Health Technology
Article | September 12, 2023
Yes, empathy has become a fad.
Connecting to another human is actually something cool kids do now. If a brand doesn’t have an impact model that includes a practical social issue, consumers tend to not take that brand seriously. In this case, empathy needs to be revisited beyond the trend itself for these strategies to have real, lasting impact.
Practical strategies around compassion meanwhile have similarly become an intrinsic part of social impact organisations. They have become so commonplace that prosocial behaviour has strayed into a kind of tokenism. It is common for instance for consumers to donate their hard-earned money to companies who focus their energies on trying to alleviate real-world issues.
The question then is whether this proxy for compassion isn’t in fact watering down human connections, as well as our positive impact on the issues business and organisations seek to solve with our help.
Postmodern behavioral science
If it is, then we must understand why and how to change that. This is where postmodern behavioral science provides a possible better alternative to social impact strategies. Postmodern behavioral science suggests that the current approach to understanding human behaviour lacks even a rudimentary understanding of empathy, defined in the area of social impact as a discursive strategy that allows us to feel what the group we are trying to help is feeling.
Of course, compassion has very close ties with empathy. Empathy is an innate ability we all have, one that we can learn to develop and fine-tune over time. It is our emotional connection to another human, though one that lies beyond our own ego. It takes the perspective of the person who is struggling and seeks to understand their life, their struggle, and their worldview. It also resolves to value and validate their perspective and experience — something that donating money to a social impact cause does not.
In its broader definition, empathy is a shared interpersonal experience which is implicated in many aspects of social cognition, notably prosocial behavior, morality, and the regulation of aggression.
Empathy has a host of positive after-effects when applied as an interpersonal experience. If a social impact organisation is preoccupied with raising capital, then it is likely to disregard the practical worth of empathy for those who truly want to achieve its mission.
Immersive empathy
One way that behavioral science can contribute is to utilise tools that can help augment the experience of those in need for those needing to understand those needs. Both AR and VR can help people visualise and follow the stories of those who require compassion. These create virtual environments for partners, governments, and consumers to experience with the people they seek to help.
But of course, much of human behaviour is geared toward seeking pleasant experiences and avoiding unnecessary pain. Our in-built hedonic valuation systems guide decisions towards and away from experiences according to our survival instincts.
This is precisely why business owners who want to encourage empathy in their customers go the easy route, but should seek a more participatory frameworks to inspire and provide experiences for those on board with a social mission.
Then there are issues like financial literacy in underserved populations, access to clean water, education for women and girls, and environmental conservation, to name a few of the problems that social impact companies are attempting to tackle.
If a company is trying to tackle an issue such as access to clean water, then rather than start there, it should first ask exactly how this issue arose and developed. It should question the beliefs that underpin this chronic social inequality, those that inform policies, practices, cultural taboos, and beliefs about water and people’s access to it.
To simply respond to an issue in its developed form is to leave it unfixed. We must be willing to reverse engineer the origins of that issue that got us to where we are. In other words, human behaviour is not the only component to consider in this.
The main behavioral framework public servants should take with them is to develop a nudge unit solely based on the relationship between behavioural science and technology.
This is mainly because technology is an inevitable part of how we now relate to one another. Immersive Compassion meanwhile should embrace tools like AR/VR that seek to create empathetic environments and valuable impact longevity.
To fully embrace empathy as an organisation is to create relevant and rigorous responses that go as far as to alter the infrastructure of its target goals. Optimising social impact comes down to optimising human experience.
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Health Technology, Digital Healthcare
Article | September 8, 2023
The medical field has undergone a significant amount of change during the past few years, and it’s clear that healthcare consumers are seeking digital experiences. Meeting this need by providing virtual care options can not only remove barriers to quality healthcare but also reduce stress on the healthcare system.
At the same time, how can medical providers offer digital care options, and how can doing so drive revenue growth?
Allow online scheduling to increase appointment volume
If you have ever spent hours on hold, you know how frustrating it can be. In the same way, if patients are left on hold for too long, they will most likely disconnect before a member of the team can assist them. This is why it’s crucial to allow patients to schedule their care online. Patients expect to attend medical appointments at a time that is convenient for them, which means they want to schedule those appointments at a time that is convenient for them as well. They do not want to spend time waiting on hold, only for someone on the other end of the phone to offer them appointments that do not work for them.
The solution would be for medical providers to invest in a digital phone solution that can maintain a virtual waiting room. These virtual waiting rooms allow patients to maintain their place in line, such as receiving a callback, making it easier for them to schedule appointments. Of course, an online booking option can be helpful as well. Most patients want to schedule their appointments when they are not at work, and an online booking option allows them to do so regardless of their business hours.
Don’t forget to consider the type of booking software you use as well. If you select booking software that will automatically sync with your scheduling system in the office, you can take a significant amount of stress off your front office staff.
Digital communication options are crucial
Tebra’s recent Patient Perspectives report indicates that the majority of patients (55%) want to be able to reach their medical providers quickly to get answers to their questions, even when they do not have an appointment scheduled. If you have two-way messaging software, you can streamline the flow between your patients and providers, which may reduce the number of appointments your patients need to book.
For example, patients can ask for prescription refills, run specific numbers by their medical providers, and get quick answers to questions about symptoms they might be experiencing. Not only does this support patients and nurture their loyalty, but it also alleviates unnecessary appointments from inundating providers’ schedules.
Take advantage of telehealth for additional revenue
Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, very few patients took advantage of telehealth. Now, nearly a quarter (about 25%) of all patients indicate that they have used telehealth during the past year, and many patients prefer this option.
The reality is that telehealth can remove barriers that would otherwise make it hard for patients to access care. They don't have to worry about taking time off work, arranging for child care, or driving a long distance to meet with a doctor.
While telehealth will never fully replace in-person visits, it can be an excellent option for cold and flu symptoms, mental health issues, and routine check-ins. By offering telehealth to your patients, you can make it much easier for them to access the care they need.
Modernize your revenue channels by taking advantage of digital healthcare
It’s obvious that the medical world is changing quickly, and digital aspects of care are here to stay. To ensure your practice can adequately meet your patients’ needs, take full advantage of everything in this article and ensure you have reliable digital care options. You can develop multiple revenue streams for your medical practice or system while maintaining high patient satisfaction rates and without adding to your workload.
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Healthtech Security
Article | November 29, 2023
The criteria of patient satisfaction have changed dramatically. The priority of your healthcare business is to provide patients the right treatment. But nowadays, you cannot excel in your service and win the hearts of the patients just by providing the right treatment. You will also have to focus on delivering a great patient experience. Thus, a comprehensive healthcare marketing strategy should be designed accordingly.
In this digital age, along with their healthcare requirements, people are already overwhelmed with all the necessary information they need regarding their work and life-related issues. This has turned them into customers, rather than just being patients. And has led them to want and expect more. According to a study done by McKinsey, people expect from healthcare companies the same way they expect from other non-healthcare companies. Your patients now expect:
• Your deliverance on their expectations
• Great customer service
• Great value
• To make their life easier with the service they get from you
They look for whether your healthcare services provide these benefits through online resources. A Kantar Health Report says that around 60% of millennials depend upon online information as the best resource for healthcare information. They also consider word-of-mouth referrals trustful. This makes it vital for you to put in place the right digital healthcare marketing strategies. It is necessary to avoid your prospects going to your competitors whenever they search for effective medical services online.
The need for a robust Healthcare Marketing Strategy
Creating an effective healthcare marketing strategy is part of the inbound marketing process. The strategy can include and utilize all the resources to bring in opportunities. The resources also can confront the threats that come your way to hinder your healthcare business. The resources can be in any form of original content such as articles, blog posts, podcasts, interviews on medical topics, informational videos, e-books, case studies, press releases, white papers, etc. These resources deal with threats and opportunities that are concerned with persuading prospects to come to you.
Healthcare marketing strategy is a vision statement. It lays down the healthcare marketing plan in detail for some time. It should include objectives and plans for exceeding the current performance of your particular healthcare business. It should talk about competition analysis, target marketing, budgets, marketing tactics, and SWOT analysis, which are essential elements of an effective healthcare marketing strategy. Having the right healthcare marketing strategy in place will help you increase patient inflow and lower your marketing budget, which increases your return on investment (ROI).
Benefits of Having an Effective Healthcare Marketing Strategy
The right healthcare marketing strategy focuses on two main things; bringing in more patients to your hospital or clinic and maximizing your ROI. ROI can be maximized by minimizing expenses on both inbound and outbound marketing strategies. It is called ROI based marketing plan or strategy.
There are many benefits to having an effective healthcare marketing strategy in place for your medical practices. They include anticipating and assessing threats and opportunities, prepare to make a road map to counter the threats in time effectively, and find out creative ways to enhance your outcome. Below are some of the other benefits of having a healthcare marketing strategy:
Goals and Objectives
A sound healthcare marketing strategy, as discussed earlier, helps you to understand what you are going to achieve in a scheduled time frame. This keeps you focused on your goals without getting diverted. Moreover, it provides you a clear picture of your business's growth and makes you aware of how far you can go with your business in the target market.
Operating Budgets
Healthcare marketing strategy helps you create a detailed operation budget in advance for your business. By knowing your expected future costs, expenses, and forecasted income over the year, you can make better plans for all the expected and unexpected challenges of your business.
Service Line Decisions
When you compare your result with your expected results, you will understand where it worked well and the areas you need to improve. By knowing the areas in which you failed, you can improve them and yield better results on the next run by improving your line of services.
Risk Management
In business, risk management includes forecasting and evaluating the financial risks and identifying solutions to minimize or eliminate their impact. A clear healthcare marketing strategy in place allows you to manage these aspects of your healthcare business efficiently.
Capital Planning
A marketing strategy provides you a clear idea of how to process your budgeting resources for your organization's future. It is possible with both short-term and long-term plans.
Developing an effective healthcare marketing strategy
Creating goals and defining objectives or benefits that you intend to achieve is the first step to the creation of a healthcare brand strategy. Once all these things are set, you may assess all the required and available resources. Then devise a final strategy on when and how to fulfill these goals.
Healthcare digital marketing is unique as it is the most cost-effective way to reach out to your most relevant prospect at the right time. It ensures thatyou reach your patients in the time of their need. Here is a step-by-step healthcare marketing strategy for you. It is designed keeping in mind all the aspects of your healthcare business, including your competitors and prospective patients.
Establish Your Target Customers
The first step starts with identifying the most relevant target market for you. A comprehensive online and offline research would help you with it. The research can be based on demographic, geographic, behavioral, and psychographic information.
Then concentrate on all the marketing resources you have, in order to attract relevant customers. Clarity about your target audience ensures you create the right content for the right people. It also adds to the efficiency and effectiveness of your digital healthcare strategy.
Study Your Competition
Your competitors also target the same audience. So, identify competitive influences and issues to have a proactive strategy and plan. It helps you stay ahead of your competition with your healthcare marketing strategy. Use internet, TV and Radio commercials, referrals, data analysis, billboards, or other media to research your competition.
Internal and External Evaluation
To evaluate your external and internal environment, conduct a SWOT analysis of your healthcare business. Thorough knowledge of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats will make you determine how to use your resources for better results effectively.
Decide Your Long-term and Short-term Goals
Most businesses conceive their marketing plans and strategies for a year. However, the best healthcare marketing strategy is the one, which is aligned with both the long-term and short-term goals of your brand. Evaluating, prioritizing, and organizing various combinations of specific marketing tactics and strategies will suit you the best in pursuing your business goals.
Plan Your Marketing Budget
Protecting and generating sources of revenue is generally a significant concern in marketing. Creating a task budget and clear objectives to work towards realizing the exact goals and outcomes you expect from your business is very important. For this, you may have to specify your measurable and quantifiable goals. Define your marketing tactics and strategies, including advertising, brand development and enhancement, networking and public relations, etc.
You also have to evaluate profitability, launching plan, and marketing plan. Moreover, monitor and track closely to adjust tactics and strategies necessary for achieving, maintaining, or exceeding your expected profit level.
The best part of having an effective healthcare marketing strategy in place is that it makes you focus your energy and time on improving your healthcare practice. The digital marketing team will work according to the strategy for realizing both your long-term and short-term goals.
Doing all of it alone may be challenging. We, at Media 7, help healthcare companies, especially healthcare technology providers, with healthcare marketing strategies, which are proactive and profit-oriented. We help you attract prospects, convert them, and make them your customers. To know more about us, visit the Media 7 website.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are marketing strategies for health tech marketers?
Health tech marketers can effectively use many marketing strategies, including engaging customers in social media platforms, video marketing, creating content for niche communities, email marketing, paid media advertising, event marketing, and content marketing.
What are the tips for creating the strategy for health tech marketing?
Updating your organization’s mission, vision, and values, conducting a business and operational analysis, developing strategic options, selecting strategic growth objectives, developing the strategy execution plan can be included in your health tech marketing strategy.
What are the best social marketing strategies for health tech?
Start using chatbots, create a personalized experience for your customers, create an efficient content marketing strategy, create a community for your audience, and create profiles on the relevant channels that can be the best social media strategies for health tech companies.
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Article | April 15, 2021
Government bodies have organized vaccination drives from the days of paper, pen and file folders. Nations across the globe have successfully run vaccination programs on a large scale.
In countries such as India, with the second-largest population, a vaccination campaign to eradicate polio was delivered at specified centers and going door-to-door. India was declared officially polio-free in March 2014. All without technology!
Routine vaccination administration has always been either by a scheduled or walk-in appointment. Vaccinating populations for polio, smallpox or similar diseases has always been a part of a multi-year plan for governments.
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