Interviews 
 
 
 

HEALTH CARE MARKETING REPORT
INTERVIEW ON THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO HOSPITAL MARKETING

 The following interview with Patrick T. Buckley was conducted on November 15, 2007:

HMR: Why is there a need for a book that helps marketers make the
transition to healthcare?

PTB: I wrote this book to help a growing segment of professionals who had no other resource to turn to. There are a number of books on health care marketing, but really nothing that specifically speaks to this segment of professionals. In preparing for my book, I spoke with people who started out in retail business before taking health care marketing positions. Many were interested in the “humanity” side of health care marketing that they couldn’t experience in marketing widgets. Some were not shy about expressing their frustrations with health care marketing. I spoke with HCpro, publisher of my book, about my plan to write a book on hospital marketing for newbies and, as they say, the rest is history. 

HMR: What challenges do marketing professionals from other fields face
after they accept a position in healthcare marketing? Based on your
interviews, where do the difficulties lie in making the transition?


PTB: Marketers who make the transition to healthcare have some unique challenges that they must overcome in the health care business. For example, many of the principles that govern retail marketing simply do not work in healthcare like they do in the retail sector. 

For one thing, pricing is a very important role for marketers in the retail sector, whereas in healthcare, it is next to impossible for a consumer to make a price/value determination based on the quality of a service. As I say in my book, you can’t take your herniated disc to two hospitals and determine which one will be the better experience. b. Another challenge is the very democratic nature of most health care marketing decision making and the long internal sales cycle from concept to implementation. Marketers from for profit businesses are used to making decisions that do not require umpteen levels of review by people who have very little expertise in the marketing process. 

A third frustration is the marketing budget. Hospital advertisers tend to budget by project and campaign as opposed to maintaining an ongoing advertising strategy. To be effective, advertising needs to be consistent and sustained. 

Measurement of return on investment and other key quantitative measures continue to be mysterious subjects for many hospital marketers. Marketing’s direct efforts in contributing to profit margins are “squishy” when compared with for profit businesses.

HMR: Are there differences in healthcare marketing that tend to "stump"
those who come from another background? What are the areas that cause
difficulties? What's different/what's alike?

PTB: Health care’s voracious need for multiple consensus and meetings stumps them. Marketers from other industries typically are used to being able to execute campaigns without the involvement of people who really don’t know what marketing is all about. 

Many new marketers don’t realize the power of physicians and nurses—that they can make or break the marketer’s ability to execute strategies. Data management is also an area that stumps many new marketers. They find that putting together marketing analyses is not an easy task because so much of the information that’s needed must be produced by others whose timetables may not jive with theirs. 

HMR:  Are there fields that lend themselves to the transition? If so, what
are they?

PTB: Education. The professor is center of the universe, just like the doctor is center of the hospital universe. It’s not fast-paced and has similar long internal decision making cycles. Most business to business to consumer marketing has parallels to marketing for hospitals. Areas that are alike are those that involve imperfect information, highly specialized knowledge and technology, and person to person trust. Financial advisory firms would be a good example. 


HMR:  What else would you like our readers to know about your book?

PTB: The health care marketing field is fast becoming more popular among people with MBAs and people who see health care as a growing business, one that now employs roughly one of every 6 new jobs in America. They also see that salaries have improved as the field has gained more credibility over the past ten to fifteen years. This book will help younger professionals who may have a harder time breaking in.