Becker's Hospital Review

26 CIO / HEALTH IT What 'won't be optional' for hospital marketers in 2024 By Giles Bruce D eploying artificial intelligence and boosting patient experience will be major focuses of health system marketing leaders in 2024. Chief marketing officers told Becker's they plan to use everything from generative AI to print magazines to give consumers more personalization and relevant healthcare content in the new year. "In 2024, marketing will undergo a significant evolution," said Shweta Ponnappa, chief marketing officer of Renton, Wash.-based Providence. "Healthcare marketers who figure out how to use AI-generated videos correctly will transform the consumer digital experience." She also pointed to a Gartner report predicting that search engines backed by AI will cut organic search traffic by 50% over the next five years. So she said "search generative experience," or generative AI- enabled search, "won't be optional" for marketing leaders in 2024. "AI-powered marketing almost goes without saying. Except — to paraphrase my old 'boss' Walt Disney — it's time to quit talking and begin doing," said Kevan Mabbutt, executive vice president and chief marketing, communications and consumer experience officer for Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health. "What's mainstream in other industries will become routine in healthcare." Also, with the challenging economics in the industry, the spotlight on marketing return on investment should only get bigger, he said: "is is a golden opportunity to be expansive, not expensive — to grow our accountability and broaden our value." Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health has already started using generative AI to create marketing content and images and personalize messaging for patients. Adam Rice, senior vice president of marketing and communications for the 142-hospital system, said he expects that work to accelerate in the new year, and for cross-department partnerships to continue. "e collaboration between marketing and IT teams will further strengthen in 2024, as they prioritize maximizing investments in MarTech stacks to enhance operational efficiency and improve the consumer experience," Mr. Rice said. He also expects "consumer-driven permissioning and preference centers" to become "essential technologies" to meld personalized patient experiences with data privacy. Cleveland Clinic, meanwhile, intends to pilot AI for marketing and communications content creation and performance, competitive analytics, social media, and podcast efficiency. "We believe these generative AI tools have the potential to transform the way we work in the future," said Chief Marketing Officer Paul Matsen. Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, which spans eight states and the District of Columbia, plans to use data and analytics to determine the best marketing approach for its local markets. "is ensures brand consistency, at the same time acknowledging the local variations that differentiate our model of care," said Kristy LoRusso, chief marketing officer of the 39-hospital system. "While there is no one- size-fits-all approach, by using the support of data and insights, common frameworks, and measurement, a customized consumer experience at scale is possible." Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger, a 10-hospital system that Kaiser Permanente has agreed to acquire as part of a new value-based care organization called Risant Health, intends to prioritize the shi to value in its marketing, concentrating on growing its health plan membership, the use of its pharmacy and patient volume at its walk-in and senior- focused primary care clinics. "To do that effectively, we need a robust set of MarTech tools, and we are focused this year to fully leverage our CRM (customer relationship management) to create personalized journeys not only for customer acquisition but for customer engagement," said Don Stanziano, chief marketing and communications officer at Geisinger. at doesn't mean Geisinger won't continue to invest in its old-school website and blog and even older-school print magazines, he said. How one health system made its EHR 'fun' By Giles Bruce O ne health system reduced the stress and burnout associated with EHR use by making a recent update to its system "fun," the American Medical Association reported. Hattiesburg (Miss.) Clinic transformed the implementation of its new EHR into an opportunity to gather, according to the Dec. 26 story. The physician-owned health system called the rollouts of Epic "happy hours" featuring EHR update-related scavenger hunts and prizes. "We turned it into a social event and we had a really great turnout," Rebecca Lauderdale, MD, Hattiesburg Clinic physician well-being champion, told the AMA. "We had people who were able to experience the changes before they rolled out. They were able to ask questions. And it just went a lot more smoothly." n

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