Implications: As consumers read this story, surely they
will be outraged at some of the tactics that are alleged. (I must agree that it would be very
disheartening to be greeted in an emergency room by someone who looked like a medical
care staffer but who was really a credit services employee.)
At the same time, this
article might be emblematic of a health care system that has become
dysfunctional. Private hospitals and
clinics must do more than attract patients; they must attract patients who can
pay. Even those healthcare providers who
are funded or subsidized in some way by the government or non-profit agencies
are having a tough time making ends meet.
It is not my intent to
start a conversation about the politics of healthcare, only to suggest that the
mechanics of it—the business model—needs attention. If you are a healthcare provider, could your
dialogue with prospective patients (marketing) do a better job of explaining
the mechanics of healthcare? Would there
be value in explaining the investment that has been made in staff, facilities,
and years of training, in the interest of providing state-of-the-art care? Should more marketing be done to attract
“qualified” patients—patients who can pay—to off-set the number of unemployed
or uninsured patients that a hospital might service?
There are too many
questions to think that there is only one right answer. But it appears that healthcare providers are
prepared to consider just about anything.
Mike Anderson, for
the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.
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