A hospital admission as a defect in the process of care

A short while ago, I had a conversation with a colleague who relayed his conversation with a hospital executive around business development, innovation and growth. Hence the comment "We are in survival mode here."

My colleague also brought up the point to this same executive that somewhere, a group of entrepreneurs was looking at the process of care and have come to the conclusion that a hospital admission is a defect in the process of care.

Now that one stopped me dead in my tracks. Think about it.

The hospital admission as a defect in the process of providing care.

An attitude, much often too common in hospital executive leadership that we are just trying to survive. This is sad really, when innovation, growth opportunities and new business development initiatives are being left on the table because hospital executives can't get out of the "we're just trying to survive" mentality. Yep, leave it to the Walgreens, CVS/Caremark and Walmarts of the world to figure it out. Hint, they already have.

If your just trying to survive today without looking for market opportunity and finding ways to be more consumer-focused, innovative and non-traditional in providing care, then you are not going to survive.

The hospital is no longer and really for a very long time now, has not been the center of the healthcare universe.

Hospital executives can't seem to get out of the 70s and 80s mentality of build another patient bed tower. That will fix the problem. Instead, their response if they were providing any leadership at all, would be to the physicians, senior team and Board of Directors, let's find new and innovative, non-traditional ways to deliver care.

Infusion centers, retail clinics, pharmaceutical advances, free-standing surgery centers and diagnostic clinics, remote monitoring, home health care, sub-acute services, discharge management to prevent readmissions, medical device technological advances and many other services when taken together, have the potential to so significantly change the way that healthcare is delivered, it will make the hospital admission of today, a defect in the process of care tomorrow.

Does that mean hospitals will go away? No, there are limits to this concept of the hospital as a defect in the process of care such as surgical procedures that can only be performed in a hospital, and emergencies requiring an ER will always be needed. But the rest of it, maybe not.

Unless hospital executives and their marketing and planning departments start seeing the forest from the trees, just trying to survive is leading them away from innovation, opportunity and growth at a time when others, with non-traditional entrepreneurial backgrounds, will relegate the hospital to a place in the care continuum where an admission is a defect in the process of care.

So, are you still just trying to survive?

You can reach me at 815-293-1471.

Strategy vs Tactical Marketing

Stewart vs. Cramer

First this message. If you did not see the Jon Stewart's interview of Mad Money Jim Cramer from CNBC on Comedy Central Daily Show, you really need to see what everyone is talking about. I actually felt sorry for Cramer, but hey, CNBC needs to get its act together and figure out what their responsibility is in financial reporting. Yea for the little guy! Thanks Jon.

http://blog.indecisionforever.com/2009/03/13/jon-stewart-and-jim-cramer-the-extended-daily-show-interview/

Now back to the regularly scheduled program........

Hospital Advertising, my favorite subject

Seeing an increase in hospital advertising. Once again, it’s not clear what people are attempting to accomplish. That's because the strategic essence of marketing is missing.

Look, anybody can create an ad.

Anybody can hear the CEO, run out, spend some money and throw it up against the wall to see what sticks. How is your advertising supporting the business objectives? What is your brand message? Is a billboard on a busy expressway where people zip along at 65 miles an hour really that memorable? How about a call to action? What does your brand stand for and how is that supported by advertising? Do you even know what your brand is?

Please stop insulting consumers with promises of "World Class Healthcare". Unless you are Mayo, The Cleveland Clinic, John Hopkins etc, you don't have a world class healthcare offering.

Maybe you have missed the headlines and stories, but the US has the most expensive healthcare in the world, with some pretty dismal outcomes. There is nothing about a community hospital that is world-class. Unless you have people coming from around the world for care; not a believable message for me. And that goes for a lot of consumers too.

Really now. No awards like The Top 100 Hospitals, US News and World Reports ranking, Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award or even a JD Powers Patient Satisfaction award, how can you say with a straight face that your healthcare is world-class?

With that kind of marketing coming from agencies and marketing departments, this is what makes it so difficult to get people to understand the true nature of marketing. It is all about the marketing strategy. And there is a great gaping hole lacking some serious marketing strategy.

Figure out the right strategy first, then the rest comes easy.

Have you looked at your CGM lately?

CGM, sounds like a disease. Well, it can be. It can be unknown. It can be helpful. It can be harmful. It can be your best friend or your worse enemy. Do you even know what it is?

Is your marketing department aware of CGM? Can they even tell you what this means?

Simply put if you do not know what CGM means you and your hospital, physician practices, or any healthcare setting is at risk.

CGM means Consumer Generated Media. It means that in the age of the Internet, disgruntled patients, unhappy employees, media, anybody- can write about their experiences, post photos, interview and show to the world how good or bad you are.

Anyone with a computer and Internet connection can create CGM. Won't matter if what is written is true or false. The world does not care. But those who read it will believe it.

Scroll through this blog and you will find plenty of examples of CGM: Silver Cross Hospital; Agfa Healthcare; Adventist; State of Illinois; etc.

Look at: Comcastmustdie.com; Ihatedell.net; Technorati.com; Youtube.com; MrConsumer.com, all examples of CGM. And it could be you tomorrow.

If you don’t know what your consumers are saying about you, or what your competition is saying for that matter, you are losing control of your brand.

You operate in a virtual marketplace.
Consumers know more than about you than you realize.

You lose in a CGM fast-break. Disgruntled patient or discharged employee creates Consumer Generated Media. CGM is picked up by media- print and electronic. You won’t even know what hit you. You lose control of your brand and message.

Welcome to the age where customers are the new paparazzi.