How To Wrestle For Control – And Win

DESERT SPRINGS, CALIF. - Healthcare marketers are struggling to answer the question, "Who's going to control the industry in the next century?," especially with the growing trend of physician practice management (PPM) companies soaring at the rate of 25 to 30 percent annually, according to National Health Advisor based in McLean, Va.

Doctors, frustrated by their limited earnings potential and perceived powerlessness in a provider-based managed care environment, are jumping on the PPM bandwagon for a better shot at more money and career control.

"Many times, hospital [administrators] have 24 hours to match a physician's PPM offer," said Richard Keck, NHA's principal, to a packed room of healthcare marketers and PR pros at the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development's "Sizzling Strategies for the New Millennium" conference, held here last week.

Although PPMs are becoming huge competitive forces to be reckoned with, Keck highlighted two unique negotiating advantages hospital marketers should bring to the negotiating table when physicians are ready to bolt:

• Develop a physician-partnering plan that takes into consideration the geographic area, number of covered lives, partnering options and organizational and management structure of the hospital.
• Offer multiple options. Although PPMs may be attractive to physicians seeking greater control over their earnings, they follow a singular model that primarily relies on high acquisition (which reduces physician profitability). By contrast, hospitals can offer a host of options that range from varying employment terms (physicians as full-time/part-time staffers) to joint ventures (managed care contracts and hospital services).

Other Conference Highlights

Speaking of control, the conference also pushed some career hot buttons for PR pros that wanted to command greater R-E-S-P-E-C-T from their CEOs during the "CEO as CCO (Communications Officer)" session presented by Steven Brawley, communications director for BJC Health System (St. Louis, Mo). Crafting a singular voice for hospital systems require a vital transformation from hospital communicator to CCO, according to Brawley. His advice? Create master messages that tie your organization's core being (mission, brand position, strategic plan), find and seize opportunities for patient advocacy with your CEO (spontaneous rounds, follow up with personal letters to patient complaints), and become an employee advocate as well by welcoming new hires, celebrating employee achievements and saying goodbye properly.

And, getting on the radar screen of employers is top-of-mind for a growing number of hospitals that are pursuing direct contracts from companies (squeezing out the HMOs). Making the bold prediction that "More employers will get their healthcare plans through investment firms like Fidelity!," session presenter Steve Richter from healthcare consulting firm Watson Wyatt (Washington, D.C.) got attendees' attention. Emphasizing that employers are looking for not only healthcare value but the all-important return on investment, Richter along with Barbara Wachsman, from Watson Wyatt's Northern California division, highlighted some key negotiating strategies for hospitals that want to deal direct with employers.

By first asking "Do I work for a 'must-have' [market leader] provider?" Richter and Wachsman identified how hospitals can solve specific employer problems by providing customized integrated disability, workers' compensation and disease management packages.

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