Is Your Brand Ready for Healthcare Reform?

No matter what happens in the courts, Congress, or at the state level, healthcare as we know it is changing. The industry is becoming more competitive. Consumers are demanding transparency. Providers are consolidating and integrating, while insurers continue to face cost pressures.

Is your brand ready?

While we may not know exactly what the future entails, we can separate the known from the unknown, acting on the certain and hedging our bets on the less certain.

We see that in all scenarios, healthcare will become more retail. Consumers—not just employers—will weigh benefit levels with pricing to make their own decisions. With this new transparency will come the risk of confusion about all the tradeoffs to be made. Many choices will be determined on rational criteria. But clearly, when it comes to an individual's health, choices will also be based on emotion.

Together, all signs indicate that brand will become a key decision driver. And yet, research shows that most healthcare brands tell neither a great story, nor deliver a compelling experience—two key measures of brand health.

We also know that these new retail consumers will have different wants and needs. From those looking for insurance purely as a hedge against illness to those looking for a true advisor to help with health decisions, each will seek a brand that speaks to him/her.

Now is the time to assess the health of your brand and prepare for the paradigm shift.

Here are five key questions to ask about your brand:

1. Does your brand reflect your role in healthcare, now and in
the future?
Delivering healthcare as consumers know it today requires a cast of characters—from caregivers and insurers to hospitals and drug companies. Each of these companies plays a distinct role now, but successful ones will develop a much more integrated delivery system. If you're positioned around being a caregiver today, you need to ask yourself if that positioning will still be relevant in the future? Your brand needs to reflect who you are today, but also where you'll play in the future. Medical Mutual of Ohio is just one example of an insurer embracing the role of health coordinator. They've partnered with Health4, a healthcare delivery model consisting of The Medical Group of Ohio and Ohio Health, to actively manage care for patients because they understand that successful insurers will need to be more than just bill payers.

2. Does your brand resonate with everyone in your target audience?
While the fundamental shift in healthcare will empower consumers in new ways and require a new found focus on them, traditional healthcare partners should not be ignored. Many of them will actually become more important. Your brand will be intrinsically tied to a host of other companies that all ultimately deliver healthcare to consumers. This network will evolve to become a reflection of your brand. As hospitals and providers decide which networks to join, how well the brands all align to deliver complete healthcare solutions will become increasingly important. We can all easily understand how a hospital that is focused on service would likely have little interest in aligning with an insurer emphasizing efficiency.

3. Are you building a brand that fits with a long-term perspective?
As much as we all talk about consumerism and the new "retail" market for healthcare, decisions will never be made like that of laundry detergent. Healthcare will end up being more like a durables purchase—similar to how you think about your next car. Many consumers will spend hours researching, but in the end it could be just too much to comprehend. Brand will become a shortcut to narrowing the field. And your brand will become a proxy for a (hopefully) long and important relationship. Decisions will be influenced by emotional considerations—such as comfort and security—more so than specific benefit levels or price points.

4. Does your brand attract the right customers?
Of course your brand should attract your target consumers. But your brand also needs help consumers self-select out of your brand. If you're an insurer, you want to attract as many healthy and health-conscious consumers (and try to avoid those who aren't interested in their own well-being). On its surface the idea may seem controversial, but using brands to encourage consumer self-selection is pervasive. Take SeeChange Health, a new insurer started in California by a former Aetna and United Healthcare executive. The brand clearly targets individuals who want to take control of their own health, with an emphasis on preventative treatment and incentives for following doctor's orders.

5. Does your brand help inform a unique consumer experience?
In today's world, a brand is as much the sum of individual and collective experiences as it is the story that is told. And how healthcare brands deliver is becoming even more important as consumers share their experiences directly with one another through social media. Saying who you are is no longer sufficient. Companies need to deliver their story through a unique experience. Given the majority of interactions with the healthcare system involve a negative event, creating a positive experience is difficult – but if you're able to succeed, you've won a customer for life. Look at Regence and their focus on creating a differentiating online customer experience. They've created an award-winning website, myRegence.com, to better inform consumers about their health and wellness options and to more effectively navigate the health care system.

If you answered no to any of the questions above, you should ask yourself why.

The best brands craft authentic stories and memorable experiences that transform perception and drive change. Your brand is not just a representation of who you are and what you stand for, but also a guide for where your business is going. Getting your brand right in a changing industry is not a "nice to have"; it is critical to your success.