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Biomedical subjects

S MacStravic

Publications and source records attributed to S MacStravic.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

When it comes to measuring value, few HMOs can make the grade.

Like all organizations, managed care organizations (MCOs) must deliver value to customers, and to be sure of keeping them, ensure those customers know they have gained value. MCOs can choose any mix of insurance, protection, or experience value from particular encounters with customers, or durable value from their relationship with customers. Many have done a good job of tracking and enabling employers to appreciate the impact they have had on business performance, but few have done the same for the health and quality-of-life they deliver to consumers. MCOs already participate in the delivery of significant and enduring life value to consumers. It makes sense to track and remind consumers of the positive differences MCOs make, and thereby obtain member satisfaction, retention, and loyalty benefits, as well as image improvements for managed care as a whole. Some simple and inexpensive options for both tracking and reminding consumers are offered for consideration, including personalized annual health reports.

Consumer Behavior↗
PubMed2000

Time for a change in identity?

Responses to HMO/MCO bashing have mainly been undertaken by individual MCOs addressing individual issues. An option worth considering is to seek and justify a new image by focusing on improving the overall health and quality of life of consumer members, thereby adding value for members, providers, employers, and governments, while de-fanging media and litigators. Reasons for and examples of such a strategy are presented, together with some results of this strategy where it has been used.

Community Health Planning↗
PubMed2000

The death of the four "P"s: a premature obituary.

To paraphrase Mark Twain the report of the demise of the four "P"s has been greatly exaggerated. While new concepts such as the four "R"s of relevance, response, relationships, and results may add value, the four "P"s remain essential. Moreover, health care marketing can benefit from the addition of a fifth "P," Prompting customers to adopt and repeat behaviors that benefit them, and a fifth "R," Reminding customers of the health and quality-of-life benefits they have gained from health care plans and providers.

Communication↗
PubMed1999

The value marketing chain in health care.

In health care, Michael Porter's value chain can be reconceptualized as a "Value Marketing Chain," in which value is reinforced during each step of the customer recruitment and retention process. "Value" is a concept that must jointly be defined by buyer and seller as they interact every step of the way during the process. This requires the establishment of end-to-end mechanisms for soliciting feedback from customers.

Communication↗
PubMed1999

Durable value approach may bring strategic advantage for health care organizations.

Health care, like other service industries, offers products to consumers that have "durable" value--for example, a joint replacement that enables a patient to resume activities he enjoys for a many years to come. But health care organizations have done little to make use of these durable value products, writes Scott MacStravic, a principal with Demand Engineering, who argues that adopting a durable value strategic may offer a strategic advantage for health care organizations.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.↗
PubMed1999

MCOs--you're using the wrong benefits!

If managed care organizations (MCOs) think of the benefits they offer and deliver in terms of narrow insurance coverage and limited payments for carefully circumscribed lists of health services, they miss the boat in marketing to consumers. Only by identifying, promising, delivering, and ensuring that consumers perceive core psychological benefits--a sense of security against catastrophic illness, assurance of access to necessary care, and the positive impacts on quality of life that health care can create--will MCOs realize the full potential of the real benefits consumers are after.

Advertising↗
PubMed1998

Who's your best customer?

Conventional wisdom holds that the best customers and prospects for managed care are the healthiest consumers. This is true only because of the meager extent to which premiums can be adjusted for varying risk among individuals. If a decent health/risk adjustment system were used, the best consumers for managed care to go after would be the highest-risk, highest users of health care, provided only that risk and use can be improved. The healthiest consumers have both the least potential for improvement and the least reasons for loyalty.

Capitation Fee↗
PubMed1998

Don't just deliver value, demonstrate it.

Except for the actual duration of an outpatient visit or inpatient stay, hospitals "own" no patients at all. How can population-based performance measures be calculated for a hospital that address the value it has delivered to its patients over the past year?

Consumer Behavior↗