MARKETING HEALTHCARE
Healthcare
Communication
Through The Lens Of
Covid-19
By Tom Simba
The Coronavirus pandemic has
tested the preparedness of many
organisations, the healthcare
industry included. Just like in a major
exam, it is important to take stock of what
has worked and what needs improvement.
What are the players, hospitals and
insurance providers, doing or need to do
to maintain and improve the confidence
of their patients, visitors and other
stakeholders? Who has done well, who
is failing and who are the late bloomers?
Which leadership team has showed a
high level of emotional intelligence?
Marketing in hospitals must be customer
centric now more than ever before.
The scenes that have played out on
our television screens since the first
Covid-19 case was confirmed in the
country, have been encouraging. Daily
updates backed by facts on how to tackle
the pandemic among other information
flow is important because it gives hope
and reassurance that indeed the country
can manage the pandemic. Probably
a more overt approach by different
health institution taking a common and
coordinated approach on how we are
tackling the common enemy would have
been more effective
An economic downturn leads to automatic
cost cutting measures. For hospitals,
such measures would include deferring
non-core activities such as marketing.
However, this in my view would be a
misinformed approach.
The patient must be informed of the
services available, how to go about
procuring them and be assured it is in
a safe environment. A patient centric
healthcare facility must open and
maintain all channels of communication
with its stakeholders, patients, employees,
and insurance companies, especially at
this time.
Cutting the marketing budget without a
clear thought-process will lead to eroding
patient confidence as well as brand equity.
What are the players, hospitals and insurance
providers, doing or need to do
to maintain and improve the confidence
of their patients, visitors and other
stakeholders? Who has done well, who
is failing and who are the late bloomers?
Which leadership team has showed
a high level of emotional intelligence?
Channelling the marketing budget to an
educational drive would be more value
adding and a win- win tactic. This is the
time to be innovative and creative, with
the highest office taking a deliberate
leadership stance.
The quarantine and lockdown measures
present huge opportunities for the
healthcare industry in online services.
Many leading health institutions had
known for years the digital revolution
was on the horizon but did not make
digitization a priority or give it the focus
it deserved. Covid-19 is the unavoidable
catalyst.
Many of the potential patients are at
home and one of their main windows
to the outside world is the internet.
Focus on social media as the primary
communication platform. The institution
should immediately audit its website to
optimize its functions. Where is your
company on search engine optimization?
Have you created engaging content
and are you continuously updating it to
sustain relevance? Do you have resources
responding to queries, directing and
informing visitors to your page and
analysing the top content? Are you mining
and analysing the data collected to create
content that is relevant to your audience?
Are you using the data to upsell effectively
(within the confines of privacy laws)? For
example, if the customer was looking for
a maternity package, after securing the
package, well-baby clinics, vaccinations
and nanny training can pop-up. This
way you position yourself to meet the
customer’s immediate needs and anticipate
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MAL37/20 ISSUE