Just 60% of health systems chief information officers say they believe health IT marketers understand and market to their own needs, a new report finds – in a new report. when 55% said that marketers could better understand the problem they were trying to solve.
Here are some of the findings of a report titled, The 2023 Healthcare Technology Marketing Guide: Marketing and Sales for Health System CIOs, surveyed 20 health system CIOs. The report is a product of the Merritt Corporation and 72Point’s research arm, OnePoll.
The Merritt Group is a women-led strategic communications company celebrating its 25th anniversary. As a mid-sized agency, it has a dedicated healthcare operation and specializes in public relations, messaging, branding/creation, content strategy and creation, demand and customer generation. potential goods, etc.
Healthcare IT News interviewed Erin Erban, a healthcare professional at the Merritt Group, to dive into the survey results.
Q. What was the overarching thrust of what you discovered from the survey? What is the message the healthcare CIO is sending?
ONE. What we discovered is that many vendors are not connecting meaningfully with the CIO the way they think – or hope – with their current marketing efforts.
CIO wants vendors to do more research and give real voices understand the reality of working in a health system – or better yet, the voices operating within a system. CIOs want suppliers to make it easy for them to learn about the value and impact of their products through concise, easy-to-understand content.
And instead of just self-serving and advertising, vendors should present evidence regarding how their solution can help – not just an idea. Surveyed CIOs also made it clear that cost and ROI were paramount, which is no surprise given the current environment in the healthcare industry.
q. Where do health system CIOs look for new supplier products?
ONE. Our survey found that the top place where CIOs get information about new health technology products is events – it’s surprising that we’ve heard rumors about many events yet. exactly like the pre-COVID days. 50% of CIOs also say they learn about new products from their peers and colleagues, industry or third-party analytics reports, and content from the vendors themselves.
Interestingly, the leading market force influencing health technology purchasing decisions is media and news. As for where CIOs want to get their news – the most common answers are trade publications, medical journals, and business or national outlets.
Although only 50% say they get information from colleagues/colleagues/word of mouth, CIOs who seek advice from colleagues and industry influencers also report that they are heavily influenced by that information. In fact, 90% of CIOs say that key opinion leaders have a great or partial influence on purchasing decisions.
There are many different ways to reach and influence CIOs, and it is important for vendors to keep all of these stakeholders in mind in their efforts.
Q. What type of provider content do CIOs prefer the most?
ONE. When asked about preferred medical technology provider content, the top response from CIOs was online videos or informational with 75% of CIOs responding with that answer. This is a bit surprising – we certainly didn’t expect video to be the #1 answer.
Clear visuals are important to CIOs, so vendors should keep this in mind when developing content and determining what types of content will lead in pitches or at corporate events. branch.
Coming in second is the case study, which is not surprising. Proving impact through case studies is a proven method for reaching and influencing CIOs.
It is important for vendors to show their real-world value and impact, and examples of how the technology is currently working is also important – but of course there are many ways in which Vendors develop and present case studies, so it will be interesting to explore how their length affects the extent to which the CIO finds them valuable.
Vendor websites and webinars both have 60%. There’s been a lot of talk in the industry around webinar fatigue, but webinars are clearly still an important source of information for CIOs. It is important for providers to be strategic about the content in their webinars and on their websites and to ensure that the content truly meets the needs of health systems.
Q. What do health system CIOs think about the current trade show landscape?
ONE. Often, we’ve heard that many of the events held since COVID-19 haven’t achieved the same scale and impact as before – many of our health technology customers have noted. this case. It’s interesting that the health system’s CIO doesn’t seem to agree. The majority of healthcare CIOs (75%) said they would like to receive information about providers from events.
One thing we can infer from this but will warrant further discussions is that CIOs still find value in attending events as they can ask very specific questions about their own needs. They may not be answered in content, but there is also less room for vendors to “hide behind the curtain” of a sharp marketing program.
For better or worse, CEOs can draw conclusions about vendors based on how impressed they are with their representation at these shows.
Q. What should medical IT providers learn from your survey?
ONE. The top takeaway for health IT providers is that traditional PR and marketing methods are at work – they just need to be used wisely and presented in the right way.
We know media, case studies, events, videos, etc., are powerful tools, as long as the right message is woven through them. The CIO has made it clear that they want to see two main messages: cost savings and clinical validation. Spending too much time on content without them can just be a waste of time and not getting what you want.
When asked about the biggest source of conflict between them and other stakeholders regarding purchasing decisions, the top two responses were cost and clinical validation. 60% of CIOs want suppliers to lead with a cost-benefit/ROI message.
Suppliers must better demonstrate their value in these areas to make the buying journey smoother for CIOs – especially in challenging economic times where every penny is scrutinized. dual.
In every piece of content written, video created, event attended, medical IT providers must lead with ROI announcements. While newer companies in the field may not have that data, they can use patient and provider stories or demonstrate how they are working to collect it. Show that ROI and clinical impact are key to moving forward and moving health systems forward in the vendor marketing funnel.
There is certainly a lot of research done, but we hope This survey provides some valuable initial insight for mature and emerging medical technology providers developing their marketing plans for 2023.
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Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media.
