Key Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode

• Modern Healthcare: Nearly a third of Americans have put off healthcare during COVID-19
• Every COVID-19 Commercial is Exactly the Same

Key Takeaways

The Role of a Brand:  

• We use brands to help navigate our decisions, and the brands we trust promise us a specific level of quality.
  • During this COVID-19 crisis, brands represent normality and will be beneficial in transitioning the patient's perception of healthcare to a new normal.
  • Health systems are putting out similar messages because there is a sense of duty to provide clear and informative public announcements.
  • Trying to establish a brand revolving around "self" comes off as tone-deaf and connotates bragging at an inappropriate time.
    • Brands that step up and take responsibility during this time will be leaders in the industry after the crisis settles.  

Brand Shift in a New Normal:

• Health systems have the option to adopt a health-oriented brand vs. a care-oriented brand.
• The need for post health system brands to motivate their audience through personality branding will be more crucial than ever before.

Key Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode

• Washington Post: U.S. deaths soared in early weeks of pandemic, far exceeding number attributed to COVID-19

Key TakeAways

Our latest research revealed that people are avoiding hospitals:

• People are avoiding necessary Emergency Room visits in an effort to avoid hospitals altogether.
• There have been increasing numbers of deaths from strokes and heart attacks nationally but decreasing amounts of stroke and heart problem related ER visits.
• Will this prompt a national reassessment of the COVID-19 related death count? New York has reassessed the total death count, but will other states do the same?

What are the obstacles to patients that need healthcare but are not willing to go to the hospital?

• 9/10 people are afraid of returning to hospitals even if they were to need health services.
• Of people that are currently in need of health services, 5/10 of them are still fearful of going to a hospital.
• Patients do not see a difference in healthcare facilities; they are fearful of all of them whether or not COVID-19 treatment is being administered in a given facility.

People are using personal logic to assess the COVID-19 threat:

• It is going to be more difficult and take longer to get people back in hospitals, regardless of states opening back up.
• People are relying on the confirmed case and death counts to determine if hospitals are getting safer instead of listening to political officials or healthcare experts.
• On average, most patients anticipate it will be 3-6 months before COVID-19 settles down in their communities.
• Regardless of political affiliation, people are still relying on their own conclusions about safety instead of listening to political leaders.

People want to see the information for themselves; how do healthcare marketers assist in this?

• People want to know exact information about the protective measures that hospitals are taking to protect against the spread of COVID-19.
• Hospitals need to be explicitly clear about sanitation, protective gear, and where the COVID patients are being treated.
• No amount of information is “too much” for the consumer now.
• People want to hear from their hospital twice a week, which is a complete shift pre-COVID desired communication patterns.

Key Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode

• Daily Briefing Live: March 19, 2020 with Samantha Pierce
• Modern Healthcare article: "Cigna claims data shows declines in hospitalizations for serious conditions"
• Vox article: "Coronavirus has created a crisis for primary care doctors and their patients"

Key TakeAways
Cigna Claims Data Report

• Hospitalization rates for atrial fibrillation decreased 35% over the two months
• Hospitalizations decreased 28% for epilepsy and seizures, 24% for gastrointestinal bleeds, and 22% for aortic aneurysms and dissections
• Admissions for acute appendicitis and acute coronary syndromes, which include heart attacks, dropped 13% and 11%, respectively

The Latest on Earned Media

• After Scripps' Chief Medical Officer went on television to assure the community that hospitals were safe, cardiologists noticed a 40% jump in work
• Fundamental pillar for earned media is to "think human"
  • Understand that everyone is going through their own experience, and the more we can be empathetic with consumers the more effective our stories will be
• If your story fits into two of the three areas below, it's a story worth pursuing:
  • Is it related to a strategic business initiative?
  • Do you have a story/solution that is making a tangible difference right now in the COVID-19 response?
  • Do you have something meaningful to share with your peers or that the mass audience can benefit from?

Being Proactive

• Explaining to consumers how you are planning on opening back up for surgical care, chronic care, and emergency care will provide trust to the community that everything is being put into place to keep people safe and healthy
• Health systems need to be prepared to navigate billing conversation as patients will start to receive bills for the care they received for COVID-19 treatment

Key Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode

• Inside the Coronavirus Battle at Our Lady of the Lake: The Fight of Their Lives

Key TakeAways

Our Lady of the Lake Created a Highly Effective News Story by Showcasing the Rawness of COVID-19 in Their Hospital.

• Our Lady of the Lake was leading the charge in getting the word out about how to protect yourself amid the coronavirus by having their Chief Medical Officer always available for local media coverage.
• Internally they weighed the pros and cons of whether or not they should allow a behind the scenes look at their hospital. After several discussions, they felt it was essential to continue to be transparent with their team and the public about the current state of COVID-19.
• It was crucial to make sure patient privacy was respected while also allowing journalistic freedom to capture the real story.
• They provided PPE education to the reporter and photographer the night before to set clear expectations.
• The journalist arrived at 7 am and entered the COVID-19 unit at 7:30 am. They wrapped up at 2 pm.
• The journalist was allowed free rein to talk to anyone as long as it didn’t affect patient care.
• They also knew who was going to be in the unit at that time and were able to educate the staff to be prepared to answer any questions.
• Typically, we look at rawness as bad, but Our Lady of the Lake opted to acknowledge that rawness is okay and even helpful to the community in this current situation. 

Key Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode

• Apple and Google Partner on COVID-19 Contact Tracing Technology
• University of Washing Partners with Microsoft on Contact-Tracing App

Key TakeAways

Contact Tracing Technology

• Multiple tech companies are joining forces on contact tracing technologies by creating apps that will use blue tooth technology to trace contact with people who have tested positive for Coronavirus.
  • Apple and Google
  • Microsoft and University of Washington have partnered up to create a contact tracing app that helps public health agencies identify who has come in contacts with someone that had COVID-19
• Contact tracing will be very important until we have a vaccine in place and will provide physical and technical opportunities.
  • Furloughed employees can be trained on how to become a contact tracer
• Communicating to the community to opt into contact tracing apps to help flatten the curve will have to be done thoughtfully as a health system.
  • It’s important to talk about privacy and to approach the topic carefully to come up with the right messages to educate the community so they can understand the technology and privacy issues

Next Step for Health Systems and Hospitals 

• Currently, we’re helping clients revise the crisis playbooks they had in place before COVID-19. We want to measure how well we responded, keep what worked, and figure out what needs to be enhanced so we can rapidly and effectively respond if there is a second wave.
• Prepare your crisis playbook:
  • How did your team respond to supply chain management and operations?
  • Were you able to do media training with executives quickly?
  • How interchangeable is your marketing and communications staff?
  • Does your staff know their roles during a crisis?

Preparing Communications for Reopening Institutions 

• Consumers and employees who weren’t on the front line might be fearful of returning to hospitals, so it’s important to rebuild trust by providing communication internally and externally regarding how we’re going to keep people safe.
  • Will there be a limit on the number of people allowed in an elevator?
  • How many people will be allowed in the employee break room?
  • How are we going to operate our cafeteria and food services for patients and visitors?
• The logistics will be challenging to navigate, so it’s important from a communications and marketing perspective to work hand and hand with your operations staff as soon as possible.
• It will be important to use the individuals who have been on the front lines to help share and train employees who are just now coming back to work.

Mergers and Acquisitions 

• M&A’s are going to be a big topic due to the financial strain health systems have faced during the COVID-19 crisis.
• Some health systems have delayed M&A activity after COVID-19 hit, but they are now ramping back up and are preparing for potential announcements.
• A few health systems have publicly paused previously announced M&A activity.
• Some health systems that have stronger financial pockets are using this opportunity to expand their M&A activity. A few things to consider when expanding during this time:
  • It cannot reduce the health systems ability to address current COVID-19 issues
  • Expansion should be announced once systems start returning to normal
  • If you are the acquiring health system, it’s important to understand that decisions to furlough or cut employee pay are a reputation risk

Key TakeAways

Media Consumption Changes

• Recent surveys have shown that online gaming has increased 25%
• We are seeing a significant uptick in streaming, broadcasting, and reading
• TV consumption has gone up 39% across all generations, even Gen Z, who has been dubbed the “non-TV generation” 

Cable TV

• Cable has become a significant source for viewer consumption
  • CNN’s viewership is up by 275% based on minutes consumed
  • Sci-Fi content has seen a significant uptick in views
• 78% of consumers are trusting their local news compared to only 68% of consumers trusting national news

Streaming

• Amazon is up by 117% year-over-year and up 44% since February in viewership, followed by Netflix

Q&A

• Question: I would be interested to hear what low cost, quick turn around media tactics you can recommend for smaller, more local health systems?
• Answer: Your local stations will be the best place to buy digital space. Local news is proving to be faring better than broadcast news during this time.

Key Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode

• Today's Webinar PowerPoint Slides
• ReviveHealth's Consumer Report Part Three
• AHA/ACS Guidelines
• CMS Guidelines

Key TakeAways

Results from Our Third Consumer Survey:

• Many individuals will not come back to health systems immediately
• People have delayed their care due to fear of going to hospitals and catching the coronavirus from other patients
• According to our consumer survey, health systems should be thinking about promoting facility cleanliness because 56% have a lot of concern over a health system's cleanliness

Rapid Recovery Timeline

• Every market will be different due to multiple factors (Governor, hospital preparedness, larger v. smaller markets)
• Even if there isn't a 2nd wave of COVID-19, hospitals and health systems should be preparing for the flu in the fall and a possible resurgence of COVID-19 during the fall/winter.

First-mover advantage

• The 1st priority is protecting delayed or canceled surgeries.
• There's an opportunity to grow patient base through aggressive marketing.
• Protect and build market share
• Those who move first will be able to avoid forced financial restructuring
• First mover's will have a buffer against future COVID-19 disruption

Planning Assessment Areas

• Business Priorities
  • Service-line, profitability, prioritization by patient need, payor, status
• Operational Readiness
  • Facility-by-facility, equipment/supply status, staff readiness
• Market Assessment
  • Impact of COVID-19 on the community, consumer and brand sentiment
• Marketing Capability
  • Status of Staff, budget, available partners

Rapid Recovery Marketing Initiatives

• Consumer targeting
• Patient Retention
• Patient Acquisition
• Reputation Assessment & Action
• Staff Engagement
• Measurement & ROI

Q&A

• Question: Can you give some examples of what we'd say or do to stay in front of a patient
• Answer: Provide guidelines for how you're going to prioritize patients. Be proactive with telehealth (check-in with scheduled patients). Provide them with content to show that we value.
   
• Question: I think this reluctance/fear to engage might mean that our time to convert from initial outreach to actual patients/customers takes much longer than we're used to. How do we ensure that our leaders understand that and fund marketing efforts accordingly? What might have needed three months of funding in the past might require 6 to 12 months of funding.
• Answer: The planning process should show the value of this marketing initiative and should be prioritized.
   
• Question: What do you recommend as low hanging fruit - i.e., data to look at to inform rapid recovery? There is a lot of internal data in our organization, from delayed procedures to referral network patterns to virtual visit data. Any thoughts on the first steps to take?
• Answer: Personalized messaging will help retain patients we already have. We already have all of their information, so we should take advantage of the ability to talk to them on a personal level.

Key Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode

• ReviveHealth's Consumer Report Part Three
• Register for the Rapid Recovery Show on April 21 at 12:00PM CST
• AHA/ACS Guidelines
• CMS Guidelines

Key TakeAways

Consumer Survey Part 3 Update:

• As we move towards a potential recovery period, we want to focus on consumers and where their hesitations might exist and what hospitals can do to address those concerns to get consumers back into hospitals for elective surgeries.
• Even when restrictions are lifted, we found there are still many people that will be hesitant to go to a local hospital.
  • Most individuals who are interested in returning sooner are concerned with severe or chronic conditions (26%).
  • 36% of people said they would intentionally delay care.
  • 56% of people are very concerned with contracting COVID-19 from other patients
  • 56% of people said they are very concerned about the cleanliness of facilities due to the coronavirus
• Doctors continue to be the most trusted source for consumers to feel comfortable to come back to a care facility.
• There’s been a significant increase in the number of people who have heard of telehealth compared to previous surveys (58% to 77% of all consumers have heard of telehealth).

Key Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode

• Subscribe to the Daily Briefing Live Podcast
• Public Opinion Strategies Slide Deck on COVID-19 Survey

Key TakeAways

National Public Opinion

• Are people supportive of the lockdown?
  • The majority of Americans have been supportive of the measures implemented to prevent spread.
  • Between the beginning of March and the end of March, there's been a significant opinion shift on the severity of COVID-19.
• People are concerned that some local governments are going to relax preventative measures prematurely.
  • There's a significant drop in the overall confidence in the economy, even when compared to 9/11 and the 2008 recession. 

Medical Privacy

• Medical privacy has been an important issue that most people have felt should be a priority. Since COVID-19, people have been willing to offer up their privacy in the name of getting back to normalcy.

Q&A

Question: How important is it for our clients to think about the different variables of local economies and how they have been affected by COVID-19?

Answer: It will be different state by state; health systems will need to take advantage of the goodwill they are receiving. Right now, communities are viewing hospitals as the backbone of the community.

Key Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode

• Subscribe to the Daily Briefing Live Podcast
• Trump Set to Unveil Guidelines for Lifting Coronavirus Restrictions
• Register for the Rapid Recovery Show with Brandon Edwards on April 21

Key TakeAways

Healthcare Costs and Hospitals Role in Affordability

• During COVID-19, there's a reprieve in the narrative of pointing the finger between pharmaceutical companies, payor companies, and health systems.
  • But this surrounding narrative around cost will reemerge in the future.
• Hospitals and health systems can leverage the goodwill they're receiving by building relationships with employers and consumers now to continue to build the brand preference and reputation in the local market.

Rapid Recovery - By Generation

• Interaction with the health system by generation
  • Boomers and older Gen X
    • Will be the ones responsible for filling the surgical suites in the rebuild post COVID-19
  • Millennials and older Gen Z
  • Are considered the "drive-through" generation who think of their care more holistically and are driven by convenience
  • Key factors that influence these generations are cost, convenience, personalization, and technology.
  • COVID-19 has forced the adoption of new technologies and digital innovations to improve operational efficiency.

Rapid Recovery - By Brand

• The rapid recovery of patient retention, acquisition, and market sharers should sync with the post health system approach to branding. We need to keep brand-building campaigns alive.