According to Scott Bedbury in A New Brand World, “branding is about taking something common and improving upon it in ways that make it more valuable and meaningful.” In a world where healthcare providers race to set themselves apart from each other, there’s a tremendous opportunity to truly differentiate based upon service. The challenge becomes finding out what the really means.

It’s More Than Bricks and Mortar

Healthcare providers typically have differentiated themselves from each other by their facilities, technology and clinical outcomes. Think of the number of advertising campaigns that feature the opening of a new facility or the expansion/upgrade of a current one. 

Almost as equally popular is the attention to having the latest and greatest technology. If a facility is the first to have a PET scanner or a Gamma knife, the community often perceives that this facility—by association—must have the best quality and be the most progressive. One also sees a tremendous focus on clinical service offerings: Who can be first to market with a specific clinical service line, matched by the physical plant to deliver the service? 

The focus on the tangible elements of a brand has long been present in the industry. But how much focus has been placed upon an organization’s less tangible elements, the ones that touch the hearts and souls of their customers? They’re the ones the patient can’t see, but certainly knows through experience whether they’re there or not. Those elements are the ones that truly define the essence of service. 

It’s More Than a Customer Service Program

You can’t walk into a hospital today without hearing something about customer service. For the past several years, hospitals have been reaching beyond industry walls to see how Ritz Carlton or Disney “does it.” Does that mean that the hospital has developed some service promises? Has it scripted employees in how to interact with their customers? Has it given employees a definition of service and taught them how to deliver it? 

The real question is whether or not hospitals have truly internalized a commitment to service delivery at the leadership level, and how that internalized commitment manifests itself in the everyday interactions by employees. If that everyday manifestation isn’t made valuable and meaningful to those served, the plaques on the wall and the cards in the wallets are meaningless.

What Is It, Really?

If differentiating an organization based upon services is more than bricks and mortar, and more than a service program, that what is it, really? What really differentiates a Ritz Carlton, a Disney World or a Starbucks coffee from the average hotel, the average amusement park and the average cup of coffee? 

The difference: These organizations have internalized a culture, focus and service delivery process that makes the “commonness” of their product feel special, even out of the ordinary. They’ve focused on creating feelings, memories and experiences that appeal to the customer base that they serve—and that means something. 

Those feelings, memories and experiences are what hospital patients are grasping for today. Having access to a PET scanner is great, but if the room is cold, the staff is remote and the results are delivered in a perfunctory fashion, that hospital has just lost an opportunity to create a different experience for that patient. 

A special kind of experience will make that patient choose one organization over another. All things being equal, they’ll go to the provider who creates the most value for them in feeling, memory and experience. 

How Do You Do It?

• Really listen to what your patients want. Patient surveys are great, but they’re just one way to gather information—focusing on quantifiable data, not feelings. Hospitals have captive populations in their facilities every day. Start by talking with those who are already in your facility. Why are they there? What made them choose you? How is their experience? Would they recommend you to a friend? What really stands out for them about their care? There’s no substitute for really sitting down face to face with your patients everyday and hearing what they’re telling you. What you hear might surprise you.

• Deliver it to them. You’ll find that patients aren’t unreasonable people. They’re not going to ask for the amenities of a five-star hotel. What they really want is that feeling that they’re important, the memory of a care experience that made them say “Wow! How did they know me and my needs so well?” Your employees are the ones who can do that best. They don’t deliver experiences by accident. They do it by carefully carrying out a well-designed recipe that makes them successful in the eyes of the patient.

• Follow the recipe. Your recipe for success must have leadership passion and vision; a precise understanding of patient needs, wants and expectations; processes that are patient and staff friendly; the right staff and the tools to do the job; and most importantly, a culture that supports employees doing the right thing. Remember that the formula must be lived and breathed, supported and focused upon every day in the organization. Its elements must be present in every interaction, in every decision that is made, and in every fiber of the organization, or it ceases to produce the desired outcome. 

With the proper care and attention, a hospital can differentiate itself from others by the levels of service it delivers. By doing so, they may even raise the standard for other facilities. Imagine our healthcare world if the highest levels of service were the norm and not the exception!

Suggested Reading:

A New Brand World: 8 Principles for Achieving Brand Leadership in the 21st Century, Scott Bedbury.

22 Immutable Laws of Branding, Al Ries and Laura Ries

Emotional Branding: Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People, Marc Gobe

“Strategic Health Care Marketing Newsletter” Vol. 21, No. 1, January 2004

To contact Catherine Baumgardner, click here or call 1-888-334-2500.

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