Do You Get a ‘Brand Feeling’ About This?

You’ve seen it in movies. You’ve heard a friend say it. You’ve probably even said it yourself. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Usually, it’s a signal to turn around and go another direction. Make a different choice. Or, if it’s a horror movie, time to get the hell out of here. Before it’s too late.

Ever get that “bad feeling” during a healthcare experience? That is a horrific moment for any healthcare brand. Because people usually will share an experience like that with their friends. Sometimes, they’ll share it with anyone who will listen. For a brand – just about any brand – bad word of mouth can be more deadly than a maniac wielding a chain saw.

I was at a very nice backyard party last week. It was a beautiful setting for a casual but definitely upper-class gathering. And that’s when I heard the woman’s horror story.

It was actually her husband who first told it. We had never met, and after introducing ourselves, we got to the across-the-patio introduction of his wife. And he immediately said how lucky she was to be there. To be anywhere, really. Last summer, she was experiencing significant lightheadedness and other symptoms, so she went to a local emergency room. She waited in the examination room, was monitored for her vitals, and after four hours, sent home. She asked the attending physician why there were no medical tests, and she said that he replied, “I watched you walk to the bathroom. You seemed ok.” Four days later, after the symptoms had gradually intensified, she was taken by ambulance to a different emergency room. There, it was determined that she would be better served at a larger medical facility. She made a choice between two and was transferred by ambulance.

Once there, the emergency room doctors conducted a preliminary examination and ordered a series of tests, beginning at the top of her head and working down. It was a matter of hours before they found a tumor in her chest. She was rushed to surgery and lived to tell about it.

And that’s exactly what she is doing. She’s telling everyone. We had never met, but not 20 minutes after her husband finished the story, she moved over to join us – and she told the same story again. Only her version was more animated and emphatic. “If I had gone back to the (first) emergency room,” she declared, “I am convinced I’d be dead today.”

Hmmmm.

Dead today. Not an enviable tagline for a hospital emergency room.

I don’t know how many times she has told her story, but that probably won’t be the last. She is very good at it. She captured my attention. And, she planted a seed of doubt about that healthcare facility. One that I will no doubt recall if I ever have the choice between going there or to a different hospital.

Healthcare brands must work hard to overcome horror stories like hers. One way is to build a reputation based on success stories. The patient and family testimonials relating the fantastic care they received. The dedicated and compassionate doctors and nurses who they met. The difference this place and these people made in their lives. Tell those stories, and do it in a compelling way so people will listen intently, just as they would at a relaxing backyard party.

Save the horror stories for the movies.