This is another one of SHSMD's blogs exploring top trends for 2020. Our first posting in the series featured trends in consumerism and patient experience.
Personalization can take place anywhere and at any time during the customer journey. Ryan Younger, vice president of marketing at Virtua Health, notes that some of the common touchpoints for personalization in health care are:
- Marketing and advertising.
- Community outreach.
- Social media engagement.
- Digital channels.
- Selecting a physician.
- Communications.
- Patient portals.
- Making a first appointment.
- Walking in the door and being greeted.
- Meals and entertainment for inpatients.
- Websites.
Technically, personalization is often defined as something that an organization does for a customer without the customer’s explicit guidance, while customization is based on the customer’s expressly stated preferences. For example, on a clothing website, the shopper might specify his or her size and ask to see only that size clothing. This is customization. Personalization is when the website delivers clothing choices based on the customer’s behavior, such putting natural fabrics first in the results because the customer consistently clicks more often on cotton, silk or linen items. However, the lines aren’t always that clear, especially in complex services like health care.
Younger notes that the balance between personalization and privacy is especially vital for health care. As more and more hospitals collaborate with other organizations, the hospitals and health systems need to consider not only actual privacy but perceived privacy violations, the points where even if a practice is legal, the public sees it as creepy.
Personalization for Communications
By now, customers expect emails and other communications to include their name and to be customized by at least basic demographics such as sex, age and geographic location. Many hospitals and health systems are doing more, providing targeted communications based on medical history and interests.
Websites, too, can be personalized based on the key terms that a user entered or based on the user’s behavior patterns, and social media can target content based on a user’s social media profile or answers to a quiz.
Personalization for Patient Experience
Personalization in inpatient customer services can include features such as concierge services for nonclinical needs, such as helping to find hotel accommodations for visiting family or the ability to control room temperature or request specific foods. It can also include personalized education during and after the transition to outpatient care, rather than a single information dump when the patient is leaving the facility.
Out of Industry Examples
Fashion: Stitch Fix uses a combination of automation and human stylists to send consumers personalized fashion for them to try on at home and purchase, if they wish. Sephora, a cosmetics chain, sends customers personalized recommendations based on their purchase history and – an important point when too much customization can seem creepy or if a customer uses cosmetics because of perceived facial flaws – says straight out that recommendations are based on purchase history.
Hospitality: A panel of hospitality experts discusses whether personalization is alive or dead, responding to a provocative analysis by Gartner saying that 80 percent of marketers will abandon personalization by 2025. Most say that it is very much alive and describe its importance and how their organizations are providing advance personalization. Mojo Coffee provides the experience of a small, intimate coffee shop, with baristas who remember customer names and preferences, and deliberately doesn't provide wifi, to promote conversations and engagement.
Strategic questions to ask
✔ What is our organization's priority for this trend?
✔ Where are we now?
✔ If there is a gap, what are the steps to bridge it?
For more information and inspiration, check out SHSMD's full collection of resources on patient experience. SHSMD's tools on the topic include presentations, articles and case studies, webinar recordings and reports.
For insight into five-year trends, read SHSMD’s Futurescan, free for SHSMD members.
Want to discuss this trend, ask colleagues about who's doing what, validate your thinking with peers or share your perspectives? Please join the discussions on MySHSMD, a lively members-only discussion list.