In any industry, when business models start to change or innovation comes into the market and disrupts the industry, not only does your product or service need to keep pace but your marketing does, too. In the past couple of years, the healthcare sector has seen a lot of change with the rise of more retail-oriented healthcare solutions like telehealth and online prescription services. If you are a health system or a provider practice, you’ve likely found yourself competing with these new healthcare delivery systems. Instead of ignoring the way these innovations are changing the market, we suggest looking to them for inspiration on ways you could make operational adjustments and market your services to stay competitive.
Why health systems should pay attention to disrupters
Online-only providers are disruptors in the traditional healthcare landscape and have their sights set on improving the experience for patients around common paint points. Looking to innovators can be a great place to get ideas for updating your own services and addressing patient concerns.
Here’s an example. In a digital world, it’s no longer enough to have the best website among hospitals when patients are interacting with websites from a wide variety of industries every day. You should aim to have a website that’s as easy to navigate as Amazon. Or if you’re working on your online bill pay, for example, it should be as intuitive to use as other bill pay platforms patients are used to using. So, you might look to Chase as an example of what other sectors are doing.
Look at companies offering telehealth only and see how their messaging and interfaces compare to your own. Is your practice as easy to initiate an appointment with? Do you let patients know what to expect? Then, once you know your service offering is ready to compete, it’s time to take a look at your messaging and marketing strategy.
3 marketing areas to assess
- Messaging. Your messaging must be clear and simple to understand. When patients are taking charge of their healthcare from home, you want the experience to be as seamless as possible for them. Keep messaging clear so they know exactly what services they will receive, how to access them and what to expect.
- Value propositions. Telehealth, especially virtual visits offered by a health system, offer patients a lot of benefits. Don’t assume that patients can see those benefits—tell them. In your ads and messaging, highlight the time-saving benefits of receiving care virtually from home. If it applies to you, highlight the benefits of the hybrid nature of care when you use telehealth services from a health system or provider group where patients could also get in-person care, if needed. Additionally, using virtual care from a health system keeps patients’ medical records all in one system for easy continuity of care.
- Advertising placement. Make sure you’re advertising your digital and telehealth services in digital spaces. Not only are those who are inclined to use digital healthcare probably spending a lot of free time online, the internet is also a go-to resource for health questions. Google has estimated that 7% of all searches are healthcare related. The internet is where patients go first to look for answers, so make sure your solutions are front and center where they have intent.
Just because you may be a traditional health system or provider practice, doesn’t mean you can’t compete with the disrupters. Look to them for inspiration, adjust your practices and don’t forget to update your marketing strategy to match. If you need help developing your value propositions or how and where to run more digital advertising, we can help! Reach out today to start a conversation.