In my work, I have the opportunity to work with many healthcare systems. In the last few weeks, I have had three experiences that have made me think I was dreaming, healthcare dreaming.
I was at The Annual Healthcare Marketing and Physicians Summit and heard a presentation by Penn Medicine on their integrated call center. Suzanne Sawyer, CMO and her team have done a wonderful job of integrating all their customer channels. By doing so, she has trend information on patient activity, access and a handle on all her marketing efforts. In my mind, she is on her way to marketing integration heaven!
Recently, I interviewed the CEO of the top health system in the Miami/Dade County area. He spoke quite eloquently about the need for communication during this time of tremendous change in healthcare. He insists that the head of Marketing and Communications report to him and is the message gatekeeper for the system. He gets it! He knows that in order to be successful in the future, his system needs to be clear on messaging so they remain the preferred system in the area. His support of social media was so refreshing and this from a man who described himself as a dinosaur with digital anything. I beg to differ.
Lastly, for six months I served as the interim CMO for a wonderful system in Virginia. They had been without leadership in marketing and communications for some time and were concerned about messaging during this time of change. What I discovered was a leadership team with great vision, openness and heart. Yes, heart. I had begun to think that given all the pressure in healthcare that leadership teams were becoming toxic groups.This system proved that leadership based on integrity and openness can be your greatest asset.
I asked if this was real healthcare and the answer is……it can be. Times of great change are also times of great opportunities. Create the integrated call center that you need despite your organizational challenges. Embrace communications as a core competency for everyone in management. And lastly, values and integrity may be your greatest assets for success in the future. These three organizations are living my healthcare dream.