With increased consumerism in healthcare, these new participants are changing how healthcare organizations market themselves
The healthcare industry is witnessing a continued push towards consumerism. Stakeholders are turning to retail, tech and other sectors for innovation to help solve familiar healthcare problems. Enter commercial healthcare providers (CHPs). They can be defined as retail, payor, senior and tech-based providers changing the landscape of consumer healthcare as people seek convenience and quality in their healthcare experience.
In recent years, retailers have delivered products in a more convenient way, changing consumer behavior. An omnichannel approach has blurred the lines. Consumers can easily research a product and maybe even test it before purchasing it. As this approach has become more comfortable for consumers, they are pursuing it in other areas like healthcare.
Some familiar names in retail like Walmart, Walgreens, CVS and Amazon can be considered retail-based commercial healthcare providers today. Those and other retail-based commercial healthcare providers are acquiring and investing in tech-based startups and senior-focused providers in response to the shift in dynamics – both consumer-centric preferences and an aging population.
Payors like UnitedHealth Group and its Optum division are considered payor-based commercial healthcare providers. They are also investing in tech-based startups and senior-focused providers. Redefining the space is a change to fee-for-value reimbursement models, physician shortages, consumerism and digital disruption.
But how are commercial healthcare providers successfully marketing themselves and their services to the changing landscape? And what can other healthcare stakeholders learn from their entries into the marketplace?
Organizations must constantly expand their footprint in today’s healthcare environment. But there are plenty of barriers to growth like increased consumer expectations of healthcare, greater patient exposure to price, and expanding choices for healthcare consumers. Consumer interest must be stimulated to remain competitive in this healthcare marketplace.
Optum says that to drive sustainable growth, healthcare leaders need to better understand the consumers and patients they currently serve. Every healthcare leader should ask these four data-centric marketing questions:
- What customers do we need to reach in order to be successful?
- What do we know about our current customers?
- How do we ensure our current customers continue to choose us?
- How do we attract more of the right customers?
There is more consumer data, patient data and real-time marketing data to generate strategic and actionable insights than ever before. Healthcare organizations must act more like consumer-driven brands in today’s consumer-centric marketplace. Deploying precision marketing makes marketing more effective and more cost-efficient.
Optum helped AdventHealth develop a six-month marketing campaign that led 134,000 patients to the Central Florida health system, instead of its competitor. They discussed it during a healthcare marketing webinar.
They supervised a precision marketing campaign designed to speak directly to the people likely to use their services. But AdventHealth needed digital tools and help from marketing partners to achieve their results. Optum mined digital data to prioritize 850,000 people, dividing them into 11 specific cohorts. Some included young singles without a primary care physician, married couples with kids, very sick people with more than two or three diseases requiring complex care, and people of all ages suffering from unexplained stomach and abdominal pains.
Unique messaging was designed for each group, considering clinical needs, gender, language and culture. People received the messaging through their preferred media channels at the times they were likely to see it.
It led 134,000 patients to AdventHealth rather than the competitor’s emergency departments and the investment yielded a $474 return for every marketing dollar spent, according to AdventHealth.
A focused approach to marketing by reaching out directly to likely customers and engaging them through personalized messaging can provide better results with less wasted effort.
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