Kriste Goad
Senior Vice President, Revive
Despite all the readily available quality data and rankings, most people still choose providers on the basis of three criteria: 1) what their insurance covers, 2) what their doctor recommends, and 3) personal experience or on the recommendation of family or friends. Likewise, most employers form their opinions of health care cost and quality based on what they hear—from brokers, consultants, health plans and, yes, the media.
So what can providers do? Start talking and use simple English. Health care is complex, yet communicating your value doesn’t have to be. Engage your local employer and broker communities directly, educate them, and build relationships. Help them navigate the information that’s out there. Most importantly, drop the jargon and keep a smiling human face at the front of everything you do.
We’ve conducted interviews with thousands of employers of all sizes and geographies to find out what resonates, what moves the needle, and what annoys them when it comes to the health care information they receive. From those interviews, we’ve learned some pretty compelling insights, and today, we look more closely at what employers look for when it comes to Quality.
First, be cautious about too much focus on data and “populations;” the language itself dehumanizes care. These are important elements, and employers want to know about the broader efforts—but they think of their employees as people, not “populations.” Be sure you always offer specific examples relating to individual personal cases that represent a broader problem and solution.
Second, employers see limited value in the data without understanding how it will be used and what benefits it will create. Emphasize what you’re doing to treat people like individuals. People expect more than one-size-fits-all care. Emphasize what you’re doing to provide individualized attention, from personalized care plans, to nurse care coordinators, to individually tailored disease management programs. Get personal.
Third, value is only as good as the professionals delivering the care. Employers want to hear about your nurses and physicians, not just your facilities. They also want to know how your nurses and physicians treat people, and not just with medical care. That means putting physicians and nurses in the forefront of your communications efforts and making sure they’re effectively communicating with patients every step of the way. This must be an inside/outside effort, not just one or the other.
If you don’t have an internal communications plan for this, it’s important to develop one. Once you do, tell the outside world about it (with a particular mind toward the business community) in simple, relatable, personal terms. If you don’t, who will?
Next week, we’ll take a deeper dive into Employer Insight #3: Demonstrating Efficiency and Coordinated Care Will Score Big Points. In the meantime, call or email us (805.617.2832 or learnmore@revivepr.com to learn more about how we can help your organization connect with employers in your community and effectively communicate your value.