I recently read a fascinating article in the Wall StreetJournal on the changing model of hospitals and the new ways in which they are
beginning to deliver care. As the author, Laura Landro, explains “the sprawling
institutions we know are radically changing—becoming smaller, more digital, or
disappearing completely. The result should be cheaper and better care.”
As more of my work pushes me into the consumer-focused
health care space, I find myself deeply intrigued by Landro’s vision of the
future. She defines a new health care landscape where providers are shifting
their focus away from their monolithic inpatient facilities. Instead, they’re
placing their energy and resources in serving their patients out in the
community where they live—moving from an internal service model to an external
one. To do this, providers must expand their service lines to offer more
outpatient treatment and convenient care options at strategic locations across
the regions they serve. In addition, they’re increasing their investment in
technology and turning to telehealth (delivery of health care remotely via the
internet) to serve more patients in real time.
As the leader of the second largest hospital in Florida, I
know the critical importance of a high quality, accessible and traditional
health care setting. But I also believe
that health care providers and facilitators will quickly need to adapt to a
changing environment that is highly influenced by consumer behavior. Our
ability to be nimble and operate in this new space will be critical to our
success and survival.
As Landro acknowledges, many of the changes in care delivery
are being driven by economics, but they’re also significantly informed by
desires of the patient, or as I now refer to them, the health care consumer. In
today’s world, consumerism drives our business - and price, quality and
convenience are more important than ever. Increased access to technology, the
availability of medical information online, and the rise in smartphones, apps
and wearable fitness and health devices, are other factors driving
consumer-focused health care.
While many of us understand this in theory, how do we begin
to think about putting it into practice?
Like everything we do, careful planning and strategy design
are critical to success. When developing your consumerism health care plan,
consider the following key questions:
- How will you gather and analyze meaningful patient data? Developing insights into patients’ behavior and expectations is vital.
- Have you begun to segment your customer base based on age, risk factors, lifestyle and activity level?
- Which service lines are in the greatest demand within your consumer population and community? Does offering or enhancing these services makes sense to your bottom line and to the consumers you serve?
- Do the spaces for care and treatment center around patients (both their experience and efficiency)?
- Have you considered the ways in which you can holistically integrate all patient management—appointment, tests, etc.?
- Do you have a plan to invest in technology? Technology is a key driver in consumerism. More importantly, patient-facing technology is critical in order to drive digital natives to engage with your health care organization.
There’s no secret sauce in designing and implementing
consumer facing health care but there are two key elements to start with.
First, you need to work to have the sufficient services available and second,
you need to know your customers. This means spending a significant amount of
your time developing a deep understanding of your customer base—who they are,
what they want and need and what messages resonates with them. At the end of
the day, health care is no different than any other business marketing to a
defined customer demographic and/or consumer base.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
In my next post I will offer some tips to help make
consumerism a reality in your organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment