What’s next, Walmart Medical Center?
In another shift in provider dynamics, Walgreen plans to announce a new healthcare offering operated within corporate and government employers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Building on the mini-clinic concept, Walgreen’s “Take Care” health clinics will combine pharmacies, in-store clinics and company health centers, according to the article. Read More
Help us select topic for next Interval paper
Each year, Interval publishes one or two in-depth papers on healthcare marketing or branding. Papers have covered trends, marketing strategies and more. Our last paper, Brand Hope, discusses ways hospitals and health systems can build brands, no matter the current environment in which they find themselves.
As we ponder our next paper, we thought it might be a good idea to ask our audience for input. What would you like the next paper to cover? Here is a list of ideas we had – let us know if there are any you like. Or let us know if you have alternative suggestions. Just leave your feedback in the comment box below.
Thanks – we look forward to hearing from you!
Possible paper themes:
- How should hospital marketers deal with the impact of consumer-driven health dynamics?
- Why should hospitals and health systems take strategic risks with their marketing?
- What role can social media play in hospital marketing?
- Should hospital advertising be outlawed?
- How should hospitals compete against niche provider models?
- How do you demonstrate the value of marketing/branding to hospital leadership?
Another influencer impacts the market
An article in the Star Tribune titled “Can free advice on care lower health costs?” introduces us to another entity guiding patient choice – OptumHealth. According to the article, the company serves 40 million health plan members, helping guide members to the best choice when it comes to significant health care decisions. Read More
Healthcare is hurtin'
As we posted on our Twitter feed a few weeks ago, despite some national stories touting healthcare as one of the few industries negatively affected by the economy, hospitals and health systems are are getting hit hard. Old school thinking says provider healthcare is fairly unconnected to the overall health of the economy. “No matter the stock market, people still get sick,” was the old saying. And perhaps up until a few years ago, this was for the most part true. Read More
What are your partners saying about you?
In the healthcare world partnerships are commonplace. Private groups working within large systems. Large systems working together on out-patient facilities. Etc. Etc. If your organization has such relationships, do you know what your partners are saying about you (for better or for worse)?
A situation I experienced — albeit not healthcare related — recently left me thinking about this.
(Imagine flashback sound effects) Read More
Another healthcare shopping effort
While out exploring the land of Twitter, I stumbled across a new effort to deliver online healthcare shopping to consumers. HealthShoppr looks to still be in start-up mode, but we can add it to the list of efforts to empower healthcare consumers with more ways to choose their care. In this market we’ve already seen Carol.com and Med Care Compare, both of which are much further along, as well as CreateHealth, an initiative started by Robert Stevens, CEO of Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia, that is still in development stage. (And of course, there’s the business plan my MBA team put together for a company called Third Opinion, that is in the “collecting dust on the shelf” stage). It will be fun to see how these efforts fare in the coming year.
On a side note, the CEO of HealthShoppr, Vijay Goel, M.D., has what looks like a great blog, Consumer-focused Health Care. Check it out…
The waiting game.
A recent article on CNN.com takes a fascinating look at the decades-old science of “queuing psychology,” or what happens to people when they are forced to wait in line. Could hospitals and clinics learn a thing or two from this curious study? Let us count the ways. Read More
The world is indeed flat…
When I have spoken at healthcare conferences around the Midwest over the past few years, I’ve stressed the changing competitive landscape faced by hospitals and other traditional providers of healthcare. When I bring up the threat of overseas surgery and medical tourism, most dismiss the threat, even when I point out that some payers on the West Coast have begun building medical tourism into their insurance plans.
Now, in another great article by Chen May Yee of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune, we learn that the nation’s second largest insurer, Wellpoint, based in Indiana, will begin providing the option of overseas non-emergent surgical treatment to some covered groups. The article notes that to encourage participation, the insurer will waive the copayment and deductible for any covered employee who’s willing to go, as well as pay for all medical expenses, and travel expenses for the patient and a companion.
Why offer the deal? Because according to a Wellpoint spokesperson, the cost for knee replacement surgery in the United States runs between $60,000 and $70,000, while the same procedure costs $8,000 to $10,000 in India. While the service is a pilot program for Wellpoint, and most other large insurers here in Minnesota are still studying the concept, there can no longer be any doubt that medical tourism can have an impact even here in the heartland. Consider this quote from a spokesperson at a company that will be offering the option to its employees:
“This is a challenge to the U.S. medical system to say, ‘What’s wrong with this picture, guys?’”
Traditional providers debate the wisdom and merits of medical tourism, but their arguments sound eerily similar to those used to disparage mini-clinics. “It’s a fad.” “It’s not true medicine.” “The quality is poor.” “It goes against the merits of integrated care.” In the end, however, these are innovations that increase the choices patients have, and in many ways, improve upon the care and service they receive through traditional models. You can criticize these new models all you want, but in a competitive market, better competition will win out. How will traditional providers respond?
Carol.com suffers setback
One of our favorite healthcare innovations has taken a hit. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported today that the online healthcare shopping site will lay off 25% of its workforce, or about 25 people. Read More
Weak times = brand opportunities
After 51 pages of doom and gloom on the current economic crisis, the latest issue of BusinessWeek (September 29, 2008) gives us its “Best Global Brands” article. After covering what is perhaps the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, what is the article’s advice for building a top brand? Keep spending:
“Every time a recession threatens, executives glare at the balance sheet and wonder aloud about one particular expense: brand building…Then there are the other guys – companies that refuse to let tough times distract them from their long-term brand-building efforts. Sometimes they see a recession as the perfect moment to get a leg up on a weakened rival…Some of the most successful brand campaigns of the past six decades began during economically challenged years.” Read More