On Sunday, March 21, 2010 the House passed President Obama’s healthcare reform bill, ending a century-long battle to change the U.S. healthcare system. A landmark victory for the Democrats, the new measure promises to expand insurance coverage to the millions who are uninsured and guarantees coverage for children with pre-existing conditions.
The bill will affect virtually every person in the nation. However, according to a recent poll released in April 2010 by the Kaiser Family Foundation, most Americans do not understand the new law.
The poll found that 55 percent of Americans are confused about the law and 56 percent do not have enough information to understand how it will affect them personally. Between the inaccurate information reported by the media and the political “spins” meant to demean the bill, such as the idea of “death panels,” this is not surprising.
Which makes this an ideal time for healthcare companies to step up to the plate and help their customers get a better handle on the health reform bill, while leveraging it for their own marketing efforts. In addition, organizations have the opportunity to utilize the new legislation to build customer loyalty and a stronger affiliation with their brand by providing customers with resources, insights and tips on what to expect over the next few years—as the provisions of the bill become effective—by directing them to the company’s website.
Here are some tips for healthcare organizations to leverage information around the healthcare reform bill in there marketing/PR programs:
• Post information about the bill on your company website. Provide materials such as cheat sheets and guidelines explaining the law and how it will affect each age group.
• Provide a timeline on the website of when each provision of the bill will go into effect.
• Offer links to online resources, such as the FamiliesUSA or Department of Health and Human Services, where people can get information about affordable health insurance in all 50 states.
• Seminars/webinars/podcasts are great platforms to really engage with your customers. They allow you to discuss specific parts of the bill that are confusing to people of all age groups and what your company offers. At the end of each session you can dedicate 10 minutes for a Q&A by a panel of professionals and experts that relate to your company, products and services. Be sure to post the series on the company website so that your customers can download them and share with others.
• Offer your customers a free hotline/email to a service center where they can ask further questions.
It is extremely important that all marketing materials include correct facts and accurate information. Inaccurate content produced by organizations can diminish credibility and their audience’s trust. In many cases, these types of marketing materials may be the first time people interact with your company. So make sure you have your facts checked and are providing valuable information.
Like this post? Subscribe to our RSS feed and get more!
For more public relations insights ….
Thank you for taking this chance to mention this, I’m strongly about it and I reap the benefits of learning about this subject. If at all possible, when you gain data, please update this web site with new information. I’ve discovered it extremely useful.
We will continue to post blogs on healthcare reform as time goes on and positives and negatives make themselves known. This is truly a venture into unknown territory and we will do our best to sort through the chaff to bring our readers the wheat. Hope you signed up for the RSS feed so that you can keep notified as we post new information.
Hi! I found your blog on Yahoo.It’s really well written and it helped me a lot.
Continue the good work!
i wouldn’t have supposed this had been neat a handful of years in the past but it is crazy just how age shifts the manner of how you have an understanding of a variety of ideas, many thanks with regard to the article it truly is enjoyable to read something sensible occasionally in lieu of the typical trash mascarading as a blog on the web
Nice! Just wanted to respond. I thoroughly loved your post. Keep up the great work on http://www.scottpublicrelations.com .
Hi there, I found your web site via Google while searching for a related topic, your web site came up, it looks good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hi there, I discovered your blog via Google while looking for a related subject, your site came up, it seems good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
A big thank you for your blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Keep writing.
Real nice layout and great content , practically nothing else we want : D.
ask.com…
Marketing Tips for Healthcare Companies Post Healthcare Reform – Einsight…
balance diet…
Marketing Tips for Healthcare Companies Post Healthcare Reform – Einsight…
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really
enjoyed browsing your blog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again very soon!