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Using Patient Data to Engage the C-Suite in a Brand Experience

By The SHSMD Team posted 04-06-2021 03:10 PM

  


Making the business case for a brand can be a tall task, particularly when competing with other organization priorities such as electronic health record upgrades and hospital acquisitions. Yet, marketing leaders at LCMC Health in New Orleans found a way by connecting the dots between brand experience data from consumers and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) patient scores to speak the C-suite’s language.

A few years ago, leadership at LCMC Health was looking to the future and its path to growth. The brand and the experience were fragmented as the result of five different hospitals, each with unique histories and cultures, coming together as a system to better serve a diverse group of geographies and communities.

LCMC Health needed investment in brand development to clarify what the organization was and what it stood for and to make the case for brand as a business growth priority to bring executives on board as part of the organization-wide effort.

Digging into the Data

To start the process, LCMC Health connected with the Denver-based brand experience agency Monigle to analyze data in its brand experience database, a compilation of over 100,000 consumer responses and evaluations of more than 200 health care brands.

Monigle aligned the brand experience data with publicly available HCAHPS data from hospitals across the country to correlate experience attributes with HCAHPS performance. The team then dug deep into what was happening in New Orleans to understand where LCMC Health could make the biggest impact.

The team found a strong correlation between HCAHPS performance and key experience features, such as having the “best people.” Deploying this people-first focus was also a main driver of future brand choices and brand advocacy, as were innovation and quality outcomes.

This analysis pointed to people as a core aspect of the new LCMC Health brand, and much of the team’s work in building the experience was about amplifying the contributions of LCMC Health employees across all of its diverse facilities. This information was also central in discussions with the organization’s CEO and C-suite team about brand investment.

Putting It Into Action

With a strong foundation in the data, the marketing and communications team brought the new brand and culture to life. The brand strategy, brand platform and HCAHPS research findings were distilled into tangible tactics that were energizing, differentiating and, most importantly, effective.

The investment in brand is paying off. Since the brand launch, LCMC Health has seen double digit gains in brand metrics, steady growth in market share and sustained growth in internal engagement scores.

The 2019 brand launch campaign highlighted the organization’s extraordinary people and their personalities, with a punch of color inspired by the system’s hometown of New Orleans. It was not a typical “people” health care campaign. LCMC Health avoided traditional, stale images of health care providers in white coats or a sterile hallway appearing “clinical and serious.” Instead, the “best people” concept of the brand campaign focused on compassion, connection and people as unique individuals. The vibrant and warm brand gave LCMC Health permission to be creative in how it presented itself to the community.

An example of that is one of the organization’s traditions, “second lining.” A second line in New Orleans is when revelers follow the “first line” of musicians in a parade, carrying elaborately decorated umbrellas. Brand launch day featured live music from brass bands and a gift from a frontline staff member to the CEO, a handmade umbrella with the new logo. When the system recently acquired a hospital, the organization kept the second line tradition going and presented the hospital’s CEO with a branded second line umbrella.

LCMC Health was successful in its brand experience journey by identifying the important connection between its experience attributes and HCAHPS scores. For the organization, the brand has been more than just a logo and recognizable colors. It has provided a way to elevate and celebrate its 10,000 employees, create a sense of belonging and pride, and build confidence in the community.

Learning More

Hear more from LCMC Health and Monigle during the SHSMD Education sponsored webinar How to Build a Human-Centered Brand Experience: New Vol. 4 Insights, Inspirations and Successes on April 28. The fundamentals of health care have not changed, but health care leaders will need to double down on their commitments to brand and experience to be successful.

SHSMD members can read the full article about LCMC Health’s use of consumer data to develop a brand strategy in the most recent edition of Spectrum. Nonmembers, learn more about SHSMD and join. SHSMD members can also share resources, ideas and questions with peers in the MySHSMD community.

Building a Successful PR Strategy to Support a Brand Transformation looks at strategic approaches for rebranding at the national and market levels, including media relations, internal communications, social media and event planning.

The Power of Purpose-Driven Branding in the Age of Disruptive Innovation describes one health care organization’s development of a technology-based brand focused on innovation and leadership.

From the Billboard to the Exam Room: How to Deliver on the Promise of Your Brand is a webinar about best practices for creating alignment and delivering on organizational promises — as well as pitfalls to avoid.
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