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Checking the Pulse of Today’s Healthcare Consumer: 5 Prescriptions to Ease Patient Pain Points with Marketing 

Like most healthcare consumers surveyed in Checking the Pulse of Today’s Healthcare Consumer, Swapna Podlich, Director of Product Marketing at TEGNA, is ready to return to in-person appointments. She’s also ready to help your healthcare brand alleviate patient pain points with prescriptive recommendations to connect with new patients and reconnect with existing patients. Here are her five remedies for healthcare brands as so many Americans return to in-person appointments

Meredith Cunningham Published: April 11, 2023
Checking the Pulse of Today’s Healthcare Consumer: 5 Prescriptions to Ease Patient Pain Points with Marketing  image

Swapna PodlichBy Swapna Podlich, Director of Product Marketing at TEGNA 

Looking at a slightly blurry screen, I’m reminded that I’m overdue for an eye appointment. Like most healthcare consumers surveyed in Checking the Pulse of Today’s Healthcare Consumer, I’m ready to return to in-person appointments. I’m also ready to help your healthcare brand alleviate patient pain points with prescriptive recommendations to connect with new patients and reconnect with existing patients.  

Now that we are all ready to jump back into our hospital gowns in a return to in-person appointments, we have an opportunity to remind our partners: 

1. Video is an extremely powerful tool to demonstrate the benefits of the in-office experience. You can showcase value propositions such as shorter wait times and personalized service with video.  

2. Address insurance insecurity. While most Americans have insurance, this idea of insurance insecurity is a genuine concern and should be addressed. This can be through billing transparency or by offering payment plans, which can help answer some of those pain points that Tom Charno, Senior Consumer Insights Strategist at TEGNA, mentioned in Checking the Pulse of Today’s Healthcare Consumer: 5 Marketing Takeaways.

3. Lean into changing consumer expectations. While everybody here might appreciate a good Walmart or a CVS run to stock up on toiletries, sunblock, and greeting cards, these retailers are making strong inroads for a solid patient experience and, as a result, are now competing with medical offices for patients. So while it may be convenient to take care of many things on your to-do list, it’s important for many medical providers to lean into tech advances that can help alleviate wait times and manage patient expectations.

  • Again, video is a great opportunity to illustrate an improved patient experience while also communicating differentiating factors to encourage patients to visit your practice over retail clinics. 

4. Local news is a critical source of health information. Last but certainly not least is this whole idea and the notion that local news is not only a critical source of health information but also an arbiter of trust. These stations have higher levels of trust among viewers, and it’s a huge opportunity for healthcare brands to reach new patients. 

5. TEGNA is the best medicine. I am certainly biased as TEGNA’s Director of Product Marketing, but I strongly believe in the power of TEGNA brands to help amplify messaging and elevate your brands across our linear, streaming, and digital platforms. 

We’ve given great thought to messaging recommendations that will resonate with future patients – from big healthcare groups to subspecialties such as eyecare, dental, and cosmetics, and include communication points such as affordability and ways to ease anxiety fears returning to in-person care.  

As the cherry on top, your local TEGNA station also has incredible opportunities for medical brands to become part of our trusted lifestyle content. With this type of messaging, your brand will be able to showcase your value props and participate in our local communities, which our viewers love.  

Download Checking the Pulse of Today's Healthcare Consumer

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Let us help you move the needle – pun intended. TEGNA has a range of experience across healthcare, whether you are an office looking to advertise cosmetic surgery or working to create a hospital marketing plan. Let’s get in touch and talk about how we can help your healthcare brand navigate this rapidly changing industry to make today’s healthcare consumer say “ah.”

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