3 challenges for preventing effective deployment of Digital Marketing in Healthcare

When it comes to using digital marketing for healthcare, patients have always been at the forefront. Health, as we have repeatedly seen, is the second most searched for topic on all search queries. Consumers make use of the latest Apps, technologies and tools to enhance their self-care, monitor and track their condition and collect data about their fitness.

A common complaint has been that service providers have been late to the party. However there are some real issues that prevent the effective deployment of Digital Marketing services when it comes to Healthcare at the Service provider front. Chief among these are:

1. HIPAA

As far as the healthcare industry is concerned, the biggest barrier to adoption of digital marketing comes in the shape of HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Unlike other industries, healthcare is severely regulated and service providers (including healthcare marketers) must toe the line defined by HIPAA when it comes to the use of Protected Health Information. Since HIPAA has far-reaching powers most marketers prefer to err on the side of caution rather than risk falling afoul.

2. Data/Privacy Concerns

Since Healthcare institutions have traditionally been prevented by Acts like HIPAA from gathering and storing data, many of them are ill-equipped to deal with the reality (and possibilities) of big data. Even non social/cloud data, restricted to offline CRM systems are woefully inadequate and several organizations aren’t even ready to be able to use their available data for marketing campaigns.

A 2015 study conducted by Econsultancy in association with Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide and OgilvyRED found several startling issues with data storage and usage in the healthcare field.

Extract from “Organizing Healthcare Marketing in The Digital Age”

3. Too many stakeholders

Healthcare is not a simple field. There are several stakeholders involved in it ranging from the patients themselves, their care-givers, Hospitals, Medical Professionals, Insurance Companies, Public Health Organizations, Pharmaceutical Companies among others.

All of them bring their own concerns to the table. Additionally, while marketers may be able to control and influence one aspect of healthcare, they may be stonewalled by another aspect beyond their control. A case in point is the ability of Hospital marketers to position their hospital as the best when it comes to offering quality care and treatment options. However, a section of patients may not be able to access this quality care as that particular hospital is not empanelled with their insurance service provider.

The same is the case with a Pharmaceutical marketer. They may be able to extol the virtues of a particular drug and provide proof of its efficacy. Again, this may not be accessible to a section of targeted patients due to regulations preventing comparative marketing. This severely restricts what marketers can do and hampers their ability to use the proven efficacy of digital.

These are just some of the challenges facing Healthcare Digital Marketing. It's not that Digital Marketers in the field are unwilling to use the benefits that Digital offers. These sorts of issues prevent them from doing so. However, there are even bigger concerns (including the undeniable Trust factor) which we will deal with in another post.