How To Market Wellness & Primary Care

The changing face of primary care and wellness marketing

Between a growing population of senior citizens who increasingly need care and a sudden increase of newly insured patients under The Affordable Care Act, primary care physicians are in demand. Hospitals want to acquire them to increase marketshare and reduce hospital admissions, and the government wants them to educate patients on wellness and preventive care. The healthcare marketing funnel is changing, with primary care becoming the entry point and service line marketing only targeting niche audiences.

In this post, we will discuss the evolution of primary care and how to market it to healthcare consumers.

Care providers to care managers: the evolution of primary care

The primary care physician is the lynchpin in ensuring accountable care success. Many studies have shown that a surplus of access to primary care results in improved population wellness, a decrease in patient readmissions and emergency room visits, a decrease in unmet care needs, and a decrease in care costs. Now that millions more Americans are insured under the Affordable Care Act, primary care physicians are needed more than ever to treat these new populations. In addition, we have an aging population that increasingly needs care more frequently, and a decrease of primary care physicians coming out of medical school.

Under these changes put in motion by healthcare reform, primary care physicians take on the role of care manager, instead of care provider, by empowering patients to maintain their health in between appointments. In theory, when the care of a specialist or an inpatient procedure is necessary, the primary care physician will be the one to refer that patient to an office or hospital within their health network. Primary care offices will serve as the gatekeepers of downstream procedures to make sure hospitals and specialists are only treating patients who really need it. However, until this is a reality, patients still have a lot of care choices, including whether they want to see a traditional primary care physician, or get treated where they shop.

Local pharmacies, such as Walmart and Walgreens, now offer primary care services such as screenings, immunizations, urgent care, diagnoses, and scripts, all for the same cost as a co-pay.

“Pharmacy services have evolved from strictly dispensing medications to offering services such as medication therapy management, medication education, improving medication adherence, administering immunizations, and health/wellness” (Nosta, p. 1).

With conveniences such as longer hours and walk-in appointments, what is to stop a patient from relying on one of these services? This increased competition will cause hospitals and physician practices to change their marketing strategy to attract patients on the ground level and differentiate themselves from the big box primary and urgent care services.

Learn more in our white paper, 11 Ways to Effectively Market Primary Care Services.