No matter where you look, you’ll probably find a different definition of customer relationship management (CRM). Every industry is defining it in distinct and changing ways. When it comes to healthcare, it’s an increasingly vital part of a hospital’s marketing efforts and long-term growth.

In this week’s podcast, I talk with Brian Irby, one of our CRM experts, to get his take on the definition of CRM and why it’s important for hospitals in today’s market.

Listen to him talk about…

•  the main components of CRM for hospitals
•  behaviors of the evolving healthcare consumer
•  how patient and consumer data come into play
•  how marketing departments can benefit from CRM

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CPM offers weekly educational podcasts on topics including CRM, physician relations, hospital planning, strategic marketing and social media.

Let us know if there is a topic you’d like to learn about!

With over 6,000 physicians, Advocate Health Care has advanced needs for their physician relations program. Last week, our VP of Physician Relations Christina Ott hosted a Webinar with Kathy Lapacek, VP of Business Development at Advocate Condell Medical Center, about strengthening Advocate’s physician relations program. I caught up with Christina for a discussion on the project.

Interview with Christina Ott

How are current changes in healthcare impacting physician relations?

Christina: The last 18 months have really changed how we practice healthcare in all aspects. Hospitals and physicians need to work together to stay profitable. More hospitals are employing physicians, which is something that’s relatively new in the last 18 months. Due to declining reimbursements and economic pressures, both hospitals and physicians realize there needs to be a more defined relationship to provide the best quality of care.

Recently, you worked with Advocate to strengthen their physician relations program. What were some of their needs going in?

Christina: Advocate needed to identify how to create real-time comprehensive data that they could slice and dice, that they could get access to in an instant. They also wanted to make sure from a physician perspective, the messages that they were sending were relevant to a physician, based on the “what’s in it for me” that a busy physician would be looking for.

One of the key focuses at Advocate, and other organizations, is to be able to swiftly and quickly document and identify physician issues and, more importantly, resolve them in a timely manner that would allow the physician to continue to trust the organization.

What steps were taken to strengthen their physicians program?

Christina: Advocate worked really hard with us in a partnership to develop the physicians relations software that would do the things I’ve mentioned as well as track the impact of those initiatives from a measurement perspective, tracking performance monitoring in terms of investment and tracking physician issues.

Take, for example, the issue of how to find the best referring physicians. Our Physician Relationship Management tool takes a look at the physicians collectively, based on locations of where they’re sending their referrals and payer mix and top procedures. By breaking this out with our tool, we’re able to get a sense of prioritization with where are top referrals are coming from and where the opportunity is to strategically target.

Through access to real-time physician analytics and the ability to understand this physician market landscape, we’re helping Advocate and other hospitals redefine their physician relationships.

For those looking to build a physician relations program, what’s the best place to begin?

Christina: One of the things we’ve identified as key is having an executive champion who is accountable for the success of the program and who can help you remove barriers operationally and support you in developing a defined program.

It’s also important to build structure around your physician relations program. Many hospitals have several people who are the “feet on the street,” the people who are talking directly with physicians. It’s best to break down the silos and have one organized team with organized goals and metrics to help you find success.

Value has to be delivered to all stakeholders. Physicians have a unique set of value propositions. Patients have a different set…We’ve got to redefine what it means to bring value. Different patient populations require unique systems of care. We’ve got to think differently about where growth comes from.”

Michael Sachs, Chairman and SEO, SG2, speaking at SHSMD 2010 on hospital growth in the post-reform marketplace.

Statistics show that people are using social networks in ever increasing numbers. In turn, hospitals are joining, too, seeking to connect with patients in the places where they are sharing and discussing health information. According to Ed Bennett, 631 hospitals have Facebook pages and 634 hospitals have Twitter accounts.

Dean Browell from Feedback Agency spoke at SHSMD on “Emerging Media: Beyond Trend to Strategy.” (Find his presentation here.)

How can hospitals strategically engage? Watch Dean address how hospitals can move beyond the trends in social media to engage in meaningful ways, including suggestions on how to integrate traditional and social media and how to get buy-in from the C-suite.

Questions to ask before creating a social media plan for your hospital
(From Dean’s presentation)

Metrics should have meaning. More than just numbers. They should tell a story.

Brandon Roger, CPM’s VP of Planning and Information Systems, believes this philosophy is important — especially when presenting your business analytics to the C-suite. Watch him share best practices for success, and scroll down for more insights.

When presenting analytics, it’s essential to…

Visit us here for more information on planning, forecasting and business analytics.

Could being more empathetic change the way your organization does business? Dev Patnaik (@devpatnaik), founder of Jump Associates, says yes. He gave an energy-charged keynote at SHSMD on how hospitals can foster widespread empathy among their employees and how it can change the way you connect with people in your marketplace.

Part of empathy is thinking like your customers. Patnaik points out Harley Davidson in Milwaukee as a company that holds a shared sense of the product with customers. Most employees ride their own motorcyles to work and constantly spend time on the road interacting with real bikers. This blurring of the line between inside and outside of your company can humanize your brand.

“Many people coming into healthcare organizations have empathy, but are told to check it at the door,” Patnaik says. “Companies succeed when they reconnect to their humanity, their empathy, their creativity, and their courage.”

Always use language that reflects empathy

Patnaik encourages hospitals to always stay connected with people, and that includes how you talk about your service. In other words, cut the jargon, and refer to the customer with respect and empathy. (i.e. your customer isn’t Joe the Plumber, he or she is someone who has a unique set of characteristics and experiences.)

Three ways to create widespread empathy

Make it easy. Avoid creating extra work for people — whether it’s understanding your service or how they use it.
Make it experiential. Create an experience. Avoid boiling it down to a powerpoint.
Make it everyday. Don’t make empathy an event, such as a conference that brings you and the customer together. Foster it in all your daily interactions and processes.

The beauty of all of this, Patnaik says, is that when you connect with ordinary people, you see real meaning behind what you do and remember why you got into the business in the first place.

Last, but not least, if you’re wondering how to do Dev’s “pug dog” handpuppet, learn it here.

The CPM team arrived at SHSMD bright and early this morning, and after a busy day, we’re looking forward to tomorrow’s sessions. Three of our own will be holding roundtables, and we want to give you a sneak peak of what they’ll talk about. First up, Christina Ott, VP of Physician Relations, will lead roundtable 96 on physician growth strategies. Here’s what’s in store:

Welcome to the CPM blog. It’s our goal to fuel hospital growth with smarter strategies and better data. As part of that, we want to be a resource for you. Our blog will showcase real-world applications of CRM, posts from strategists and product experts, event coverage, industry news and analysis and more.

A blog is the perfect place for ideas to start, spread and grow. For small conversations to become growth-driving change. For crowdsourcing and e-brainstorms and brilliant contributions. So share your thoughts with us anytime. We look forward to the conversation.