Extend Your Brand to Succeed Under Reform
The following is a guest blog from Anthony Cirillo:
I returned from the National Council on Aging conference somewhat dismayed. While the conference is not necessarily about long-term care, you would have thought that it did not exist at all when listening to the speakers. Most of the topics were about aging in place and care options in the community. And then, of course, health care reform was passed in the days following.
Concepts bantering about under reform include the notion of accountable care organizations, essentially a group of health care providers charged with the care of a given population. Most of this has been couched in terms of multiple hospitals (who may even compete with one another currently) as well as physician practices. But the notion could also extend to long-term care. An accountable care organization could include home health, adult medical day, DME, continuing care, assisted living, nursing homes and hospice. The whole continuum of aging could therefore be one accountable care organization that is paid for the care of a given population outside of the hospital/physician relationship.
When an organization develops complementary products and services related to its brand we marketers call them brand extensions. Given that most of the population and many of those involved in aging services want to believe that long-term care will not be needed or choose to believe it will not be needed by them, it may be smart for organizations to start thinking about their long term PR as well as survival.
By controlling more of the continuum of care, organizations will be prepared for the implications of health care reform and they will be assuring the filling of their pipeline as people progress from one level of care to another. At the same time, the consistency of the brand experience over time will help develop loyalists and ambassadors for organizations that will continue to fill the pipeline for years to come.
Anthony Cirillo, FACHE, ABC, is a health care consultant, senior advocate and blogger for Wellsphere, Medpedia and others in the area of aging, person and patient-centered care and marketing. He consults with long-term care facilities and is available for management retreats and association keynotes. He is the author of Who Moved My Dentures? His company, Fast Forward Consulting, empowers organizations to change the health care experience and leverage it in their marketing. Hear him speak this month at the Missouri and Pennsylvania Assisted Living Associations. More at www.4wardfast.com and www.anthonyssong.com.