how is Healthcare Marketing different......?

As per recent statistics, Healthcare has become one of the India's largest sector, both in terms of revenue and employment. The Indian Healthcare sector is growing at a brisk pace due to its strengthening coverage, services, and increasing expenditure by public as well private players. Indian healthcare delivery system is categorised into two major components public and private. The Government, i.e., public healthcare system, comprises limited secondary and tertiary care institutions in key cities and focuses on providing basic healthcare facilities in the form of primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in rural areas. The private sector provides majority of secondary, tertiary, and quaternary care institutions with major concentration in metros and tier I and tier II cities.

India's competitive advantage lies in its large pool of well-trained medical professionals. India is also cost competitive compared to its peers in Asia and Western countries. The cost of surgery in India is about one-tenth of that in the US or Western Europe. India ranks 145 among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare.

The Government of India is planning to increase public health spending to 2.5% of the country's GDP by 2025. As per Niti Aayog forecasts healthcare sector to reach $372 Billion by 2022 registering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 22% since 2016, more so with the pandemic opening up several opportunities.

India's competitive advantage also lies in the increased success rate of Indian companies in getting Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approvals. India also offers vast opportunities in R&D as well as medical tourism. To sum up, there are vast opportunities for investment in healthcare infrastructure in both urban and rural India.

You might be wondering why I am speaking Healthcare Sector instead of "Is healthcare/health marketing different from traditional marketing",..........well, the reason is, as the opportunities and investments in the healthcare sector increases the need for healthcare marketers increases. 

Some might say, "Marketing is Marketing, I don't think there is a difference between Commercial Marketing and Healthcare Marketing".

So, before going into how it is different, let us first define what is Healthcare Marketing.

What is Healthcare Marketing?

Healthcare marketing is the process of developing marketing and communication strategies to reach new patients and improve patient care by developing an open line of communication between providers, healthcare organisations, and the patients. With the help of traditional and digital channels healthcare marketers seek to deliver content and resources to patients. 

As healthcare marketing is a new area of practice it is still being refined. Experts around the world continuously doing research and are working on using new information, examples, and theories that can be added to this growing field.

Now coming to "how is healthcare marketing different"....is a question we often ask ourselves. The answer is complex because Healthcare marketing draws from other disciplines, such as health communications, social marketing, and health promotion. 

Why is Healthcare Marketing important?

Healthcare industry is changing. What used to be a volume based industry centered around a doctor has become a quality-based industry centered around the patient. Without healthcare marketing there would be no influx of patients. 

In this digital age people have access to a lot of information which includes healthcare needs and wants. This has turned them into customer rather than just being patients. The criteria of patient satisfaction has changed dramatically. In patients mind, you can't excel as a healthcare service provider just by providing the right treatment (in case of hospitals and doctors) even though that certainly should be the priority. You need to offer and provide a great customer service experience to your patients. 

A McKinsey study found that patients have the same expectations from healthcare company as they do from a non-healthcare companies. Patience now want

    (+) Great Customer Service

    (+) Deliverance on their expectation

    (+) To make their life easier with the service they buy 

    (+) Great Value

So, how do they get to know whether you offer these services? 

The answer is Online Resources.

According to many surveys, approximately 60% of millennials view online resources and trust word-of-mouth referrals (including social media) as the best source fo healthcare information. This makes it essential for healthcare services as well to have a right marketing strategy at place so that whenever a prospective patient searches for a medical care on new, it is you where their search should stop and not at your competitors. 

There are too many healthcare options available for patients to feel trapped with whatever doctors, clinic or plan they are in....... So what should you do.

The best way to imagine how healthcare marketing works in to think of the patient as a customer because, customers have endless options to choose from, so why should they choose you? Your marketing strategy should reflect the answer to the question. Keep in mind, your healthcare practices time works similar to that of any other brand in the industry. 

Benefits of Healthcare Marketing:

    (+) It will increase the patient base of the Practice

    (+) It will increase local physician (doctors) referrals to the practice

    (+) Make Doctors thought leaders in Healthcare

    (+) Promote important Medical Services

    (+) Enhance patient experience at the practice

    (+) Scale the reach of healthcare organisation

Marketing your healthcare practice provides an open line of communication to your patient audience by building trust and piquing interest. Healthcare Marketing allows you to increase patient connections and nurture those relationships to form long-term, loyal patients. Successful healthcare marketing leads to successful patient engagement, and successful patient engagement leads to booming practice. If you have a poor marketing or not marketing strategy at all, your brand (you - doctor) will suffer. Patients drive the healthcare industry, so impressing the patient (customer) is an essential element that will drive your practice above others.