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Healthcare industry must come to value a consumer driven approach

global healthcare industry

The healthcare industry has been witnessing the emergence of new players who are more focused on consumer experience. Rather than owning the consumer, these players have handed over control to the latter with several consumer driven strategies that can literally reinvent the marketplace. As such, here are some challenges one would need to face as well as some effective strategies health care professionals can follow in order to adopt a consumer driven approach in the services they offer.

Healthcare trends forecasting consumer driven approaches

Here are some trends that indicate the start of an era dedicated to consumer driven healthcare.

  1. The establishment of new legislations that provide healthcare consumers with more transparent options
  2. The rise of new policies in private healthcare companies that promote cost of care transparency
  3. Rise of mobile cost of care tools that help provide more transparent options for the customer
  4. Increase in the number of hospitals that are intent on promoting themselves to consumer minded patients.

Challenges related to consumer driven strategies in the healthcare industry

These are some of the challenges one would need to face when opting to adopt consumer driven strategies for healthcare services.

  • Data Collection

Consumer driven strategies require consumer data to work on. The data needed for this approach is usually stored across different paper files and computer systems across several hospitals and insurance companies. Gaining access to this data itself is a Herculean task given the fragmented nature of the latter.

  • Data Privacy

A consumer driven strategy can only bear fruit if there is enough data on the consumer to work on. This data can be clinical or insurance data revealing details about the customer’s health and medical history, or nonclinical data pertaining to his/her shopping habits, zip codes and call preferences. However, this can create conflict with several privacy related concerns.

  • Bad Natured Purchase

A healthcare customer usually buys healthcare with a grudge rather than a smile. Given the dark, foreboding way in data is presented; many consumers are not too happy about buying healthcare services, let alone surfing for the best options when given the opportunity to do so.

Effective strategies to be followed when adopting consumer driven approaches to healthcare services

Here are some effective strategies health care professionals will need to follow when adopting a consumer driven approach to healthcare marketing.

  • Keep the employees updated

Consumers only pay attention to the information that is relevant to them. Your concern needs to tailor its messages to mirror their needs. This lies in the hands of your employees who need to update their knowledge and skill sets as per the current healthcare trends and services. You can conduct focus groups to find out exactly how much they know about consumer driven health plans. Aim to encourage them to take ownership of their healthcare and the services they offer customers, ensuring you reward this move with lucrative employment benefits packages.

  • Educate with simple language

Not all employees will understand the complex terms and concepts related to the health care reform as well as the insurance benefits. Use simple language to educate them about these policies in an easier manner. Stick with short, straight to the point explanations instead of lengthy conversations that will simply deviate their concentration from the current topic.

  • Work in tandem with healthcare benefits partners

Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel and following your own standards on consumer driven strategies, consider getting advice from a subject matter expert. Work along   with the expert to plan out your consumer driven health plan, including the necessary materials for the same as well as the guidelines to deliver this content across the organization in the most effective manner.

  • Offer easy access to educational materials

Ensure that you provide easy access to educational materials that your employees can look up whenever they have a doubt regarding a particular healthcare or insurance policy. Take the effort to make these materials available 24/7 in different formats, including paper based, intranet based, web based, webinars, live seminars, telephonic and one or one training.

The new healthcare trends are focusing more on consumer driven approaches to healthcare marketing. Healthcare professionals who are intent on adopting these trends will need to adopt the respective strategies to offer consumer driven healthcare services.]]>

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