Rebranding for People, Not Patients

Will Congress repeal Obamacare and replace it with, ah, Trumpcare? Might as well ask a psychic because none of the rest of us knows what’s in those cards.

What we do know is this: while any action Congress takes will impact regulations, insurance and the terabytes of digitalized paperwork that “sweeping” changes always require, medicine is already moving forward and should not take a step back to “wait and see.” True healthcare visionaries do see the future and the focal point is care. More than treating disease and mending wounds, healthcare tomorrow will place increasing emphasis on recovery care and preventive care. We’re talking more than just health care. Healthier care.

If your enterprise is one of those already leading the way, is your brand keeping pace? More than the place where sick people go, your brand should represent the best place where all people go to get healthy and live better.

Brands that still see the people they serve as patients aren’t seeing the full picture. Individualized treatments are changing outcomes. Personalized care is changing the way people view hospitals – and should be reflected in the way a hospital views itself.

The more a healthcare entity takes a proactive approach to disease, the more the community sees it as a resource. Hands-on educational programs that target diabetes or childhood obesity, for example, by teaching proper eating habits not only add value to a community, they reduce the incidence of debilitating disease that can only be managed, not cured.

Being proactive won’t put hospitals out of business. Instead, it will produce opportunities to be more effective where they are truly needed – impacting the diseases that are difficult if not impossible to prevent. Caring for everyone, not just those of us who are sick, puts the focus on people, not patients.

Is your brand identity still rooted in getting sick people well? Or does it illustrate your vision of keeping all people well? Rebranding to emphasize people care over patient care can be your trump card, no matter what hand Congress chooses to deal.