Healthcare Reform and the Marketer

When President Obama was first elected, I was invited by the transition team to attend a roundtable discussion on the problems and opportunities facing healthcare in America. Over the past year, I’ve studied the healthcare reform debate. It’s not a glamorous topic, but it is a critical one – not just for our profession, but for our country. I don’t believe that most members of Congress truly know what’s in the final bill and what consequences – intended or unintended – await Americans as a result of the legislation. (In fact, Congress had to amend the law after it was passed when someone realized that they had written themselves out from ever receiving health insurance again once the law went into effect.)

There are many things about the law that I don’t think are good policy. While I like the idea of all citizens having access to affordable healthcare, forcing insurance companies to accept all patients will only result in higher premiums for everyone. I also don’t like the idea of being forced to purchase health insurance. Yes, the uninsured cost all of us money. But, requiring citizens to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. Finally, the legislation costs too much. (The Congressional Budget Office now estimates the final cost to be over the one trillion dollar mark.)

Despite the cons in the legislation facing patients, payors and providers, there are many positives for health systems. And, while most of the legislation will take effect within several years, there are at least three great opportunities for health systems and their marketing departments to take advantage of now.

1. Hospitals will begin emphasizing keeping patients well. New reimbursement incentives will translate into wellness models for healthcare delivery. Marketers will be tasked with pro-actively educating their communities on nutrition, fitness, and preventative check-ups. We’re already seeing this with many academics and systems located in inner cities. There’s plenty of information out there, but few trusted sources. From a competitive opportunity, hospitals can “own” the recognition as the destination for health and wellness, period. (Not just cardiac or cancer care anymore.)

2. Traditional PSA/SSA markets will dissolve into larger regional and national territories. Lowe’s signed a contract with the Cleveland Clinic to allow their employees across the country to get heart care in Cleveland. Lowe’s wins because of competitive payment schedules and high quality care available to their employees. The Cleveland Clinic now has the potential to treat hundreds of thousands of new patients. Companies are bargaining directly with providers to care for their employees by offering high quality, lower cost care in exchange for guaranteed revenue. One of our clients in Florida is now attracting patients across the country with this new kind of relationship. As competition heats up, hospitals will think outside the traditional PSA/SSA. Competition = a win-win for everyone.

3. More and more physicians will choose employed status at health systems. With the new payment plans and government paperwork, physicians are surrendering their stand-alone practices and seeking employed models. This is good news to marketers, because it allows for (at times!) easier marketing opportunities when physicians are on the same payroll. But, it does give marketers a new skill set to master — helping physicians to attract new patients while maneuvering STARK and political challenges.

I’ve said before that as marketers, we’re in the Golden Age of healthcare. Never before has our product been as coveted and passionately discussed before by our audiences. We used to fight for attention. Now we have as much spotlight on our services as we could ever hope. The question now is whether or not we’ll take advantage of it.