For instance, the Greatest Generation wants direction, so it’s important to assist them in finding their way – through the system and through the facility. Baby Boomers desire engagement, so bring them into decision-making and the care process.  Self-sufficiency is important to the Gen X group, so give them tools and education that will enable them to help fix problems.  And, work on achieving a comfort level with online tools so that you can make the kinds of social connections that are important to Millenials. As Howe notes, if you don’t create the right experience based on what the different groups value, you won’t get them as customers.

For more on marketing to different generational audiences, check out Matching the Market: Using Generational Segments to Attract and Retain Consumers, a new Research Brief from Thomson Reuters.  Drawing on consumer and customer segment research, the report examines significant findings about how the four adult generations use healthcare, and highlights contrasting differences among the segments.

• 10 ways to cement marketing’s role in your organization AND protect your budget in the process
• healthcare’s unique opportunities in a down economy
• how to apply lessons in branding, communications, and media strategy gleaned from previous recessions
• how America’s top researchers, scholars, and institutions are saying firms should approach marketing today

First, the healthcare marketer is a Clue Manager.  The service experience is influenced by numerous clues … including technical quality of care, the look of the facility, noise levels, and how the patient is treated by the many people they interact with.  No one in the organization should be more conscious of the need to orchestrate these clues to paint a positive picture than the marketing director, says Berry.  The marketer should take a leadership role in helping the organization close the gap between what the patient and his or her family want to feel and the actual experience.

Second, the healthcare marketer is the Internal Brander.  It is the marketer’s role to sell the brand promise to employees.  That involves educating staff throughout the organization about the desired brand experience along with celebrating brand-strengthening behaviors.

Third, the healthcare marketer is a Quality Service Champion.  As Berry and Seltman point out, the healthcare marketer cannot be successful in his or her job if the service and the experience are poor.  The marketer must champion excellent service because the service IS the marketing–it is the quality of the service delivered, of the patient experience and all that goes into it, that will deliver the positive word of mouth that is so essential to marketing healthcare.

We hope you’ll visit this blog and share your comments on the sessions you attend while at CBM.  It’s a great way to stimulate discussion, and to keep colleagues who aren’t in attendance posted.

And, remember, if you couldn’t make this year’s CBM conference, you can order the CD-ROM.  Use the Registration Form, or call 312-440-9080, x23, to order.

See you in Las Vegas!

And, don’t forget that you can still benefit from the valuable information shared by your peers at the Fourteenth National Forum on Customer Based Marketing Strategies by ordering the conference CD-ROM. The CD-ROM includes audio plus handouts from the keynote and concurrent sessions. Use the Registration Form, or call 312-440-9080, x23, to order. (Cost is $110 for CBM attendees and $440 for non-attendees.)

If you’ve spent any time listening to NPR (National Public Radio) lately, then you’ve probably heard the recent underwriting messages from Angie’s List touting the web site’s wide range of professional reviews from contractors to healthcare providers. It’s just one more example of how popular healthcare ratings have become and how quickly the industry is changing.

Two other recent events include the introduction of Nursing Home Compare, a new five-star rating system for nursing homes by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, and the release of the first-ever list of “Highest Value” Hospitals prepared by The LeapFrog Group.

And, in an ongoing effort to keep up with the public’s insatiable appetite for all things healthcare quality, the American Hospital Association has joined with The HealthCare Leadership Council to help launch Healthcare in Focus, a web site highlighting what the healthcare field is doing to improve care.

If all this makes your head spin, you can take solace in knowing you aren’t alone. Healthcare executives across the country are feeling overwhelmed with the sheer number of third-party rating agencies, clinical and operational reporting responsibilities, and newly formed lists to be on (and those not to be).

One thing is clear however – providers will increasingly feel the pressure to compete on quality. Whether you take a proactive approach in building and promoting your quality messages or a reactive stance in positioning against competitors who tout theirs, the race to convince potential employees, health plans, and patients that you deliver high-quality care at a reasonable price is just getting started.

Oh, and did I mention that foreign hospitals can now apply for accreditation through the new Joint Commission International program? Guess Tom Friedman was right about that flat world thing after all.

Daniel Fell is Executive Vice President with Neathawk Dubuque & Packett. He will be presenting “Healthcare Quality: Meeting the Marketing Challenge” at the Fourteenth National Forum on Customer Based Marketing Strategies on Thursday, February 5, at 9:45am. 

The rates will vary according to the day/time; the hotel controls the inventory based on total occupancy.  Today, for example, a Classic Room is available for $150, as compared to our rate of $229.  The Palace Tower Deluxe room is available for $210, as compared to our rate of $289.  NOTE: the meeting rooms are in the Palace Tower , so the Palace Tower rooms are closest to the meeting rooms.

Again, these rates are only available online, and are not available through the “call in” reservations number.  Therefore, if you are successful in obtaining the lower rates online, and if you have already reserved a room online, you will need to call and cancel your other reservations.  The number is 800-634-6661.

We understand that this is not “ideal.”  The hotel, however, has little experience with conference rates that are more expensive than the Internet rates.  Our conference, unfortunately, is one of the first to encounter the situation.  So, they won’t allow us to lower our conference rates.  As the Internet rates fluctuate, they are hoping that the total hotel occupancy will be high enough soon so they can increase their Internet rates.

So ACT FAST for the best rates!

In today’s difficult economy, it’s more important than ever for marketers to make the case that marketing matters.  This conference is a great opportunity for healthcare marketers to gain practical knowledge to help their organizations weather the storm.  The conference agenda includes a mix of keynote sessions and more than 30 concurrent sessions that balance the skills and knowledge marketers need today with what they must know to prepare for “tomorrow.”

View the pages at the right for details on the sessions and speakers.  And leave comments below to let us know your thoughts before, during, and after the conference.

Baylor Health System (Dallas, TX)

BJC-Progress West HealthCare Center (O’Fallon, MO)

Carolinas HealthCare System (Charlotte, NC)

Cleveland Clinic Canada

Dartmouth-Hitchcock (Bedford, NH)

Henry Ford Health System (Detroit, MI)

Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN)

Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston, SC)

MedStar Health (Lutherville, MD)

Memorial Herrmann HealthCare System (Houston, TX)

NorthShore University Health System (Evanston, IL)

Saint Francis Medical Center (Cape Girardeau, MO)

San Juan Regional Medical Center (Farmington, NM)

University of Michigan Health System (Ann Arbor, MI)

View details on the Schedule pages at the right.

We hope you’ll use this site as an opportunity to “meet” people virtually and make plans for while you’re in Las Vegas.  Share what you plan to do while you’re there in the comments below.