*KIM MICHAEL (author) is a thirty-five year veteran of the healthcare industry, author, and VP of IMCS Innovative Managed Care Solutions.
When I began marketing for Innovative Managed Care Solutions, a consulting firm in Franklin, TN, it seemed only natural to reach out to CFOs and Finance departments. Managed care reimbursements, after all, tend to be the life blood of most healthcare providers (even smaller ones). And as healthcare has evolved, payer contracts have grown more complex and increasingly biased in favor of healthcare insurers, to the point that many small to medium sized hospitals are being left behind. Yet, despite the fact that hospitals continue to close at record rates due to rising costs and diminishing cash flow, “managed care” remains the one area where providers still have some control over the revenue they generate.
What I did not expect was the reluctance of most providers to even talk about their contracts. One of the most difficult tasks in marketing, particularly healthcare marketing, is calling someone you don’t know (and who doesn’t know you), to talk about a solution to a problem they either don’t know they have, or one they don’t want to admit they have. It’s a little like Woody Allen wanting to belong to a club who wouldn’t have someone like him as a member. And truth be told, most hospital administrations even remotely satisfied with the contracts they already have, will often side step the issue entirely. And more often than not, when they do, they end up leaving far more on the table than they realize.
Now, I readily admit, people in hospitals get barraged with constant sales calls. So much so they become numb to even that one company or salesperson who really has something of value to offer them. And yet, our company has continued to grow despite the level of pushback that I see and I was curious as to why.
FINDING THE HUMAN CONNECTION:
Reviewing our client list I quickly saw almost all of our new growth came from organizations who already knew who we were. Relationships that grew out of recommendations, or referrals, or by people who took us with them to their new positions and their new hospitals. And in each case, there was a “human” connection that made another relationship possible.
It’s called “organic growth”, and perhaps the only type of growth that can occur in a market primarily driven by “sensitivity” and “emotions”. And yes, I discovered our target audience was ground zero, where hesitation, guilt and even fear become major players in a complex “cause and effect” confrontation.
So why is there so much sensitivity? No one wants to admit that they don’t know if their rates are good or if their terms are reasonable; or that they are uncomfortable negotiating with major payers like Blue Cross or United Healthcare. Sometimes it comes down to being “uncomfortable” with internal issues like having “lost” contracts, or not knowing when contracts were last updated, or even admitting that denials and reimbursement issues are going through the roof and no one knows what to do about it. These are all “guilt factors”, reasons that make it difficult for people to admit they need help. And what most executives in these situations don’t realize is–they are not alone. More often than not, they are the result of “what is”, rather than the exception.
And then, there is the most daunting stumbling block of all…THE COST. Having a high powered managed care professional on staff is expensive and often they make as much or more than any in the C-Suite, and if a hospital is small and doesn’t have the patient volume to merit the added expense, it’s a hard sell for a provider knee-deep in a diminishing revenue stream to accept.
MARKETING TO THOSE WHO DON’T WANT TO BE “SOLD”.
So what does this all mean? Executives have to get to a point where they want to “right the ship”. It’s like the old joke, “How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one…but the light bulb really has to want to change.” The second and probably most important requisite is they want solutions that are emotionally comfortable as well as logical, and it must fit into a strategy that is both affordable and effective. And above all–they don’t want to feel like they’re being “sold” something.
So when I talk to C-Suite folks now, I encourage them to get a second pair of eyes looking at their contracts, even if it isn’t my eyes or my company. The revenue opportunities they could be missing and the exposure they can be subjecting their hospital to… just isn’t worth it. And if they can find a reputable company that will work with them on a limited basis (like ours) so much the better, they just need to make sure it has a successful track record in working with smaller providers; one that knows how to take the fundamental strengths of a hospital and the community it serves, and create a compelling strategy that can push a contract negotiation beyond the “volume only” argument that payers typically fall back on.
The Greatest Marketing Tool of All:
So…in the end, at the end of the day, and any other cliche’ I can think of, it’s about giving a provider a way to “know what they don’t know,” and a way to “get what wouldn’t have known how to ask for”. And perhaps… that is the greatest marketing tool of all.
As always, if you have any questions about this post, or any questions in general regarding managed care contracting, we would like to hear from you. I can be reached at: kim@imcsllc.net or message me through Linkedin.
Until next time.
Kim Michael
VP IMCS
