several other companies as healthcare marketing innovators. One company that has caught his eye is Epic. Yes Epic.
“I really like what Epic Cheers is promising”, said Johnson “Epic Cheers is essentially the CRM platform that has grown out of their EHR. It combines all the power of Epic’s EHR with CRM-like functionality. Because it is all integrated, it is possible to combine marketing data – what I like to call inbound encounter data – like website visits, campaign responses, etc – with clinical encounter data.”
Although this may not sound earth-shattering, the ability to close this marketing loop between patient acquisition campaigns and actual clinical encounters/appointments held, has long been a challenge for healthcare marketers. The fact the Epic is bringing this all together is innovative according to Johnson.
“Another company that I consider an innovator is Care Sherpa run by Jessica Walker,” said Johnson. “The work she does to connect the dots between marketing campaigns and operations is impressive.”
Watch the interview with Jared Johson to learn:
- Other organizations that are healthcare marketing innovators
- Team structure innovation and new marketing roles
- The impact generative AI tools could have for healthcare marketers
The post Where is innovation happening for provider marketing? first appeared on Swaay.Health.