eHealth Articles & White Papers

Planning for Success During Economic Uncertainty

Linda Barnes - Vice President of Business Development

When times are uncertain and budgets are tighter, every department is getting a second look from the executive team. Where can our organization scale back? Where are we getting the biggest returns for our investment? Departments that can't prove the value of their work risk seeing their budgets shrink.

As Web and eHealth professionals, we know intrinsically that we deliver value far beyond our costs. But since it's notoriously difficult to prove true marketing ROI, how do you make sure your budget doesn't become a target?

As a good marketer and communicator, you must be proactive. Undoubtedly, there are many internal conversations taking place about the economic downturn, the impact on your hospital, and possible organizational changes.

You need to be part of the conversation and understand:

• Any changes to your hospital's focus. Which areas of the hospital or service lines have seen the biggest drop in new patients? Which areas are still busy despite the economic downturn? Which ones are delivering the biggest profit margins? Which areas is your executive team focused on? Which campaigns are being funded and which ones are on hold? As your hospital makes strategic adjustments to address economic uncertainties, you need to be prepared to make corresponding changes in your eHealth initiatives.
• What your key stakeholders are thinking. Who are the people associated with those projects? How well do they understand the value of marketing? Are you working proactively with them to understand their goals and using marketing efforts to help achieve them? People tend to focus on the issues immediately at hand and not everyone understands what marketing does and why it's important. Creating professional relationships with these stakeholders gives you insight into the ways you can provide value.
• What's working and what's not. Which channels are you using? Which are most effective? Which audiences are you targeting? Are they responding in a way you can measure? If you're not tracking and measuring the success of your online efforts in a way that resonates with the senior leadership in your organization, you can't talk intelligently about your work and your team's value.

Once you know these things, you put yourself and your department in a stronger position. Specifically, it gives you the ability to:

• Build a (better) metrics program. Now that you know what is and is not important to your organization during this economic downturn, you can take the raw data and translate it into metrics that matter. It does involve some thought and some work, but if you want to avoid this round of cuts, having meaningful metrics (not just random data) that aligns with the goals of the organization is critical.
• Show your executives and key stakeholders the value your department delivers. It's great that you're measuring your value; now you need to communicate it convincingly. Understand how your executive leadership and key stakeholders think. What information resonates with them, and how and when do they want that information delivered? Meeting those expectations will help avoid having your eHealth programs find their way to the budget cut shortlist.
• Connect your online efforts to the key strategic initiatives of the organization. As an informed leader, you can now make sure your team is spending time and resources on the efforts that matter to your organization. Go out of your way to connect with key stakeholders and help them execute the programs for which they are held accountable. Be ruthless about shifting your budget dollars to the areas that bring value and create a clear alignment between your online plans and broader strategic priorities. I know of a company that spends a fair amount of its marketing budget on outdoor advertising because the CEO drives by a particular billboard on his way to work every day and comments to his marketing VP as the ads change. That's how the "success" of the campaign is measured. Your CEO isn't your target audience, and if you'll get more bang for your buck elsewhere, make the change that's needed.
• Demonstrate that marketing-related activities are not optional. Make it your mission to educate your organization that your eHealth initiatives are every bit as important as key service lines. Many hospitals have seen demand for services slowing as people delay non-essential treatments or surgeries. But the people who need care are still trying to figure out where to get that care. Chances are good that your hospital is still in a share fight in your market space for those patients. In that light, now is not the time to cut the connection to those potential customers.

Of course, even the best efforts won't guarantee that your team won't be negatively impacted by the economic downturn. But being a proactive leader will help you make strategic and tactical decisions that align your activities with those goals of the organization and allow you to prove the value of your hospital's eHealth initiatives.