Author: Brian Lee

How to Market a New Solution to an Old Problem

Posted on by Brian Lee

INTRODUCTION

mouse trapDisruption, according to Wikipedia, is innovation that creates a new market and value network that eventually disrupts an existing market and displaces established market-leading firms and products. It seems these days that tech startups, especially in healthcare IT, have to be the next Uber or AirBNB of their world to experience success, when in fact, they don’t.

In the slow-moving industry of healthcare, often times building a builder mousetrap–in other words, developing a new solution to an old problem–is the key to seeing your product or service get adopted. Let’s take a look at how you can market them.

HOW TO POSITION YOUR SOLUTION

One of your primary objectives should be to identify healthcare systems that have purchased a product or service to satisfy their problem, but that product or service has been insufficient. These prospective customers are likely to re-enter the marketplace for a new product or service since their problem remains unsolved.

When contacting these healthcare systems, use a “beacon” approach to describe your product or service. This means you compare your product or service to a competitor’s, but then explain why yours is better. For example, “We’re like (a competing product) but easier to integrate into your EHR and maintain.” This approach gives your prospective customers a frame of reference (beacon) along with the value proposition.

Also, don’t feel like you have to undercut your competitors. A Forbes magazine article cited a study that consumers will spend more when switching to a new solution that solves their (healthcare) problems.

REACH THE DECISION-MAKERS

It comes down to two general marketing principles: you need to build brand awareness, and you need to stay top of mind. To accomplish these tasks, you will need a sustained effort of PR, marketing and/or advertising. This means don’t just pitch one publication or run online ads for two weeks.

Why? In marketing, there’s the “Rule of Seven,” which says that someone needs to see your marketing message at least seven times before they take action. Even then, the hospital CIO, for example, may not be in the buying mode or cycle. So you have to maintain your brand’s presence in front of them so when they are ready to buy, you’re the first company they think of.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Revelation PR, Advertising & Social Media offers healthcare IT companies and startups services related to media relations, email marketing, investor relations, tradeshow marketing, content marketing and social media management. Please contact Brian Lee, brian [at] experiencerevelation.com or 608-622-7767.

How Hospitals Can Create a Customer Service Culture

Posted on by Brian Lee

INTRODUCTION

patient-pickup-signThese days, hospitals have strong incentives to improve the patient experience. One reason is that the CMS reduces Medicare payments for poor-performing hospitals. Another is that the CMS publicly releases the results of patients’ perspectives of their hospital experience in its Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey.

Need another reason? Accenture reported that hospitals with “superior” patient experiences achieved 50 percent higher net margins.

Your hospital would be best served creating a culture where customer service is every employee’s focus; otherwise, customer service traits will never be consistently or universally performed. Here are some tips.

USE DATA TO IMPROVE YOUR SERVICE

Working on improving your hospital’s patient experience is actually a form of reputation management, and one objective of reputation management is preventing a reputation crisis, such as bad ratings. One way to work on reputation management is by figuring out what areas or services to shore up.

You already have your patient satisfaction scores to use as baseline numbers. Use the data that you have to guide your direction. For example, the Cleveland Clinic discovered that low rankings in the ED were because of communication issues, not wait times.

KEEP HOSPITAL STAFF MOTIVATED AND ENGAGED

The onboarding process for new employees is an important time in which customer service must be explained. But once training is over, managers, department heads and team leaders need to keep their staff members accountable. They can drive employee engagement by aligning activities with the hospital’s larger strategic plan and organization-wide goals, according to Gallup.

Your communications department should help the hospital president or CEO to promulgate his/her strategic plan and goals and provide regular (e.g. quarterly) status or progress reports. It is hoped that accountability and seeing improvement will keep staff motivated and engaged in providing outstanding customer service.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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