Hospital Marketing Journal

Physician Marketing – A Balanced Approach

Part 3 of 3

by Scott Mosley, Vice President of Strategy

In blog posts the past two months, I outlined the first two of five strategic focuses as the foundation for effective physician marketing. Administrative Leadership Engagement Outreach Program/Coordinators      Education/Medical Orientation      Print/Electronic Communications  Data on Utilization/Referral Patterns      I’ll address the final three of these in this follow-up post. Strategic Focus #3 Education/Medical Orientation Providing Valuable Insight It is apparent that physicians and practice administrators are looking to their hospital partners for support in staying current on healthcare issues.  They value well-designed educational pieces and are seeking credible information which can benefit their practice and bring value to their patients. They are looking to hospitals for proactivity in pushing information out to them in a concise, focused manner, respecting the volume of information they face on a daily basis.  Physicians assess the value of information on its usefulness in helping them care for their patients or develop their practice.  Practice administrators value information which informs them of relevant changes within the health system, helps them steer and coordinate referrals and deal with key issues related to the efficient operation of the practice. Physicians and practice administrators see value in hospital-sponsored educational sessions as long as their content is substantive, timely and of direct relevance to their practice’s administration or quality of patient care.  There is diminishing interest in socially-oriented gatherings, particularly on the part of younger professionals facing the pressures of building practices. Strategic Focus #4 Print/Electronic Communications Providing Access to Credible Information Hospital marketers are often surprised by limited familiarity with the print and electronic publications over which they labor so diligently.  Physicians do not invest time in sifting through hospital publications to see if there may be something of value for them.  Most of their communication is done from a smart phone or other hand-held device which usually makes it difficult to view attachments. Practice administrators are more open to receiving periodic publications but also urge their hospital partners to keep it short and simple, providing a contact resource should additional information be needed.  Providing access to medical news (i.e. that provided through MGMA and specialty organizations) is usually viewed as a valuable gesture.  We find that ListServs for local practice administrators are generally welcomed and can establish an electronic “community” of hospital-affiliated practice administrators. An e-newsletter obviously provides the hospital with a link to their physician practices, but making the content relevant and easy to consume, with links to more detailed information, is of paramount importance.  Practice administrators often suggest archiving high-value digital information in an accessible location to access as needed. Healthcare organizations are also finding value in the use of social media platforms for the distribution of information to engaged medical partners.  This type of digital platform has been used to support communication between hospitals and patients, but is now being used as a way of engaging members of the medical community. Healthcare organizations are also investing in the development of web portals specifically designed to place information literally at the fingertips of their provider partners, addressing the challenge of leveraging the considerable investments already made in health information technology solutions to accommodate more fluid communication. Strategic Focus #5 Data on Utilization/Referral Patterns Identifying and Targeting Opportunity Credible data is the foundation on which any solid marketing program is built.  The specific data to be collected should be determined by the need for the following perspective. Current Medical Staff Profile – A careful inventory of physician resources across the scope of the health system helps identify and prioritize opportunities associated with shifting dynamics/alignments within the medical community, the entrance and exit of physicians practicing within the market, gaps in service offerings and clinical competencies and practice growth opportunities. Current Utilization Trends – A routine examination of utilization trends is an important element of the physician marketing information platform.  The goal is to proactively assess, in as current a context as possible (not retrospectively), emerging trends in utilization patterns so as to pose informed questions about prospective issues at a point where they can be proactively addressed. Opportunity Assessment – With this base of information at hand, the challenge becomes identification and prioritization of opportunities to either enhance business relationships and utilization patterns or head-off a negative trend with proactive administrative outreach.  In highly-effective organizations, this process is hardwired into the administrative routine, as a vital element of the organization’s marketing program. Medical Staff Perceptions – Remaining attentive to shifting perspectives of physicians and other members of the medical community provides a valuable leading barometer, useful in defining current priorities and forecasting future engagement opportunities.  The development of engaged relationships requires continuous awareness of prevailing sentiments on key issues and a periodic, more formal assessment of trends in awareness, attitudes and preferences.

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Physician Marketing – A Question of Balance

Part 2 of 3

by Scott Mosley, Vice President of Strategy

In a blog post last month, I outlined five strategic focuses as the foundation for effective physician marketing.  I’ll address the first two of these in this follow-up post and the last three in a subsequent post. Ten Adams’ experience leads us to focus on five vital areas as we work with clients on physician engagement and marketing. Administrative Leadership Engagement (Leveraging Openness and Operational Authority) Outreach Program/Coordinators (Extending Balanced, Personalized Sales/Service) Education/Medical Orientation (Providing Valuable Insights) Print/Electronic Communications (Providing Access to Credible Information) Data on Utilization/Referral Patterns (Identifying and Targeting Opportunity) As healthcare industry leaders, we need to find ways to create balanced relationships that work, engaging physicians as vital partners in successfully negotiating a dramatic shift in how healthcare is delivered. Strategic Focus #1 Administrative Leadership Engagement Leveraging Openness and Operational Authority Effective physician marketing starts with the attitude and positioning of the organization’s administrative leadership and management groups.  The posture of the management group typically reflects perspectives at the executive level of the organization, serving to amplify executive leadership's point-of-view on building quality working relationships with physicians. It is important to understand that physician engagement is a key responsibility shared by each of the organization’s top administrative leaders.  The impact of a solid, well-focused outreach program is enhanced immensely when the efforts of outreach coordinators (physician liaisons) are coupled with those at the executive level of the organization. The most important engagement is on the part of senior executives with direct administrative responsibility for key service lines.  Physicians and other medical practitioners understand and respect the influence that these senior leaders have over operations and the ability to directly respond to a physician’s operational issues and concerns. Strategic Focus #2 Outreach Program/Coordinators Extending Balanced, Personalized Sales/Service The outreach coordinator (physician liaison) sits at the intersection of hospital goals and physician/practice needs.  They are charged with "balancing" attention to the hospital's interests and needs/priorities of physicians, working to optimize utilization and referral patterns.  This role is absolutely vital today but will be even more so as healthcare reform elevates the importance of hospital/physician integration under accountable payment systems. The most effective outreach programs are designed to meet the needs of the organizations they serve.  These needs range from a strong focus on organizational growth (sales orientation) to a strong focus on resolving service issues (service orientation).  Most organizations’ outreach efforts reflect a balanced emphasis of sales and service with the majority leaning toward service.  This reflects the general evolution of healthcare as organizations across the country move toward fuller hospital-physician integration.  This sharpens the focus on collaborative efforts to improve clinical efficiency and service delivery. Experienced healthcare leaders point to three factors determining the effectiveness of outreach efforts, each worthy of attention. Driving Outreach with Individual Physician Data – selecting physician outreach targets using individual physician data analysis to maximize the impact and return on investment in the outreach program. Aligning the Focus of the Outreach Program with Hospital Strategy – alignment of the outreach programs principal focus and goals with organizational strategy to ensure the proper objectives drive the work of outreach consultants. Personalizing Outreach to Physicians – gaining the support and involvement of engaged physicians in performing outreach activities, taking advantage of existing relationships to enhance the overall effectiveness of the outreach program.

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Physician Marketing – A Question of Balance

by Scott Mosley, Vice President of Strategy

Over the course of my career, few things have consistently presented more significant challenges than development of physician relationships.  Search the published literature and you’ll find very little of a comprehensive roadmap for building physician referral volume.  There is really no set formula to guide a process which is, by necessity, tailored to individual physicians guided by their particular practice dynamics. Dr. Stephen C. Beason, author of Engaging Physicians: A Manual to Physician Partnership, points out that “physician support of a particular health system is based on factors that many healthcare leaders don’t recognize, leaving well-intentioned leaders to wonder in frustration why physicians maintain a distance in their hospital relationship.”  I’d suggest this common dilemma is rooted in failure to understand the nature of the hospital-physician value proposition. The Value Proposition In the end, physicians do for a healthcare organization what the organization has done for them.  They will partner with healthcare leaders when trust and confidence are earned, clinical efficiency is consistently demonstrated and they are provided meaningful input in guiding the priorities of the organization.  They must have faith in a true “balance” between the needs of the hospital and needs of the physician in setting the organization’s agenda.  This faith in a “balanced” approach to guiding the hospital’s development is the essence of effective physician marketing. Physicians and health system leaders want the same things.  They depend on each other to achieve their respective goals.  Good outcomes are assured in the presence of trust and collaboration – the foundation for an engaged relationship.  This is the primary source of mutual value to the healthcare organization and its medical partners; an engaged, mutually-beneficial working relationship.  It’s hard to achieve and even harder to maintain. Communications Synergy The importance of synergy across the full scope of communications can’t be overstated.  The organization's messages targeting physicians and consumers must reinforce each other.  The goal is a sense of confidence, shared by the medical community and the patients they treat at or refer to your organization. Achieving this shared sense of confidence is a function of three things.  First, the way that people who provide service and support to physicians and patients conduct themselves.  Hiring the right people, training them well and providing them with the right incentives are all of vital importance.  Secondly, being crystal clear in how the organization frames its messaging and the image it promotes.  Finally, views on the quality of the organization’s clinical products and processes are a vital factor in building confidence with physicians as well as the general public. Strategic Framework Ten Adams believes that there are five strategic focuses at the core of effective physician marketing. Administrative Leadership Engagement Outreach Program/Coordinators Education/Medical Orientation Print/Electronic Communications Data on Utilization/Referral Patterns I’ll address each of these focuses in subsequent blog posts, but let me offer a closing thought for this post: The era of integration has arrived.  It’s time to re-evaluate all our customer relationships – and include the physician in this process.  Physicians are a healthcare organization’s best customers, affording the greatest marketing opportunity, when we create relationships that work.  We are destined to negotiate a dramatic shift in how healthcare is delivered, together.