Under rising healthcare consumerism, direct-to-patient marketing is king

Consumer-facing advertising is an increasing piece of the pie for healthcare marketers as higher out-of-pocket expenses prompt patients to shop around for care.

Write a Comment

By Christina P. O'neill, Special To Central Massachusetts Health

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has spurred the rise of direct-to-patient (D2P) marketing as a result of the purchasing power granted to individuals in the form of health insurance subsidies. But it’s an evolving concept. In the ACA’s third year, news reports emerge of consumers encountering difficulty fulfilling the high deductibles that made their lower premiums possible.

“Consumers used be playing with house money, and employers would pay with full tab,” said Edward Kolota, director of market planning and analysis at UMass Memorial Health Care. That has changed.

The change is outlined in a white paper published last year by health-care practice consulting firm c2B Solutions, “Psychographic Segmentation and the Healthcare Consumer”. It found that not all people with the same medical condition think alike or act alike, and non-compliance with medical regimens and underutilization of preventative services are higher than one would expect. There are also socioeconomic differences and variation in health care consumer behavior. The one-size-fits-all approach may not be effective in the D2P marketplace.

A second study by Troy, NY-based consulting firm Smith & Jones, emphasizes the importance of primary care physicians (PCPs) as the patient’s first point of entry into the health care continuum, so it seems to follow that reaching consumers through primary care based marketing efforts makes the most sense. But demand for PCPs outstrips supply, and less-expensive avenues such as urgent-care facilities and pharmacy-based health care delivery points such as CVS’ Minute Clinics have become viable entry points into a health care management program.

Shifting priorities

Margaret Thrappas, UMass Memorial Health Care’s director of marketing, noted that it’s easier to target consumers online rather than through mass media. A UMass Memorial blog aimed at consumers, for example, has 20,000 subscribers. Its Facebook page has more than 10,000 followers. Monthly e-newsletters for those with interest in a particular medical condition have readership rates about twice the national average, she said. Web-based technology also sends medication and lab test reminders. A video of new UMass Memorial primary care doctors, intended to acquaint patients with them, also contains an URL connection to make an appointment with those accepting new patients.

Multi-channel communication

Thrappas added that at least 75 to 80 percent of health care decision makers are female, so UMass Memorial’s efforts and materials are largely targeted at the women who take care of men.

Insurer outreach

Worcester-based Fallon Community Health Plan also uses a wide variety of communications media, including TV, radio and newspaper ads, targeted mail and social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Google, the latter utilizing search engine marketing and optimization, according to Milissa Obara is Fallon’s director of product management. The insurer has launched a web page for its commercial members (including individuals), to sign up for a Fallon plan directly on Fallon’s website. It also has a link to the state exchange where can consumers can shop for plans..

While consumer utilization of the website is not high today, it provides members an awareness of the costs associated with health care, how they differ based on where a particular procedure is done.

The fact that 80 percent of medical costs are incurred by 20 percent of patients provides an incentive to reach out to specifically target populations with chronic illnesses, Obara said. “It’s hard to get their attention, except in instances where they need our help,” she said. But once the patients have become engaged, “the feedback is great.”

Sonya Hagopian, vice president, corporate communications and public relations at Watertown-based Tufts Health Plan, agrees that there’s no magic bullet to measure consumer health care utilization. Tufts serves all insurance market segments – employer-sponsored, Medicare and Medicaid, and markets to individuals as well as groups. Individuals, she says, are most motivated to shop for services when they really need them. “Think about not going to book a flight until you need it, and when you need it: You’re thoroughly engaged.”

Reliant Medical Group, a Worcester-based physician group with 260 doctors in 20 Central Massachusetts locations, is increasingly relying on digital channels, but also moving to social media.

‘Skin in the game’

Linda Coccola, vice president of marketing and communications at Reliant, noted that Reliant uses a web portal called MyChart, a secure communications web channel for patients and doctors. Twenty-eight percent of Reliant patients now use the portal, Coccola said. Reliant also sends Medicare eligibility information to members to determine if their physicians are on a specific plan.

In Reliant’s consumer surveys, comments from both the very satisfied and the very unsatisfied provide rich data on patient experience, she said. Half of respondents take the time to add comments, averaging three comments per survey. All comments are reviewed and then sent to the department concerned. Comments are also read anonymously in group meetings.

“Patients are very invested in their health care. We’re getting it all because patients have skin in the game,” she said. In addition to a 15 to 20 percent response rate, there’s considerable qualitative data.

“I’ve regarded the web site as word of mouth on steroids,” Coccola said. “The patient is taking a more active role and the web site is facilitating that … The Web consumer is more educated and we communicate in different ways than we used to [for example] through Facebook and Twitter. It’s changed.”