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Tag: Digital Health

Strengthen Your Health Care Brand During Your Digital Transformation

Posted on by Sara Gaviser Leslie

Room for Digital Transformation for Health Care Brands

You’ve probably had a friend tell you about her amazing physician. But did you ever hear anyone brag about their health insurer? Unlikely.

Overall, individuals are pretty happy about the quality of care. What they complain about is customer service. According to the Advisory Board, the top patient complaints include: communication (53%), long wait times (35%), medical practice staff (12%), and billing (2%).

Fortunately, powerful organizations—companies who see shortcomings in today’s system—recognize the room for improvement. The triumvirate of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase say they want to disrupt healthcare and we all eagerly await their solution.

Of course, the existing system operates at a disadvantage to the growing cohort of startups. These companies have no legacy technology baggage and are digital-first. Fitbit, Apple, and Omada Health offer individuals new ways to manage their overall fitness and health. Others focus on corporations and companies—the major healthcare payers – that watch the costs of care for their employees rise exponentially. For example, Collective Health helps self-insured companies manage their healthcare investment and support operations. Another, Lyra, helps companies and their employees connect directly to mental health providers.

Don’t Wait Around for Transformation, Start Strengthening Your Brand Now

Not all health care companies have the luxury of starting with an all digital approach. In fact, the biggest, most important players don’t. It’s why traditional healthcare providers, insurance companies, hospitals, and clinics are all in the midst of a digital transformation. This doesn’t mean, though, that they—or you—should wait until after a this transformation is complete before you start making changes to your brand.

Take the opportunity to strengthen your brand so your customers are still there when you make that transformation a reality. Here’s how.

1. Make the Process Feel Good

A great place to start when looking to build a better process is to think about how you want to make people feel. Maybe your customers now feel frustrated? Unconfident? Even anxious? How can you make them feel optimistic? Even calm and confident?

The midst of a transition is the perfect time to start thinking about this. Focus on building a more frictionless process and making quick changes across the board that make for a more positive experience.

Ask questions like: How can we make it easier for customers to access the information they need? How can we better understand how they can prevent illness? Get in touch with a doctor or nurse when they need? Or even pay a bill more quickly and easily? Can we communicate with less complicated, more human language? Can we better train our people to act with empathy and patience?

It’s these small changes that will help build the frictionless experience people now demand from the brands they pledge loyalty to. And making the experience feel good can sustain your brand and ensure you keep your customers while you’re in the midst of a digital transformation. They’ll be committed to you, and delighted when you do transform.

2. Behave Consistently

It’s great when a health care brand says they “care about their patients”. But when a customer calls and has to go through multitudes of layers just to get a terse answer to their question and can’t even understand the coverage they signed up for months before, the brand loses credibility.

So while you’re in this transition, ask yourself what promises you make your customers. Are you living up to those? How can you better behave at every touchpoint? How can you really act like you care?

People don’t want the health care brands they buy into to be unpredictable. And businesses in the middle of change tend to let all rules go to the wayside. Just because you’re in the middle of digital disruption, doesn’t mean you don’t need guidelines for the present. Behave in line with your core values and make sure your behavior at every touchpoint lives up to what you promise the people you want by your side when you do transform.

3. Employees – Activate Small Wins

As your company invests in cutting-edge technology, dedicates time and resources to innovation, and prepares itself for a digital transformation, it’s integral that employees know and understand what’s important right now.

Leaving employees behind for a future state that is yet to come is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. When you are clear and transparent with employees about what they should be focusing in on and why, they can activate small wins.

It’s easy to think that change comes in one fell swoop. But small, incremental changes can make worlds of difference—especially in struggling industries with low trust, low convenience, and low brand loyalty. Employees are the people who are going to build that trust, leverage that convenience, and help build loyalty. Look to them and communicate with them about what matters.

There’s Always Need for Improvement

Health care is ripe for disruption because people want something more. Whether it’s a frictionless experience, a more empathetic brand, or a clearer and easier way forward, you can start delivering people what they want while you’re in the midst of a digital transformation. Ask yourself what should happen while you wait. What can you do to make improvements today?

Consider how you can better behave, better connect, and better build meaning with the people most important to your business. And dedicate time, energy, and resources to making those changes. Small changes can bring big rewards. By focusing on what you can change now, you’ll be more ready for digital disruption later—with a better process, a better way of communication, a better strategy, and better people behind you.

If you need help creating and implementing strategic change, please reach out.

Other posts you may enjoy on the subject are Digital Health: A Future With Millennials, and Why Digital Health Brands Need a B2B2C Strategy

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy and design agency in Oakland, California.

Digital Health: A Future With Millennials

Posted on by Saja Chodosh

Digital Health

At Emotive Brand, our work with purpose-led healthcare companies has expanded our vision of how digital health can change people’s relationship with how they manage their health. Today, most patients, across all generations, still depend on long-established ways of connecting with healthcare providers. According to Salesforce’s report, “2015 State of the Connected Patient”, 76% of people call to set up appointments, 62% rely on a doctor to keep track of personal health data, and 40% review the data with their physician in person. However, this is changing rapidly and the future of health looks different.

Infusing technology into healthcare management is revolutionizing the healthcare industry in new and valuable ways. From downloading the latest health-tracking app to taking out loans to get through medical school to going on social media to express their frustration with the state of healthcare as a whole, millennials are deeply engaged in their health management and their needs are center of change in the digital health industry. According to Salesforce’s report, around 70% of millennials want to increase the use of mobile devices, apps, wearables, 3D printing, telehealth, and other cutting edge devices to streamline and improve the way they interact and manage their health.

We’ve learned the phrase “digital health” means different things to different people, and this post focuses on what it means to millennials. As a millennial myself, I am interested in the impact of digital health on doctor-patient relationships. How do, or might, advances in digital health change the relationships we have with our doctors? And, as a result, where do millennials see the future of digital health heading?

I reached out to my peers and what rang true for them was this: Across the U.S., millennials believe that by putting more focus on the individual patient’s needs and feelings, digital healthcare technology can make healthcare more personalized, empathetic, streamlined, and meaningful.

The following are the additional top-line findings I gathered from the responses I received.

1.Millennials value digital health because it helps them better manage their health, making millennials feel more connected to their personal well-being.

Millennials consider digital health to be a system of platforms, devices, and technologies that have become integrated into the way we manage, digest, and interact with our health. Commonly cited examples of digital health include health tracking devices like FitBit, self-diagnosing websites like WebMD, doctor communication platforms likened to , and apps that make it easier to make appointments, order medication, store individual health data, and recommend preventative health measures. It means convenient communication with doctors, streamlined healthcare, personalized information and counsel, and individualized and private health tracking. These technologies help keep us connected with the information and the experts essential to managing our personal health.

2. Millennials have different and sometimes non-existent relationships with their doctors, but they believe digital health has the potential to change that.

Because millennials are switching cities, jobs, and budgets more than any other generation, going to the same doctor year after year is rare and oftentimes unsustainable. In fact, according to Salesforce’s report, millennials are the least likely of the generations to have a permanent physician, and are generally frustrated with filling out repetitive forms, the time wasted waiting in sterile doctor’s offices, and muddling through the murky waters of choosing a suitable health insurance plan. Oftentimes, being busy or not wanting to deal with the hassle of going to a doctor leaves millennials skipping check-ups, self-diagnosing illnesses, frequenting urgent care, or calling their family’s doctor to address their needs.

But digital health offers a potential solution. Millennials are interested in a world where they can text their doctor or Skype with their physical therapist. They wonder why making an appointment isn’t as easy as sending money over Venmo. They marvel at the possibility of swiping a card containing all their health data (like a credit card) at the doctor’s office. They search for apps to help them find the best doctors in the vicinity with reviews from their peers. Millennials ask, “What if, instead of spending that hour waiting to see the doctor,  we went out for a run?” Overall, millennials crave connectivity without having to go through the hassle of trying to connect, and they believe advances in digital health can make such connections  more reliable, accessible, and valuable.

3. Millennials believe that the digital health technologies that focus on personalization hold tremendous value.

Oftentimes, the frustration of health insurance and healthcare providers can leave millennials feeling out of control and discouraged with the system. Conversely, devices that encourage reaching goals and keeping on track make millennials feel like they play an active role in their health. Digital healthcare that gives this sense of control is of great value to millennials. Millennials want digital health to integrate seamlessly into their lives. They want technologies to feel like they were made for them.

As a result, digital health brands that focus on the consumer have a real opportunity to resonate within the millennial market. Millennials are downloading health-tracking apps at rapid rates and searching carefully for the best healthcare suited to their personal needs and lifestyles. In short, millennials care about health. They care about our health and want doctors, insurers, products, and technologies that feel like they care, too. Many also want to be doctors, others work for insurance companies, or aspire to create new technologies that encourage this level of empathy, attention, and care. Because there are so many layers in the healthcare consumer experience, there is a huge opportunity for digital health brands to make an impact by making sure every touchpoint feels focused on the consumer.

4. The future of healthcare hinges on digital technologies, coupled with an empathetic approach.

Millennials see digital health as a way of moving healthcare forward. The industry is full of opportunity and potential. And healthcare technology encourages collaboration amidst the often disparate parts of the healthcare industry. It puts a needed focus on preventative health, enabling individuals to be more proactive about their health. Many millennials believe that the future is a world where all health information will be digitally stored and safely accessible. Data will be in real-time, with constant collection, analysis, and recommendations.

However, some millennials worry that the shift to digital health could mean that personalized healthcare becomes even more dehumanized. This is why so many millennials believe that companies, hospitals, and insurers alike need to restore focus on the person. Empathy is the key here, and millennials believe that successful healthcare is empathetic healthcare. If digital health is used to create, encourage, and manage empathetic healthcare, we will move towards the future in the right way. Brands that innovate with empathy in mind will gain the respect and loyalty of millennials – moving healthcare forward by putting patient care front and center.

This is the sixth installment of “Meaningful Millennials,” our ongoing series where we interview millennials on a variety of subjects that are top of mind for us in the studio.

If you are interested in contributing to next month’s discussion and you are a millennial, please email me at [email protected].

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco branding agency.

Co-Founders On Brand Strategy Today

Posted on by Paige Lansing Valle

Co-founders, Bella Banbury and Tracy Lloyd, weigh in on what matters in brand strategy today.

It’s important to remember that, in the end, the age-old question is always the same. Client needs all come down to “How do we differentiate our brand?” It’s just the way people ask the question and the way we answer the question that evolves. Here’s what we’ve been seeing more specifically in the market:

1.Heightened attention around data security:

Since 2016 was all about using data, now it’s all about safely storing and accessing that data. Gartner predicts that by 2018, 50% of business ethics violations will be related to data. There’s lot of questions and doubts about how brands are collecting information and keeping it safe. People are distrustful and worried about privacy issues. Smart brands are focused on security and smart storage. And those brands that can keep data safe, and their users even safer, are winning.

2. Even greater demand for trust:

Companies with a culture of trust have outperformed the S&P 500 by a factor of three, and high-trust companies are more than 2½ times more likely to be high performing revenue organizations than lower-trust companies. Nothing is as important as trust for any brand looking to make an impact moving forward. In 2016, we saw a lot of brands lose people’s trust, both internally and externally, in banking, in technology, in the automobile industry, and in the food industry. So this year a lot of brands are working on building and keeping trust this coming year. And this effort always comes back to brand strategy – helping brands make promises that they can keep to both build and keep the trust earned. That’s what we do.

3. Purpose divides:

The conversation around purpose-led business continues. There is more and better research coming out that supports the ideas of purpose-led business and the research supports our belief. When companies articulate and embrace a meaningful purpose or vision, their people naturally pay more attention to all the elements that drive sustainable growth. Brands that want genuine purpose to fuel innovation, culture, and business need to make sure they live authentically by it and communicate it clearly.

4. It’s all about disruption:

It’s clear that people are drawn to brands that are challenging the status quo, saying something new, and making a splash today. Whatever is it –disrupting a category, challenging the way we pay for things, changing the way we get healthcare, the retail experience – it’s all about disruption. Industries we’ve been most excited about are insurance, healthcare, wellness, and education because of this same reason. Brands that reimagine what is possible and deliver new ways of behaving will gain momentum over their competitors who remain stuck in the same thinking.

5. Digital health, on the rise:

There are many changes afoot in wellness and digital health. Last year, we saw more investing in this space and we imagine brands will need to start working harder to differentiate themselves in the next year. Right now, the future seems exciting and yet somewhat vague. This space will require digital health brands to clarify, differentiate, categorize, and tackle shifts head on. The digital health market is huge, and those brands that can figure out how clearly articulate why they matter and deliver on that promise could very well become Wall Street darlings.

6. Role of the CMO changed for good:

The role of the CMO is almost unrecognizable to five years ago. CMOs are now expected to deliver against P&L metrics, grow the top line, and drive the brand forward. Steering the brand in the driver’s seat means delivering on the brand promise. It also means ensuring all customer experiences are aligned to the brand purpose. It’s about understanding the customer journey and embracing customer experiences across all channels. So in order to compete, the CMOs of 2017 need to be brand focused, technically savvy, and data driven. They need to deliver better customer experiences and use insights to strategically deliver business growth.

7. All about brand experience:

Because expectations of brands are continually rising, smart brands are uber-focused on creating meaningful experiences. The real challenge is creating cohesive, connected experiences that resonate across platforms and at every touchpoint. These experiences drive engagement, build loyalty, and drive ROI. And brands need a clear strategy for succeeding in creating the right kind of experiences for the people they are trying to reach. Developing strategies to outline brand behavior has become more relevant for brands looking to deliver something people can count on – whether it’s B2B, B2C, or B2B2C.

As a San Francisco branding agency, we are excited to continue to help our clients develop the right brand strategies to transform brands in order to transform business.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco branding agency.

Why Digital Health Brands Need a B2B2C Strategy

Posted on by Paige Lansing Valle

B2B Digital Health Brands

Healthcare brands can never be too sensitive, too thoughtful, or too careful. B2B digital health brands need a brand strategy that addresses the needs and challenges of real people with real health challenges. It’s important to remember that no matter what your company offers, in B2B there’s still a person at the end of the line, not a faceless entity. As consumers have more and more information about healthcare through mobile applications and online resources, the demand for people-centric health brands is becoming stronger by the minute. A B2B2C strategy will make your brand more relevant and meaningful to both the businesses you sell to and the people who ultimately benefit from your product or service.

Build a Persona Map.

Before embarking on any business or brand strategy shift, it’s important to really know who your key audiences are and to be able to prioritize them. Whether you are targeting payers, providers, employers, or consumers, building a persona map helps ensure your brand is relevant to those that are most important to your success. Identify the needs, pain points, motivations, and expectations of the people you need to reach. Although your brand may sell to businesses, there’s a Benefits Manager, a Chief Medical Officer, a VP of Population Health, or Vendor Evaluator you’ll need to create a relationship with in order to be successful. By personifying your target audiences, you might find that their needs aren’t all together that different from those of consumers. Your key audience is likely looking for an effective healthcare solution that’s affordable and easy to use, just like the rest of us. After all, we’re all just people at the end of the day.

You Can’t Be Everything to Everyone.

In digital health, your business clients need to understand both your B2C and B2B value proposition. The business messages need to include things that they care about: return on investment, data capabilities, cloud services, trends, and insights. On the other hand, consumers care more about, and are more focused on the end goal of living a healthier life. Your brand can’t be everything to everyone. A B2B2C brand strategy enables the brand to express its narrative to all audiences in the most appropriate ways.  It uses brand-level messages to speak to the big picture aspirations of people. Meanwhile, your B2B messages become more effective when focused on the product or service offering that your sales team can take to market.

Shift Your Brand Strategy Toward People.

Targeting your brand-level messages on the needs, motivations, and aspirations of people means connecting your brand narrative and visual identity to those people as well. A B2B strategy that focuses on actual people is inherently more meaningful because it empathizes with their real healthcare challenges. B2B brands with a B2B2C strategy create a strong emotional impact and, in turn, are more relevant to the people with the most influence: consumers.

And You’ll Create Value for Businesses AND Consumers.

Remember, in healthcare it’s consumers who call the shots. Whether your organization is offering a digital health software platform, a medical device, healthcare data, an app, or wearable device, it needs to connect with real people. Adapting a B2B2C brand strategy will impact your business by making emotive connections to both the businesses you sell to and the individuals who ultimately choose to use it. By shifting your B2B strategy toward people, you will create a more emotive brand that businesses will latch on to.

Emotive Brand is interested in talking with digital health brands about developing more meaningful brand strategies. If you are would like to learn more about our work and experience, contact us here.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy firm.