Hospitals are won or lost before they open

Most hospitals fail not because their doctors are not skilled. Some fail because they did not build the business around the doctors they hired.

That sounds strange in the healthcare space. But when medical entrepreneurs begin the conversation about building a hospital, it most often focuses on the land, the construction, the equipment, the departments, and the doctors.

Few stop to think about the more vital conversation: how will they build awareness, credibility, and preference in the market?

That is where strategy comes in

A hospital needs to deliver clinical excellence. It must also build a business model, design a patient experience, and develop a brand and patient acquisition strategy that will lead to consistent revenues and a predictable stream of patients.

I feel strongly that hospital marketing should begin before the hospital even opens its doors. Your company name, positioning, web presence, Google presence, physician brand building, reputation strategy and patient acquisition approach should all be part of the strategic planning process.

Because the opening of the hospital is not an end but a beginning.

Sometimes the most important decisions are made long before you open your doors to the public.