As healthcare companies, particularly health insurance plans, enter 2013 there’s only one thing for certain: they won’t look the same going into 2014. Changing products, new competitors, different sales channels, shifting consumer demands…and who knows what the final market rules will really look like.
Preparing for “Healthcare 2014” depends on leveraging opportunities and buffering risks (see White Paper: http://goo.gl/noXeO). The effectiveness of a health care reform strategy means anticipating change, deflecting competitive challenges and constructing a vision for the future. It draws on data-driven customer insight, core operational strengths and an ability to influence your marketplace. The goal must be to focus your organization on where it wants to be and design a roadmap on how to get there.
As marketers identify success/failure factors, validate business assumptions and create a framework for seeing the future, here are ten trends to build into your thinking―
HEALTHCARE & INSURANCE
1. Individuals are ready to take a more active role in their clinical and financial decisions…healthcare consumerism has arrived- http://goo.gl/tFYUV & http://goo.gl/yhw4J
2. States are falling victim to shortsighted politics and passing on opportunities to set up Health Exchanges, opening the door to Federally run health insurance- http://goo.gl/0FeOf & http://goo.gl/Adfqo
3. Concierge medicine is healthcare’s new class warfare, but with 4,400 concierge doctors in the U.S. expect new models to emerge and gain traction- http://goo.gl/EdDvU
4. Even as health benefit costs slow, employers are encouraging workers to shop for surgery options; a health exchange and a head start- http://goo.gl/CT5Vg & http://goo.gl/yykwS
5. Health thyself…first retail clinics, now an on-line elixir. With digital clinics that operate at a fraction the cost, consumers have options- http://goo.gl/fhmPn
MARKETING & STRATEGY
1. Digitization & socialization of #media grounded in big data means unprecedented opportunity to reach your customers– http://goo.gl/KEdwZ
2. Overly focused on print media and brand messaging has healthcare marketers lagging, particularly in digital, compared to other sectors- http://goo.gl/nomiv
3. Social media is revolutionizing marketing, but big challenges lie ahead in 2013: measuring ROI and targeting/engaging audiences- http://goo.gl/RrKrf & http://goo.gl/7KpRD
4. Creating digital content isn’t easy, and making it “shareable” is what drives incremental traffic to your website, here’s how- http://goo.gl/ssTZW
5. Get ready for 2013 by tracking the TOP 10 consumer trends from mobile moments to data “myning” to demanding brands- http://goo.gl/IuOyU & http://goo.gl/nX6m9
Here’s a quick look at what it means to survive in 2013 “Year of the Chameleon” http://goo.gl/DBu7X