Best Practices for Marketing Hospital Quality

Your hospital’s doctors and nursing staff work hard to provide high-quality care — why not emphasize that in your marketing messaging? Here are five tips for marketing hospital quality.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), quality of care embodies six pillars — safety, efficiency, timeliness, equity, integration, and patient-centeredness. Hospital staff must provide health care that is quick, effective, and reflective of each patient’s unique health profile and socio-economic background to earn high marks in hospital quality.

Both new and current patients rank quality as a key differentiator among health systems, and for good reason. Healthgrades found that patients treated at hospitals included among America’s 250 Best Hospitals between 2018 and 2020 had a 27.8 percent lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals that did not receive this award, as measured across 19 rated conditions and procedures where mortality is the outcome.¹ Ensuring that your hospital goes above and beyond shows patients that quality of care is an ongoing top priority, boosting patient trust and driving long-term conversion and retention.

To keep your hospital’s stellar performance top of mind when consumers are choosing a doctor, follow these best practices to incorporate hospital quality into your marketing messaging.

Making Hospital Quality a Marketing Priority

A hospital’s performance speaks for itself, but glowing patient reviews and quality awards certainly help amplify that message. Still, you shouldn’t stop at receiving praise — you should actively promote it. Here are five ways you can maximize your hospital’s outreach by emphasizing its quality of care:

1. Underline the Patient Experience: Health care is personal, and patients expect hospital staff to be compassionate and understanding during a time when they feel most vulnerable. One study found that positive testimonials sway 72 percent of consumers, so incorporating anecdotes from patients who’ve benefited from your hospital’s care into your social media and website campaigns will place your hospital on patients’ radars.
2. Use Social Media as a Display Wall: Our world is digital, so take advantage of it! Share your hospital’s achievements with followers on social media by showing behind-the-scenes glimpses of how your hospital staff made it happen. Be sure to use hashtags and link these posts to landing pages on your website for easy routing. 
3. Incorporate Quality as a Recruiting Tool: Besides patients, physicians also find it important to gauge hospital quality when finding a job. According to a recent survey by CompHealth, 39 percent of doctors believe hospital reputation is an important factor in job satisfaction. By promoting your hospital’s reputation for providing high-quality care, you can build an elite team of doctors that will drive patients to your hospital.
4. Celebrate Your Star-Studded Team: Recognize your hospital staff for all they do to keep patients happy, healthy, and safe. Taking the time to uplift and shout out nurses, doctors, specialists, custodians, administrative staff, and other pivotal team members is greatly appreciated in such a challenging industry. Show your patients who might be on their care team when they visit your hospital—studies show that 66 percent of patients will applaud your transparency.
5. Harness the Power of a Third Party: Finding outside support can help increase your hospital’s exposure and credibility. Position a physician as a thought leader and have them speak to publications on a particular health topic, or license a third-party hospital quality award like those from Healthgrades to lend your quality promotions credibility. 

Even if your hospital achieves an excellent quality rating, there’s always room for improvement. Keeping quality as the core focus of your marketing and operational efforts will show patients how committed you are to providing the best possible care.

Maintaining a High Quality of Care with Healthgrades

If your health system is looking to differentiate your high quality care and care teams, Healthgrades can help. Healthgrades Quality Solutions provide a trusted hospital rating and award system based on the most scientific and comprehensive outcomes-focused data in the industry. Healthgrades analyzes and rates the clinical performance of nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide across more than 30 of the most common procedures and conditions, helping patients identify and find care at top performing hospitals. Promoting your Healthgrades quality awards, as over 400 hospitals have this year, reinforces your commitment to quality care, builds patient trust, and attracts more quality-conscious patients.

If you’re wondering what you can do to improve your hospital’s clinical performance, Healthgrades’ Quality Improvement Services can point you in the right direction. By comparing your performance metrics against national and ‘top-performer’ benchmarks, Healthgrades highlights what you’re doing well and provides actionable insights in areas that need adjustment so you can make targeted improvements and reaffirm the hospital’s commitment to providing quality care.

To keep patients coming back, don’t take quality for granted. Get in touch with our team today to see how your hospital’s quality of care measures up and learn what you can do to keep striving for excellence.

¹Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2018 through 2020 and represent 3-year estimates for Medicare patients only