All Entries in the "Crisis Communications" Category

Guest Post: Price—Do We and Should We Care?

I facilitated a table at the Forum in March on price transparency. You know publishing price, quoting price, competing on price—that stuff. Interestingly until later in the discussion there was no provider represented at the table. Then a few trickled in. A lively discussion ensued. Conclusion—no one gave a hoot for price transparency. It was not on the radar and not thought to be imminent on the radar either.

So fast forward to a newspaper article a few days after the conference where I read a hospital in Florida was giving away gas cards to any patient who could provide them with a copy of their bills showing what competitors charge. Its stated intention is to be able to compare rates across insurers and then aid comparison shopping by putting information on the Web. So altruistically sounds good but is this a sly marketing ploy to get ahead of its competitors and arm itself for insurer negotiations? Did I hear a yes? [more]

Crisis Communications, Social Media, and a Whole Lot of Heart

Healthcare marketers talk a lot about the importance of communications, employee satisfaction, and branding. But all the talk in the world can’t replace a real-life example of a hospital that gets it right.

In Fargo, SD, Innova Health got it right.

Innova, which was for days the only hospital fully open during the recent Red River floods, used their blog, Web site, and Twitter feed to communicate with the community and emergency workers.

In a letter posted on the blog, Innovis President Greg Glasner and CAO Kevin Pitzer pledge their continued support to the community during clean-up and rebuilding.

“The floodwaters are receding, though in many instances, the hardest work begins now–the clean-up, the re-building, the emotional wear and tear, and the repairing of families impacted by the flood,” they write.

They also recognize their employees for their work during the crisis. “The power of human spirit was clearly evident in the determination of the staff of Innovis Health not to give up, but rather ’step up’ at this time of crisis,” they wrote. “You did it through the offering of your time, energy, skills, talents and even personal resources. Your collective efforts resulted in a tremendous impact on our patients over the past week. Our communities and region know who they can count on to be there with them in any emergency.” [more]

Customer-Based Marketing Strategies: Positive Transparency

I decided to attend both sessions in the customer communications track at CBMS this afternoon, shifting gears from my new media-filled morning.

The first was called “Secrets of Transparency in the Information Age,” which featured speakers from Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Clinic Canada, and Vanderbilt Medical Center. Eileen Sheil from Cleveland Clinic shared an interesting anecdote about how the health system dealt with a PR crisis that began a few years ago.

In the midst of bad press regarding a conflict of interest situation Sheil and another Cleveland Clinic executive flew out to Manhattan to meet with a New York Times reporter who was writing a story about the situation. Sheil said she was shocked when she realized how little the reporter seemed to know about the health system’s business dealings and was worried the real story wouldn’t get out.

Later, after Cleveland Clinic made significant transparency measures online and in its hospitals, Sheil invited the reporter to visit the organization for several days. The article based on that visit, called “Doctors Show Their Hand,” ran on the front page of The Times business section in November 2008 and was very positive, Sheil said. In the following 12 days Cleveland Clinic was mentioned 1,200 times in the media.

Like Sheil said throughout the presentation, the plusses always outweigh the minuses.