LaughlinOutLoud

The Customer Is Always Right When They Live In A Consumer-Defined World (via #SHSMD)

Posted Sep. 17, 2010 by Casey Flanagan

Filed under: Healthcare, How To, Ideas

That was the premise of a presentation we gave along with one of our clients – Delnor – earlier this week at the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) conference. The presentation was titled, “Does Hospital-Defined Quality Matter In A Consumer-Defined World?”

Hospital-defined quality is becoming more important in the world of healthcare. An article from the Chicago Tribune two Sundays ago reports, “The trend toward quality measurements and standards has been in the works for several years, but implementation of the new health law is adding to the urgency.” It would be easy – as a healthcare marketer – to read that, call a meeting and immediately begin promoting your quality scores.

But doing so may be ignoring 80%-95% of the population.

We just closed the first of our nationwide Pulse surveys, tracking consumer perceptions in the world of healthcare. A few of our findings worth noting:

• Only 19% of participants reported being aware of clinical quality and / or patient satisfaction ratings being available online.

• Only 8% reported ever looking into quality or patient satisfaction ratings and seeing specific scores.

• Only 4% reported ever having their opinion of a hospital be changed by a quality or patient satisfaction rating.

So this potentially seismic – and “urgent” – shift in the world of healthcare marketing is news to most consumers. Which means healthcare marketers better translate their message accordingly. Especially in this new Age Of Engagement.

It’s an easy trap for marketers to fall into. And applies to situations beyond Hospitals and Quality. Our advice in this age of two-way dialogue applies across categories, too. It’s a simple, yet often overlooked approach.

1. Understand how the consumer defines the equity you care about – in this case, quality. (“So, you define quality as patient-centered care?”)
2. Find a common ground. (“Patient-centered care is one of our most important outcomes of better quality scores.”)
3. Use that as a starting point for a conversation. (“Let us tell you how we get to patient-centered care by way of measuring – and improving measured – quality. This is something we have – and you should – take very seriously. Let us explain why…”)