What’s New, Next and Best in Health Care Strategy, Marketing and Communications: How to Build Marketshare©

Presented by Rhoda Weiss, PhD International Consultant, Speaker and Author

Becker’s Hospital Review 2011 Annual Conference RhodaWeissInc@aol.com / rweiss@memnet.org

RhodaWeissInc.com 310/393-5183 Journey through Change Begins with Marketing Marketing Goal: Increase the visibility, awareness, understanding, market share and profitability with practical, proven, progressive strategies and to keep patients, families and referrers satisfied and engaged, converting them into advocates and active participants toward better health. Redefining, Reinventing, Recognizing Marketing New age of marketing forces us to move away from the roulette table into a brave new world where reform reinvents communications, research brings clarity, consumers take charge and change is inevitable. The presentation includes thoughts, advances, innovations and best practices in the journey through change. Marketing Is… The sum total of impressions, experiences and relationships people have with your hospitals, physicians, programs, services and health care entities. Marketing Makes a Difference

• Builds reputation, awareness, spreads word-of-mouth • Gets into customers’ head to identify wants, needs • Generates pride, differentiates from competitors • IDs strengths, barriers, macro/micro opportunities • Defines brand proposition, bringing brand to life • Designs, improves experience for staff, customers • Targets, maintains trust, relationships with referrers • Connects employers, providers, insurers • Manages budgets with victimless scarcity mentality • Taps multiple media to maximize your messages

Marketing Elements for Success

• Research, analytics, data, planning, strategy, execution • Brand building, maintaining/expanding relationships • Connecting brand and reputation to drive results • Employee communications, conversations, promotion • Physician and office staff connections, influence • Board, volunteer and referrer relationships • Employer, health plan and payer partnerships • Customer, patient and community outreach • Micro-targeting: Generational, ethnic, cross-cultural • Bringing all sectors together for health care redesign

Rhoda Weiss Presentation/page 2© Cutting through the Clutter

• See/hear 50,000 words day, 60-70 catch our eye or ear, remember 6-7: avalanche of messages squeeze out effectiveness, recall

• Recognize/empower fan base—real-time dialogue • Stir emotions, create world for stories to live in • Experiences express brand—Amazon, Apple, Victoria Secret, Starbucks, Wii—Brands

hardwired in brains override objective choice, connect people to brands • Proselytizers chat up brands - Whole Foods, Prius • Experience matches promises, generates evangelism

Creating the Foundation for Success

Accountability team: Patients, Providers, Payers/Employers Facilitators, leaders and managers of population health Governance, leadership, people, culture, quality, value, outcomes, financial resilience,

market differentiation, growth, partnerships/alliances Rethinking Marketing Plans and Priorities

Focusing on image, relationships and targeted volume and customers Being realistic about challenges, barriers and competition Attracting more patients, physicians and referral sources Increasing knowledge, familiarity with brand Focusing on word-of-mouth through staff, patients and community Concentrating on research, evaluation, touchpoints

Strong Brand Identities Move Markets

Start with memorable, mighty name Engrave brand name on people’s and organization’s consciousness Strong brands are familiar, visible, valued, energetic, inspirational, successful, dynamic,

innovative Extend brand everywhere via multiple channels Don’t allow myths to come realities: Avoid me-tooism, logoitis, buying useless toys,

knee jerk competitive reaction, can’t succeed low budget Branding is what you represent, live up to at all touch points Turn the vision of visionaries into realities of realists

Case Study of Market Success of Clinical Service Total turnaround in census, reputation, profitability with marketing via excellent service, strong referrer relationships, innovative technology, brand promises kept Case Study of Market Success of Retail Health Service Adopting techniques from fast food, airlines, restaurants, groceries, pharmacies and guerrilla marketing tactics and techniques Case Study Promotion through Demonstrating Leadership, Benefits Rebuilding lives, positioning to demonstrate leadership in health, hope and health care

Rhoda Weiss Presentation/page 3© Segmenting Audiences for Micro-Marketing It’s about relationships, care, influence, innovation, conversations, communities Through these Doors Walk the World’s Greatest Staff

Build brand ambassadors: orient/reorient from day 1 Monthly CEO in-persons CEO: Transparency Engagement fueled by communications, strong sense of belonging— What makes them proud? Engaged, inspired employees perform better, miss less work, exceed, support,

flourish/resilient to change Ask for help, opinions and make employees part of the solution Tell how health reform impacts health care delivery and their jobs Keep them healthy

Physicians: Engage, Involve, Align

Engage as leaders in all aspects of reform Link strategically: employ, affiliate, partner Recruit, retain aggressively: Connect MDs, families Create dialogue, loyalty, marketing partners Assist to build, improve practice Orient/reorient, CME, committees, outreach Promote, speak, elevate, educate, lead, showcase Learn communications preferences, networking Shower doctors’ employees with love and service Generations differ: Boomers critical of young doctors- uncommitted to practice/patient;

Xers lament lack of work-life balance, poor communications of older MDs Appeal to younger with advanced IT, flexible schedule All ages refresher courses, more

training, mentoring Ensure marketing partnerships, advisory group: MDs, hospitals, payers, employers in

health care redesign Examples: Physician Society and Physician Academy Physician alignment Use of smart phones to connect with physicians, specialists, referrals

Health-Related Referral Sources

Aging: retirement communities, nursing homes Home care, hospice, adult day, senior centers Cancer centers, palliative care, surgery centers Paramedics, firefighters, EMTs, school clinics Police, sheriff, military, VA Retail health, urgent care Pharmacists, public health Nutritionists, dietitians Disease-related associations Clergy and staff

Rhoda Weiss Presentation/page 4© Creating High Performance Board of Leaders, Influencers: Brave New World of Trusteeship

Responsibilities, skills, needs changed significantly Create database of potentials Enhance orientation, meetings Improve diversity of age, ethnicity, thought Community’s eyes, ears Marketers, assign tasks, promotion, research Opinion leader briefings Executives on loan

New Flexible Volunteer Mindset: Opportunities to Engage Differently

• Brand ambassadors • Community outreach leaders • Callbacks, survey customers, conducting market research • Special project volunteers • Humor, entertainment, greeters • Internet, bloggers, peer-to-peer • Professional assignments and teachers

Employers: Partnerships Prevail

Orientation and identify needs One-to-ones Advisory boards large and small employers Business education, leadership roundtables Town-gown-ups, partnerships, sponsorships Open enrollment strategic priority Demonstrate impact of hospitals/providers in community—economic, jobs, taxes, fees Partner for reform, electronically monitor health

Health Plans

Know, partner with your peers at health plans Integrate marketing to prepare for health reform Go from “you’re not paying us enough” to “we better get along since we’re sharing risks

and rewards” Not just negotiate rates: partner optimal outcomes Co-sponsor screenings, healthy living programs

Patients as Partners Marketing

First impressions, shorten waits, over-communicate Educate on reform, advisory groups, visitor relations Library cards for newborns, graduation ceremony School orientation for teachers, counselors Room service on demand, first meal home Constant storytelling, screening into customer Manage health

Rhoda Weiss Presentation/page 5© Brand Builders Must Protect the Brand

Brand sets expectations for customer service Operations reinforce the relationship Brand is total of scores of small interactions with customers. Every time a customer

touches any part of your entity it’s a brand moment Stuck on hold, wait too long ER/call bell, staff not wash hands, can’t find parking=bad

brand moments Taking ‘Bout My Generation: Marketing and Workplace Opportunities

Greatest/Silent Generation (Direct Me) Baby Boomers (Engage Me) Generation X (Educate Me) Millennial (Connect Me) Example of generational targeted marketing Hospital and physician selection and willingness to switch doctors differs by generation

Diversity Initiatives

Many cultures with many differences Language, cultural barriers hurt care Many racial, ethnic health disparities Non-whites quality, access not better By 2042, minority becomes majority By 2023 ½ of children minority Non English-speaking delay treatment Language barrier 39% Latinos, 27% Asians, 23% African Americans not understand MD Illiteracy: no capacity to obtain, process, understand basic health info, service to make

health decisions Need cultural competency, patient centered care

Cross-Cultural, Diversity Communications

Hispanic/Latino African American Asian Native Alaskan/Pacific Islanders and other groups

Crisis Management and Crisis Communications

Be first, fast, factual, forthcoming, forgiveness (sorry) No-choice transparency (think Wiki Leaks) Preparedness planning/training, -re-emptive, crisis simulations Risk mitigation, management Reputation management Integrate social media into plan Monitor what’s been said online Thinking through vulnerabilities: stray sponges, wrong-site surgery, medical errors,

privacy breeches, network posts, religious issues

Rhoda Weiss Presentation/page 6© From Consumer of Information to Producer/Creator of Communications

Where common interests add to collective intelligence, self expression runs rampant, consumers express self without filters and messages remain forever

Yet how many places can your organization live? The exploding world of social media

Smart Phones, Mobile Health, mHealth

Mobile health care access, save lives, time, checks on patients Keep record, better diagnoses, treatments, access care, track diseases, conduct research Patient status, history, sharing among team, claims payments Wirelessly connect blood glucose monitors to cell phones Medical minutes, care reminders, patients keep notes, questions for physicians Link with physicians, referrers Disease management, track blood pressure, save on, take your medicine

Community Outreach: Do Good for Your Organization and Others

Support and get credit for supporting charities and community groups Expand philanthropic efforts: Most critical time for fund raising and friend-raising Show you’re green: Demonstrate your commitment to the environment (i.e., EMRs) Patients come first: Why we do what we do

Speaker Rhoda Weiss, PhD (RhodaWeissInc.com) During her career, Rhoda has traveled 6 million miles speaking and consulting to over 700 organizations in 49 states and globally. Founding national president of the 6,000-member American Hospital Association Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development and recipient of its first national Award for Individual Professional Excellence, and past national chair & CEO of the 32,000-member Public Relations Society of America and recipient of its Health Academy Lifetime Achievement Award and Educators Academy Ferguson Award, Rhoda is a long-time instructor at UCLA Extension, receiving its Distinguished Instructor Award. Past president of Women in Health Administration, receiving its Women of the Year honors, she’s author of the book, Managing Health Care Reform: Ideas for Leaders, and more than 300 articles, including the 17-year communications strategy columnist for Catholic Health Association Health Progress Magazine and columnist for Strategic Health Care Marketing. Kellogg Foundation Fellow, she’s editor and columnist for Marketing Health Services Magazine. She is frequently interviewed by national media, including appearances on CNN, CBS and Public Radio and appearing in Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Inc, Los Angeles Business Journal, Hospitals & Health Networks, Modern Healthcare, Provider, HealthLeaders, American Medical CFO Zone, Forbes.com, Communications Management, Doctors Office, Marketing News, Baltimore Sun and scores of other media on topics such as health reform, future of health care, marketing, strategy, crisis communications, public relations and leadership. Member of the Secretary and Chief of the U.S. Air Force National Civic Leaders group, she serves on U.S. Air Force Entertainment Industry Advisory Board and served on boards of Easter Seals, Donate America (organ/tissue donations), Juvenile Justice Connection Project, Global Alliance for Communications Management, Watts-Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club, St. Francis Hospice of Hawaii and other groups. She holds a PhD in Leadership and Change from Antioch University, MA in psychology and BA in communications from Michigan State University, where she received was class valedictorian and later received the Distinguished Alumni Award. She completed studies at University of California Berkeley Network for Healthcare Executives and University of Michigan Executive Leadership Institute. A frequent facilitator and speaker at board and management sessions, national and global conference and workshops and popular consultant in marketing, business development and communications, she’s leading American Marketing Association Health Care Marketing Training Series June 21-22 in Chicago and Nov 3-4 in New York. Preview podcast at http://cc.readytalk.com/play?id=7qk4z or marketingpower.com/healthcare.

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MHS Summer 2010

strategic insights

Landmark reform affects every part of our nation’s health delivery system—from patient quality, safety, prevention and effectiveness of treatment options to requirements for integrating technol-ogy and care, pay for performance and new payment models. Most important, it helps close the health coverage gap for millions of uninsured, getting us closer to ensuring health care for all and improving access to care. While those who live by the crystal ball shatter lots of glass, here are some predictions:

Closures continue. While higher numbers of insured patients reduce bad debt and charity care burdens, hospitals operating on the edge may join scores closed over the last decade. Inadequate reimbursement; lack of access to capital to support quality, facility upgrades and technology; and escalating costs of drugs, staffing and procedures are key culprits. Struggling facilities will height-en merger and acquisition activities.

Philanthropy fortifies. Enormous financial challenges make philanthropy critical for nonprofits. Even with less discretionary income, more donors are committing their support to ensure their communities can access quality care, new technologies and advanced services close to home.

Shortages stay. Economic forces stabilizing the workforce and reducing shortages will be short-lived. Providers, employers and health plans are partner-ing with schools, colleges and the government to ensure enough clinicians

to care for the newly insured who in the past turned to costly emergency rooms for basic health needs.

Partnerships prevail. Accountable care organizations will team medical groups, hospitals and insurance plans to promote accountability, joint decision-making and coordination of hospital and physician services for their patients. Those successful in reaching quality and cost benchmarks will be rewarded with a portion of the savings.

Competitors collaborate. “Us- versus-them” turns into “we.” Hospital and physician competitors will increasingly partner in joint ventures of expensive, sophisticated cancer, heart, genetic and other services that are singularly unaffordable to provide. High costs will force lawmakers to reconsider restrictions on competitor collaboration.

Wellness widens. Knowing good health is essential for a productive and vibrant America, entire communities will come together to encourage wellness in homes, schools, workplaces and their communities. We must also better manage chronic disease and spend limited resources on care, not bureaucratic red tape and paperwork.

Retail rises. As out-of-pocket payments and demand for quicker access to routine needs increase, more retail health clinics will attract those seeking affordable, immediate care for common conditions. While many of these clinics were initiated by entre-preneurs, more hospitals and health systems are partnering with retailers to expand their continuity of care offerings.

Electronic electrifies. Electronic medical records promise to lower cost, improve quality and bring an end to millions of manila folders holding zillions of pages of patient information and scribbled notes. The less than 10 percent of hospitals and small numbers of doctors with full systems will increase, thanks to massive federal

stimulus funds.Medical homes multiply. Medical

homes—where primary care doctors coordinate patient care with other providers—are already cutting costs without sacrificing quality. This model increases efficiency within a community-based system and offers uninterrupted care with payments to sustain optimal health outcomes.

Quality and safety surge. Employ-ers ask for it. Payers demand it. Rating agencies measure outcomes and share results. Consumers search online for best practices. And legislation and regulation make quality a necessity. Providers will increasingly be paid on performance, so it’s important to ensure that quality, safety and accountability measures are in place.

Social networks normalize. Employees are using smart phones to get around social network restrictions at work. With an explosion of social media, we’ll witness loosened restric-tions coupled with policies regarding usage as organizations better understand the value of social networking for targeting and marketing to stakeholders.

Most of us joined health care organizations to make a difference in the health and wellness of communities and greater society. Our common goal should be that, when people need quality care, they enter a caring, compassionate system that is efficient, affordable and accessible to all. MHS

About the AuthorRhoda Weiss, Ph.D., international health care consultant, speaker, au-thor and UCLA Extension instructor, is past national chair and CEO of the 32,000-member Public Relations Society for America and past president of the AHA’s Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development and Women in Health Administration. Reach her at rweiss@memnet.org.

The Forecast for Health CareBy Rhoda Weiss

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MHS Spring 2010

strategic insights

In the 30+ years since marketing first entered the healthcare services arena, we have witnessed a flurry of activities and scores of successes and struggles in defining, designing and delineating the strategies and outcomes of our efforts. In the late 1970s media moguls and advertising gurus saw marketing as a windfall. They weren’t wrong. Hospitals, physicians and other providers of health services had previ-ously spent scant dollars on advertising, primarily in newspapers, to promote events and in church newsletters and school sports programs to support local communities. Advertising offered an opportunity to gain additional exposure and show off capabilities, technologies and services. With a fire-ready-aim approach, millions upon millions of marketing dollars were budgeted for multiple media. The more the competi-tion spent on promotion, the larger the budget became for organizations down the road. Zillions of trees became mere stumps as countless print pieces were developed at a rapid pace—many sitting in forgotten boxes locked in storerooms discovered long after the facility’s name, logo and telephone area code had changed.

Measurement then consisted of little more than the number of ears and eyes viewing, listening to and reading

the marketing materials—with scant thought or attention to linking evidence-based market and patient growth to marketing activities.

Consumerism had arrived. Physician influence was discounted with the belief that patients were making all the decisions—not their doctor, not their health plan, not their employers.

Savvy marketing executives wised up in the late 1980s and 1990s, realizing that no matter how important consumers were in healthcare decision-making, doctors still held the pen (and eventually the PDA and computer strokes) when it came to referrals. While more sophisticated consumers began searching the Internet for information and asking lots of questions, when it came to deciding upon the provider for

care, in the majority of cases, patients still looked to the advice and counsel of their personal doctor.

The Focus ShiftsThus entered the decades of physi-cian relations with physician liaisons and sales staff hired at rapid pace to complement promotional efforts and concentrate on recruiting, retaining and increasing the referrals of doctors as well as other key decision makers—the employees who work in doctors’ offices.Interest in marketing to and through employers and health plans gained favor. Marketers quickly realized that the decisions employers made on which health plans to offer their workforce and the health plans’ decision on which physician groups and hospitals to include in their offerings could vastly influence consumer decision-

making and referrals. Open enrollment marketing became the norm. Market-ing partnerships with businesses and insurance providers blossomed. To further target and segment their multiple audience, healthcare organizations also embraced direct marketing activities, first via mail and then increasingly with every social media platform that emerged.

At the same time, members of the C-suite began questioning the efficacy of the multiple millions of marketing dollars in their budgets. The days of excessive spending without outcome data were increasingly replaced with demands for research that demonstrated the value of those expenditures.

Marketing broadened its definition from advertising and sales to the grand

total of impressions, experiences and relationships consumers have with our healthcare organizations. Business plans and pro formas began to outline those programs and services that contributed to the bottom line or created a halo effect for further referrals. Patient and customer satisfaction surveys became the norm, reappearing from the bottom desk drawer. Managers were held accountable for outcomes in their departments. Some organizations even based part of staff wage increases on results of satisfaction surveys. No matter how many ads touted the ER, nothing could replace sensitive service, reasonable waiting times and constant communications and follow-up with patients and their loved ones.

The final decades of the 1900s saw independent hospitals and physicians gobbled up in great numbers by

Change is the Only ConstantBy Rhoda Weiss

The days of excessive spending without outcome data were increasingly replaced with demands for research that demonstrated the value of those expenditures.

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health systems and medical groups. Consolidation became the buzz word. For many, there were no other choices. Access to capital became more limited, government and private sectors contin-ued to rein in costs, and reimbursement refused to keep pace with rising prices. The power of many was viewed as key to successful and fruitful financial negotiations, especially with vendors like pharmaceutical and medical device companies as well as health plans and other key referrers and influencers. Health system marketing teams were created, generating continual clashes with their local entities over who controls the budget and messages as well as the efficacy of local versus system marketing activities.

Relationship marketing became the rage with marketing professionals and entire management teams reaching out and touching, listening and re-sponding to key stakeholders. From physicians, health plans and employers to schools, community groups, clergy, paramedics and elected officials, market-ing professionals returned to their roots in understanding the importance of face-to-face and real-time communications.

The end of the 20th century also brought a flurry of name changes as hospitals, physician groups, long-term care programs and health systems sought monikers that would broaden their reach, increase their visibility and better describe their current and future services. Several additional zillions were spent on implementing the name changes and the creation and execution of new logos and icons.

The Internet age that began in ernest two decades ago brought Web sites and intranets, first as static locations and gradually adding interactivity, videos and other elements to attract, retain and segment customers. The last few years have seen an onslaught of blogs and social media like Facebook, LinkedIn,

YouTube, mobile and Second Life-like sites with growing acceptance as marketing venues.

To help healthcare marketing professionals understand the latest trends, learn from leading experts and stay abreast of best practices in health-care strategy, research, marketing and communications techniques and tactics, Marketing Health Services magazine was launched in 1980. We will continue to offer exciting and thought-provoking columns, research and opinion pieces that help increase your organization’s visibility, awareness, understanding, market share and profitability.

Our outstanding new editorial board—comprised of some of the best-known health systems and top names in marketing and communica-tions—will act as a sounding board for ideas, help us identify authors and contribute articles. In addition to this

quarterly magazine that appears in print and on the American Marketing Association Web site, we plan to explore opportunities to increase our presence with blogs, white papers, podcasts and other forms of communications to ensure timely conversations—and invite your participation in doing so. This Spring 2010 issue presents a sampling of what you can expect in the future. MHS

About the AuthorRhoda Weiss, Ph.D., is an international healthcare consultant, speaker, author and UCLA Extension instructor. Past national chair and CEO of the 32,000-member Public Relations Society for America and past president of the American Hospital Association Society of Healthcare Strategy & Market Development and Women in Health Administration, she may be reached at rweiss@memnet.org.

Welcome RhodaThe American Marketing Association, with this issue, officially welcomes Rhoda Weiss as the editor-in-chief of Marketing Health Services. Rhoda is a long-time MHS columnist, so you’re likely already familiar with her byline here.

And if you’ve been in healthcare marketing for even a nanosecond, you’re likely also familiar with Rhoda for her many outstanding achievements as a healthcare executive, consultant and speaker, and her extensive professional volunteer work, in healthcare marketing and public relations.

She’s been awarded a lifetime achievement award by both the American Hospital Association Society for Healthcare Strategy and Marketing Development and the Public Relations Society of America Health Academy. Her contacts throughout the C-suite and in healthcare marketing are beyond extensive and she’s already tapping into that vast network to bring you a dynamic, exciting and highly readable MHS.

Our next issue will spotlight the new editorial board Rhoda has assembled but, in the meantime, you’ll find several already writing in this issue, helping to make MHS a magazine that will aid you as you strive to become a better healthcare marketing professional.

We invite you to send your thoughts and suggestions on what you would like to see in future issues of MHS to either Rhoda, rweiss@memnet.org, or me, jfrank@ama.org.

John N. Frank, Editorial Director, MHS

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health care marketing is in the midst of a dramatic reinvention.uncertainties of reform, a re-newed focus on outcomes and

an explosion of social media are among the factors forcing us to reevaluate the skills and capabilities critical for market-ing success. as executives demand bigger returns on marketing investments, we are more closely aligning our efforts with strategic objectives, customer experiences and the integration of communications across multiple platforms. here are some avenues to capitalize on as we journey through change:

Revere reform. no matter how much politi-cians and pundits protest reform legislation, there’s no returning to business as usual. so much of what reform embraces—providing health care for more people, dismissing discrimination based on prior conditions few can control, forcing former adversaries like hospitals and health plans into partnerships that work toward achieving accountable care and involving consumers more directly in all aspects of care—are noble causes on the road to better health for all ameri-cans. While the bill is complicated and ripe for criticism, it presents marketing professionals with unprecedented op-portunities for leadership in improving how care is delivered. With accountable care organizations (acOs), pay-for-performance, shared financial risk and expanded consumer choice, how we structure marketing strategies and com-municate with stakeholders is rapidly changing. We have a responsibility to position our organizations as leaders by

promoting reform and aligning ourselves with the issues people can agree upon.

Appreciate analytics. the gold mine of data, analytical tools and rigorous research moves us from gut instincts to solid information, getting us closer to our customers and their wants and needs. Daring dashboards, compelling statistics and quantifiable research help improve decision-making, offer valuable customer and competitive insight, enhance ef-ficiency and increase understanding of market dynamics. But decisions based

solely on statistics, ignoring psycho-social, spiritual, economic and family-related elements of caring and caregiving, are meaningless numbers. if algorithms are not your thing, update your analyti-cal knowledge with “Mar-keting Metrics” by paul Farris or “Web analytics” by avinash Kaushik.

Pursue partnerships. real relationships move us from monologues to dialogues. they transform patients from passive observers of their care to

equal members of their health care team. partnerships transition the “us” and “them” of physician-provider relations into how “we” collaborate in “our” quest for continuing excellence. collaboration breaks down walls of contempt among insurers, providers and physicians into a new attitude of, ‘We better get along be-cause we’re sharing financial risks and re-wards and our viability depends upon our ability to truly collaborate.’ partnerships lack power unless relationships are based on trust, shared values and compassion. start by facilitating a physician/adminis-trative/marketing council on reform that crosses all health sectors

Maximize multiple media. social media redefines how we communicate. it also presents enormous challenges and makes compliance officers cringe. privacy concerns blur personal and professional boundaries of shared content, leaving us open to criticism forever present on search engines. how do we optimize the proliferation of online and mobile tools and convince executives of their neces-sity? technology may be disruptive, but it allows us to quickly deliver and receive messages, captivate customers and im-prove wellness of multiple population segments by delivering messages through vehicles they embrace. Mobile applica-tions, online videos, social networking, websites and widgets—when combined with traditional media and in-person interactions—offer marketing power. Develop a social media plan that reaches customers in new ways. remember, social media is best when it creates connections and communities otherwise unavailable. reform is making us think outside our own settings. With acOs, we share in the health of our communities. as reform evolves, we’ll be serving markets we’ve not addressed before. Do we really un-derstand concerns of the newly insured? shouldn’t we be forming community groups to learn how to best reach them? soon it will be 2014—when integration becomes law—so let’s start thinking about reinventing marketing now. MHS

✒rhoDa WeiSS, Ph.D. (rweiss@memnet.org), speaker, consultant and columnist, is past president of aHa Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development, receiving its inaugural award for Individual Professional Excellence, and chair and CEO of the 32,000-member Public Relations Society of america, receiving the Health academy’s Lifetime achievement award. a kellogg Foundation Fellow, she was named UCLa Extension Distinguished Instructor and she is the author of “Managing Health Care Reform: Ideas for Leaders.”

seize the Daylandmark legislation opens up a world of opportunities for marketing professionals

By Rhoda Weiss, Ph.D.

strategic insights

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MHS Fall 2010

strategic insights

As health care CEOs face never-ending economic, regulatory and operational pressures, they are looking at theirmarketing leaders as equal partners intackling critical issues and leading theorganization toward a secure future. Theold stereotypes of marketing personnelas creators and placers of advertising,brochures, blogs and websites arequickly being discarded. In their placeare peer relationships where CEOs understand and appreciate the critical role marketing executives can play in all aspects of organizational success.

The marketing leader’s role as the only member of the executive man-agement team that researches, targets and reaches all internal and external stakeholders presents unique opportuni-ties to showcase, strengthen and expand our reach.

That opportunity was made clear early in my career. On day one of my first position, the health system CEO asked me to describe my work. “I’m a public relations and communications professional,” was my reply. “No,” he said, “you’re a health executive special-izing in public relations.” That attitude and belief continues to carry me through roles as an executive in marketing, pub-lic relations, business development and corporate management.

Marketing and public relations lead-ership is essential if health care entities are to survive and thrive in this difficult environment of reform and change. Our leadership ensures that organizations exceed objectives through proven, pro-gressive and planned strategies. We are challenged to seek meaningful dialogue among audiences with less time to focus on messages. We also are challenged as speed to market increases, need to build brand reputation quickens, reach of communications accelerates, infor-mation outlets proliferate and public craving for authenticity prevails. In the face of this, marketing and public rela-tions leaders offer the research necessary to maximize messages on numerous platforms to impact attitudes, behaviors and decision-making.

We are advocates for our organiza-tions and serve as the corporate con-science. We’re tapped for our leadership, strategic thinking and problem-solving capabilities. We’re on the front lines in crisis communications. We’re formulat-ing strategies and management policies for organizations. We’re an integral part of the business development team. We’re essential in building, understanding and maintaining strong stakeholder relation-ships through solid research, planning and communications leadership.

Our ability to plan and communicate strategically places upon us a fundamen-tal sense of responsibility for bettering our communities and the world. We have the opportunity to engage, interact and help lead every aspect of an organi-zation.

Keeping in mind how critical mar-keters are to a company’s success, here’s some advice learned along my own executive journey:

Never forget why we serve. Beyond the concrete and steel framework of the health care organization is the fragile, human thread of life connected to us

through not only medical and physi-cal needs, but psychological, social, financial and practical needs as well. View patients not as people with cancer-ous tumors, damaged hearts or broken bones, but instead as people attached to life through families, attitudes, work and emotions.

Build confidence and trust. Clear, consistent, transparent communications and uncompromising integrity concern-ing all stakeholders are critical to leader-ship. As leaders, we must embody our organizations’ mission, vision, values and beliefs. Trust and mutually benefi-cial relationships are crucial to success and change. A leader is responsible for listening to constituents and shaping the future in the best interest of all those served. This is best accomplished through inspiring words and deeds.

Maintain mentoring throughout all career stages. People often think of mentoring in terms of students and new professionals. Mentoring is analogous to lifelong learning. Access mentors through your organization, professional associations and business groups, and by volunteering in the community and with associations. Encourage, mentor and tap diverse populations for key posi-tions and board slots. Implore others to identify nontraditional leaders, thereby helping them reach their aspirations and become models for others.

Find resources to address unmet needs. In spite of financial challenges permeating the health care industry, communities still have many unmet needs. Identify business, community and other partners that can identify and fill those needs. Health care organiza-tions cannot be successful without the knowledge, community support and advocacy necessary to provide the best possible care for our patients.

Persist in meeting goals and objec-tives. Demonstrate a dogged persistence

New Landscape Requires Expanded Marketing LeadershipBy Rhoda Weiss

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in reaching strategic aims. Stand as a model of the passion and enthusiasm needed to help an organization achieve its goals; at the same time, insist on high-quality clinical care, no matter what competitors might be doing.

Never stop networking. Your orga-nizational and personal life is enriched and knowledge expanded from talk-ing to strangers, boldly approaching newcomers, and leaving the comfort of your associates and friends. We can learn something from everyone we

meet, and doing so makes one a better leader and, of course, a better person. My late mother reminded me that you never know who you’ll meet sitting on an airplane, lifting weights in the gym or standing in line at the grocery store. Mom was right. I’ve learned some great life lessons and management theories just by speaking to strangers.

Balance inspiration and per-spiration. While productivity affects profitability, an inspiring leader moti-vates others to move beyond their job descriptions and listens intently to all viewpoints. Understand the importance of energizing others, of making lifelong leadership learning a goal for everyone in the organization, and of recognizing and rewarding employees, physicians and volunteers on a day-to-day basis, rather than once a year.

Make people feel welcome. Create a sense of belonging among all members of your health care team—employees, physicians, volunteers, vendors and board members. A physician once told me that the main reason doctors leave a

hospital to practice elsewhere is because they didn’t feel welcome at the hospital. Every new member of your health care team should receive a personal call or note welcoming them to the organiza-tion. Executives should attend every orientation, no matter how brief the appearance. They should encourage managers to place new team members on committees, task forces and other groups, thereby affording newcomers an opportunity to share their knowledge, expertise and gifts. Managers and execu-

tives should leave their desks frequently to meet and greet team members on all shifts; they should make a point of eating meals in the cafeteria and sitting with people they don’t know.

Sweat the small stuff. Most leader-ship books try to discourage executives from worrying too much about details. In health care, however, it’s inattention to those details that can cause mistakes and make the difference between success and failure. While leaders tout benefits of failure, my father—the king of com-mon sense—worries about repercussions if doctors, for example, were taught that it’s OK to make mistakes. Your parents, like mine, are much smarter than leadership gurus.

Keep learning. Invest in lifelong learning for yourself and your employ-ees. Establish professional development programs for all staff members, regard-less of their position in the organization. This might include GED completion, in-house education for all shifts, use of information technology or funding participation at seminars and advanced

degrees. And don’t forget to implement a healthy lifestyle program for your own staff.

Follow dreams, yet be practical. Learn to turn the vision of visionaries into the realities of the realists. Although all of us in health care dream of a better future for those we serve, our dreams must be balanced with what is possible and sustainable.

Don’t fear change or showing passion for what you do. Great leaders lead “from the heart,” rallying their fol-lowers to move toward a better future. Dynamic environments, like those involving contemporary health care, call for leaders with passion and charisma that excite and engage all members of the organization toward a brighter future. Don’t allow squeaky wheels to squelch good decisions. Encourage experimentation and innovation.

Concerning leadership, one of my favorite quotes is from Horace Mann (1796-1859), Antioch University’s first president and the great American advo-cate of public education. When Antioch College opened in 1836, in his inaugural address, Mann told his audience to “be afraid to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”

What have you done lately for the humanity of your organization, your community and society at large? MHS

About the AuthorRhoda Weiss, Ph.D., international health care consultant, speaker, author and UCLA

Extension instructor, is past national chair and CEO of the 32,000-member Public Relations Society for America and past president of the AHA’s Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development and Women in Health Administration. Reach her at rweiss@memnet.org.

The old stereotypes of marketing personnel as creators and placers of advertising, brochures, blogs and

websites are quickly being discarded.

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