Marketing A Laparoscopic Surgery Program

Marketing a surgery program is fraught with risks. Barring surgeons, I am yet to meet someone who looks forward to a surgery. Most people try to avoid surgery as much as they can. They will come up with all kinds of excuses including astrological considerations, the weather not being right (it is either too hot or cold or raining) or waiting for a son or a daughter who lives abroad to arrive before they can go under the knife.

The fear of surgery is universal and whatever the surgeon might say (I have done it a thousand times, I do it every day etc.), the fear of surgery just does not dissipate. Whatever the surgeon may say, the fact remains that patients undergo surgery only when they do not have any other medical recourse. Given a choice between a surgery and any other non-invasive medical procedure a patient will always choose the latter.

Now, marketing a surgical program, which no one wants (or at best agrees to only as a last resort) is to say the least, challenging. With the advancement of technology a whole lot of surgeries can be done using a laparoscopic techniques. This is indeed a great boon for patients, who as I mentioned earlier are extremely reluctant to go under the knife and by corollary once subjected to surgery are very keen to return home to normal life. Laparoscopic surgery, which is also at times called Minimally Invasive Surgery allows surgeons to operate with just a few holes through, which they insert a camera and other equipment necessary for the surgery. Minimally Invasive Surgery is far superior to conventional open surgery as it is a lot safer, allows faster recovery, has less chances of infection and usually involves minimal loss of blood.

To effectively market a laparoscopic surgical program it is essential that the patient understands its huge benefits. Since, patients after a surgery want to return home faster, I would suggest that we brand the laparoscopic surgery program as ‘Short Stay Surgery’ program. This is easily understood by all and has a certain appeal for patients-instead of focusing on surgery, they would rather look forward to a short hospital stay and a quick return to home. Fortunately, many surgical procedures done laparoscopically allows patients to return home with in 24 hours, which is just great.

Once the program is branded as ‘Short Stay Surgery’ program the other benefits of the program must be highlighted all flowing into the core benefit of a short stay in the hospital. The surgeons in their spiel should highlight this aspect of surgery as much as they can. This is not to say that they should gloss over the risk factors of the surgical procedure, it is just that the prospect of a possible shorter stay in the hospital will make the patient feel a lot better.

The advertising communication should highlight facts such as faster recovery, minimal scarring, less pain, low blood loss and less chances of infection as clear advantages of laparoscopic surgery. It should then connect this up with the core benefit of a shorter stay in the hospital. I believe such an approach can go a long way in popularising minimally invasive surgery and patients will actively seek a surgical intervention at the right time rather than wait till there is an emergency and waiting may no longer be possible.

The tonality of messaging is just as critical as the message itself. One has to be very careful in not sounding over enthusiastic and too keen in the advertising. One must remember that inspite of all the advantages of laparoscopic surgery, it still is surgery. From a patient’s perspective this involves a detour to the hospital and the attendant risks can not be just wished away. The communication must be couched in a language, which is solicitous, understanding and educative. It should connect with the patient and help him understand that the short stay surgery program lessens risks significantly and allows him to get over the medical crisis faster.

The use of media of course depends on the budget available with the hospital. Print, Television, Outdoors, Radio, digital and BTL can all be effectively used to create an impactful campaign. The choice of media can amplify the messaging and help more people connect with the hospital.

And choose laparoscopic surgery in time rather than wait till they are left with no choice.

The Role of Referral Fee in Healthcare Marketing

Referral Fee has always been one of the most controversial issue in the Marketing of Healthcare Services in India.
Large tertiary care hospitals derive much of their revenue from patients who are admitted in the hospital. The revenue comes from the room rent (that the hospital charges from the patients), the surgical fee, the anaesthetist’s fee, the Operating room charges, the investigations that the patients need during their stay in the hospital and the medicines and other sundry consumables that are used by the patients.
Patients who need admission rarely walk into the hospital requesting admission. They generally come through the Emergency Room (the ER) or are referred by their family physicians or other specialists who practice outside the hospital. Many a times patients are also referred by smaller secondary care hospitals or nursing homes.
Quite often the large tertiary care hospitals find themselves wooing these individual family physicians, specialists and smaller nursing homes. The wooing may take the form of a well defined relationship program, which may entail engaging the referring doctors by offering them ‘visiting rights’, free passes for CME’s (Continuing Medical Education Programs), junkets abroad mostly in the guise of International Conferences, subscription to prestigious medical journals (usually quite expensive) and lavish dinners and entertainment.
More often than not the hospitals today offer a cash payout to these doctors usually a percentage of the bill the referred patient runs up in the hospital. This payout is called the ‘referral fee’.
The referral fee is looked down upon by most hospitals. In my conversation with senior doctors and sundry hospital CEO’s I have always noticed the sneering tone in which the ‘other’ hospitals are always derided for its questionable practices. It is always like ‘everyone does it except us’. I have had the occasion to sit in meetings after meetings (usually of start up hospitals) where hospital policy is enunciated in high falutin language and the referral fee is trashed as an ‘unethical practice’, which our hospital will never resort to. Usually 6 months or less into operations the reality of referral fee raises its head and suddenly it becomes alright to pay, mostly because the other hospital across the city does it all the time.
The CEO who had almost sacked the Sales Head for suggesting Referral Fee as an option for driving sales is discreetly instructed to figur out a way to offer the fee to referring doctors. Issues regarding keeping a track of ‘referred patients’ and their bills , the network of doctors to be paid off and the exact mechanism of the payoff are discussed and finalised. The money begins to flow. All this is of course very hush hush and in public the stance always is that we have nothing to do with such reprehensible practices.
The question that really begs an answer is whether this practice is really as obnoxious as it is made out to be?
Let us examine this issue from the customer’s perspective. I as a customer would trust my family doctor to refer me to a hospital, which he thinks will provide me the best care. To send me to any other place for commercial or any other reason is clearly wrong. By doing so my family physician breaches my trust.
However, will I still object if my doctor refers me to a hospital, which he genuinely feels is the best for me and also gets paid for it? I would probably be not bothered about this kind of financial arrangement between my family physcian and the hospital.
Now if the hospital was to offer me a discount, which is equivalent to the doctor’s commission, will I still not object. Will I be okay if the hospital was to inflate its pricing by 10%, which is supposed to be paid to my doctor. The answer would be a most emphatic NO. Why should I end up paying a heftier hospital bill just because my family doctor sent me to the right hospital?
How can one be sure that a Family Physician will not end up sending a patient to a hospital, which pays him the most? It is mostly upto his conscience. The referral fee will be an inducement for at least some doctors to refer patients to a hospital, which may really not be best for him. This unfortunately my friends in the world of medicine vehemently deny. Unfortunately as long as the perinicious system of referral fee remains there is no way of ensuring that a patient will not deliberately be referred to a hospital, which may not be the best for him.
Thus I believe that the Referral Fee should not have any place in the practice of medicine. Hospitals succumbing to this practice because of pressure for early profits from their stakeholders must stand firm.The healthcare industry needs to self regulate. Maybe the government should set up a regulatory body with real powers to check and discourage these practices.
As far as patients are concerned they must encourage their family physicians to offer them choices, check out the referred doctor’s credentials and the infrastructure available at the referred hospital. Blind trust in the matter of ones health can turn out to be quite perilous.