Marketing in the New Frontiers for Hospice, Care for Progressing Illnesses and “Aging in Place”

With a new year underway, Transcend Strategy Group would like to share some insights on trends we see continuing to build throughout the year – and how they affect the marketing opportunities and challenges for our clients coast-to-coast as well Transcend.

This blog entry is the first in a series that looks at hospice organizations contending with the changing landscape.

Diversifying Service Lines. Many organizations that started exclusively as a hospice provider have expanded and diversified their service offerings. Transcend sees that trend continuing. In addition to palliative care, organizations are capitalizing on their healthcare skills to offer other services including home health, transitional care and private pay nursing. Some organizations are even looking at forming or joining a community with accommodations for the needs of healthy, active seniors to assisted living to skilled nursing to hospice care, so residents can “age in place” for a considerable length of time.

These services not only can provide extra revenue streams, they can build relationships with patients and families earlier in the continuum of care. If a single organization can maintain that relationship until the end of life, they have the opportunity to provide the highest quality care at the right time while maximizing reimbursement for each patient.

But there’s more to the story. As competition continues to heat up, providing outstanding care is becoming table stakes for organizations to survive. In addition to the quality of care, what is the quality of experience each patient (and their family) receives along the continuum?

When organizations want to diversity and differentiate, they face a few crucial decisions about their branding and marketing. Should all services be named and promoted under a single master brand? Or should service line brands be tailored for their respective roles? How do you prioritize marketing budgets for the respective services? Do you target patients and families more heavily or appeal more to referral sources? How do you convey the emotional richness of the care experience you provide?

Transcend can help you sort out such matters and provide sound strategies for controlled market growth. Contact Jon Marker, business development manager, to begin the conversation.