The No Normal Show by BPD

Resources   For-profit hospitals saw volumes rebound in Q2, but delta variant poses a threat    Kaufman report shows hospital volume recovery is shakey    Jefferies lowers medtech outlooks as hospitals project delta pressure into Q4    Alabama man dies after being turned away from 43 hospitals amid COVID-19 surge Takeaways   The last COVID-19 show   Even though we are still navigating COVID-19 and...

Takeaways Technological Innovation Meets Reality  Patient volume has increased exponentially since the 80s, making time the most significant commodity for health systems and physicians. With narrow margins, health systems cannot sacrifice patient volume and therefore must find ways to operate more efficiently. Technology is often developed independently from the clinical user experience, resulting...

One heck of a 20 months  UCHealth has always tried to show diligence in learning about patients and empathizing with their experiences, but COVID-19 accelerated that understanding as public health conversations became more frequent and urgent.  When COVID-19 struck in March 2020, they had to reset priorities overnight because people were now looking to health systems for information.   UCHealth’s...

Vaccine mandates in the news States like Illinois and California have started to require schools and health systems to adopt vaccine mandates. Pfizer received official FDA approval  this week for its COVID-19 vaccine, adding more credibility to vaccine mandates. Staffing, already a challenge faced by health systems, is becoming even more challenging with employee vaccine mandate resistance. Nebras...

Takeaways What is personalized marketing?  Personalized marketing often takes different definitions. To align expectations internally and with clients, Revive developed a formal definition. Revive definition: Personalized marketing is a data-driven strategy that delivers increasingly relevant value to consumers through tailored solutions, content, and experiences. It is enabled through continuous...

A quick COVID-19 pulse check Health systems are seeing an uptick in admissions — many of which can be attributed to the Delta variant, with higher concentration in the southern states. We live in a strange world where fact is not always fact, and perspectives on health reflect political orientation, not proper understanding. For example, Associated Press published an article that said  100 vaccina...

What is behavioral design, and why is it important for health brands? If you want to optimize your brand efforts, you need to understand what motivates people. Behavioral design is a science that examines what motivates people.  There's a tremendous opportunity to apply behavioral design in healthcare. If health system marketers can understand consumer motivations, they can deliver better patient...

A case for boldness  Health system marketing comes with many stakeholders, opinions, and expectations, making it challenging to deliver imaginative and bold campaigns.  Despite these challenges, marketers must continue to push on ideas that don't just "check the boxes" but truly influence behavior in a way that improves public health.  The campaign that pushed the envelope  During the pandemic, he...

Behavioral health needs are outpacing the healthcare industry's ability to deliver behavioral health services. COVID-19 spotlighted this trend, though it existed well before COVID-19. Now, groups outside and within the healthcare industry are coming to the table with solutions for addressing behavioral health needs. How different healthcare groups are addressing behavioral health needs  The govern...

Evaluating operational effectiveness Marketing teams are increasingly playing a more prominent role in the operational success of organizations – including health systems. It’s common to start operational improvement by refining your org chart, but this approach commonly fails to recognize how teams and individuals work together. What’s missing is the connective tissue. It’s really easy to say “le...

Takeaways The viewpoint of someone new to healthcare   Heather transitioned from her role as SVP of Global Brands at Hyatt Hotels Corp to Chief Marketing, Communications, and Experience officer at Henry Ford at the beginning of 2020.   While differences were apparent between industries – particularly regulation – she found that the value of experience is similar between healthcare and hospitality....

Resources  CEO of UPS in NY times  Lego makes strides in sustainability  Takeaways Two sides of the same coin: Purpose & brand experience  Health systems need to approach branding differently than they have in the past to compete with powerful consumer brands establishing footholds in healthcare. One of the ways systems can embark on a new path is by rethinking "purpose.' Most health systems and h...

Takeaways Throughout his career, Matt has taken on the mindset of a disruptor. He was an early adopter of the title, Chief Consumer Officer, technologies like chatbots, and star rating systems. Matt now works for Summit Health, the byproduct of a private equity-backed merger between CityMD and Summit Medical Group. Advantages of working in a non-hospital system  Because Summit Health operates larg...

Takeaways Using data to better understand our audiences  Last week we discussed the use of ethnographies to better understand our audiences by experiencing their lifestyles. In this episode, we expand on that topic sharing how data can supplement ethnographic research. When working with Community Health Innovations (CHI), we used data to scale the findings from our ethnographic research to encompa...

Takeaways What is ethnography, and why is it valuable?  Surveys and focus groups can result in a “contaminated” interpretation of the truth in which the context of the survey or focus group influences participants’ responses. One of the best ways to learn about your audiences is to observe their words, emotions, and actions in the context of their daily lives – this is called ethnography. Living a...

Setting the stage   Healthcare is way behind in the consumer space. Fortunately, we have other industries to learn from when merging online and in-person experiences. Chris DuFresne, Vice President of Experience and Marketing Operations, draws from his experience at e-commerce giants Target and Macy's for inspiration at Allina Health. Dufresne acknowledges that health systems aren't just businesse...

Takeaways Decoding alphabet soup  With so many applications, and numerous models to be built upon, it can be challenging to understand Artificial Intelligence (AI) and where it fits within the care delivery landscape. AI is a broad umbrella describing technology’s ability to execute human behavior. Machine learning is a type of AI in which technology that learns from data sets without the need for...

Who are you, what is your brand promise?  Mount Sinai Health System is different from many academic medical centers because the school was born out of the health system.   Their primary commitments – a defined brand, commitment to growth, organizational excellence – all roll up to facilitating a quality patient experience where the customer journey matches the expectations set by the brand promise...

Takeaways Canoe vs. speedboat  Transformation in healthcare before COVID-19 was like a canoe – slow and steady, but after we were operating like a speedboat, trying to merge our normal operations with a sudden influx of COVID-19 related demands. Banner Health had invested in the technology that prepared them for when those boats changed speed. These investments focus on reducing friction points fo...

Resources  Five long-term consumer behavior changes due to COVID-19 The Joe Public Retreat 2022  Takeaways  The "untouchables"  Making room for new, high-ROI initiatives could mean retiring old practices that no longer make sense in today's changed (and continually changing) world. We call these old practices the "untouchables" because they're often repeated on behalf of leadership without a clear...

Resources Trust Index Report Deadly Spin Uncovered Takeaways The lay of the land  Health plans historically integrated horizontally but now are integrating vertically, expanding their power within the healthcare industry. Growing payor reach and control creates a power imbalance that allows payors to force providers into minuscule reimbursement rates. This power imbalance works to the detriment of...

Think of your favorite book. Is it your favorite because the synopsis on the back cover was really good, or is it your favorite because of the storyline and the interplay of characters? We'll admit — we kind of set you up for that one, but hear us out: sometimes (not all the time) to get the full value of content, you just have to experience the entire thing. This is one of those times.  But, of c...

Resources United Airlines "Fly the friendly skies" campaign Delta Airlines personalization example Takeaways Why brands are like people  Brands are kind of like people – some you want to be around, some you don’t. Modern brands build positive connections with their audiences through thoughtful interactions.   Healthcare is inherently “human,” which gives healthcare brands an opportunity to build l...

Resources from today's episode Who is the COVID-19 vaccine for? Why you should be looking closely at Optum's acquisition of Change Healthcare Takeaways We've changed ... now what? COVID-19 spurred new trends in how health systems deliver care, including the pace of play, focus on alignment, consumer attunement, and inclusive branding. Healthcare marketers should continue these trends into the futu...

Resources in Today's Episode: Setting the stage for Rapid Renewal Consumer trends report Amazon expands Amazon Care Chicago Trump Tower vaccinated early – thanks to hospital COO who lives there DispatchHealth raises $135.8 million in series C Key Takeaways Introducing Rapid Renewal Rapid Renewal is a phase of the No Normal representing healthcare's recommitment to long-term transformation.  COVID-...