Physicians Are Your Top Brand Ambassadors!

This is definitely the age of population health – a time when the focus of healthcare is not the ailing individual, but rather the entire group to which the individual, whether healthy or sick, is connected. As a result, the role of the physician is even more vital, since he or she is so much more than the face of primary care or a specialty line. For population health and the related practice of integrative medicine, the physician has become a true healthcare partner.

This is definitely the age of population health – a time when the focus of healthcare is not the ailing individual, but rather the entire group to which the individual, whether healthy or sick, is connected. As a result, the role of the physician is even more vital, since he or she is so much more than the face of primary care or a specialty line. For population health and the related practice of integrative medicine, the physician has become a true healthcare partner.

The best way to involve your physicians in the kinds of marketing this new healthcare philosophy demands is to make them aware of just how important they are in the process of generating brand awareness. In order to accomplish that feat, keep them in the marketing loop from start to finish so they understand your campaigns and in turn they will be more likely to involve themselves in your efforts to build the brand.

• Show them the numbers –Physicians are fundamentally scientists, meaning that they rely on physical evidence to reach their conclusions. If you want them to be interested about your marketing activities, show them numbers and they will be more likely to respond.

• Be specific – Being open-ended will not work to your favor. Give them specific tasks with clear deadlines.

• Communicate your plans – Physicians are generally unfamiliar with marketing trends, so it’s important that you inform them about how hospital-related products and services are being positioned.

• Keep them in the loop – Whether you know it or not, the physician closes the sales loop, so always include him or her into the sales and marketing process, emphasizing that it ultimately affects the bottom line.