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June 17, 2009
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Published in Advance for Health Information Executives
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Visions@Work Highlights Hospital Marketing
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As competition in the health care industry continues to heat up, hospitals are reconsidering
how to best market themselves to the community. Reputation and relationships are
the cornerstones of every hospital's ability to maintain a solid revenue stream
and ensure sustainability.
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While direct-to-consumer initiatives have merit, the vast majority of patients select
a hospital for outpatient procedures or inpatient care based upon a recommendation
or referral from their physicians. Since physicians play such a critical role in
driving a hospital's core business, and consequently its bottom line, new marketing
efforts should focus on cultivating relationships with strategic partners to strengthen
the referral base and bridge current gaps in continuity of care.
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Building loyalty
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Undeniably, quality of care and consumer satisfaction play a role in patient loyalty.
However, it is the loyalty of local physicians and physician practices that will
most heavily impact patient traffic. Marketing efforts to establish branding, publicize
improvements or network in the community should enhance a hospital's image; however,
they won't directly contribute to the financial health of a hospital in the significant
way that physician referrals do.
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Historically, establishing physician relationships and tracking referrals has been
less than an exact science. It is often the role of a single staff member to foster
relationships and gather available data regarding which physicians are sending the
most patients, for which procedures, and so forth.
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In the absence of a formal system, the result is typically far from a complete,
detailed picture that can be used for business-development purposes. Furthermore,
if the relationship manager should leave the organization for a competitor, the
relationships and analysis are often lost as well.
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The outdated, casual approach to physician relationship management needs a thorough
overhaul in order to effectively support a hospital's bottom line. The organizations
that lead the way in robust physician relationship initiatives will reap the rewards
of being regarded as forward-thinking leaders in the competitive marketplace.
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What is the answer for a successful physician relationship program? An interactive
system such as Preferr is designed to enable hospitals and physicians to collaborate
via Web-based e-referral system and provide users with a wealth of reporting capabilities.
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Implementing new technology
Traditional, paper-based approaches to managing relationships with referring physicians
have proven less than effective and are sorely lacking in efficiency. The commonly
used paper-based system hinders a hospital's ability to mine valuable data that
will help the organization better manage operations and enhance relationships with
strategic partners.
The more information that a hospital can gather about physician referrals, the better
armed they are to assess and overcome challenges and barriers. In addition, having
such information enables them to tailor outreach efforts that specifically address
physician needs, interests and objectives.
A comprehensive e-referral system provides a hospital with an affordable, user-friendly
tool that can be implemented quickly to optimize physician relationship management.
A system with a depth of data collection and analysis unlocks information upon which
hospitals can act to strengthen communication and loyalty with community physicians.
Referrals can be tracked by physician, procedure, day of the week, patient demographics
and more. Hospitals can use their referral records to project future revenue, capitalize
on existing relationships and determine topics of interest for physicians and community
outreach programs. The referral platform itself can be leveraged as a marketing
tool by utilizing the online medium to post content that supports the hospital's
mission, image, media content and latest news announcements, reaching out to a broader
audience.
Implementing a new technology system in a health care environment is typically associated
with a significant amount of cost, time and education. All e-referral applications
are not the same, but they are typically affordable, easy to launch and simple to
use.
Pricing structure and maintenance plans also vary, but the primary objective in
assessing different vendors and their product is the depth to which a hospital can
ease the burden on physicians in the referral process, collect and analyze the referral
data, and then utilize that data for strategic interaction with physicians.
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Protecting the future
One of the hurdles in purchasing new software is the additional burden that it creates
for the IT department. In the case of Preferr, there is minimal need for IT to be
involved from delivery to launch and maintenance. The biggest challenge that hospitals
should be aware of is that physicians and physician practices in the community need
to adopt the system as well, in order for it to succeed as a means of two-way communication.
The goal of an effective e-referral application is to be mutually beneficial for
both hospitals and referring physicians while bringing them together and improving
continuity of care. Thus, the more widely it is used, the more effective it will
be for both parties -- with patients ultimately benefitting from the collaboration.
Health care providers face a challenging and uncertain future, as the troubled state
of the economy has forced budget cuts, job elimination and a cautious approach to
non-essential expenditures. The problem, as hospital directors and executives are
aware, is that a sit-and-wait approach will enable the innovators to garner the
critical business mass, and the "waiters" will ultimately become obsolete.
Progressive hospitals that truly recognize local physicians as strategic partners,
and enhance the ways that they can do business together, will be taking an enormous
step in protecting their financial health and ensuring their stability in the future.
Implementing a strategic and targeted marketing plan that leverages an innovative
system for physician relationship management could very well be a life-saving investment
for the hospital.
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Pranam Ben is the Chief Executive Officer and Diana Croft is President, Services
for Visions@Work, a provider of physician relationship management and electronic
referral services.
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