Thinking Retail . . .

Once upon a time, I used to call my doctor’s office to make an appointment for the annual flu shot. It was always scheduled at a time more convenient for the office staff than for me (“We do shots between 10 am and 2 pm, but we’re closed from 12 to 1 for lunch.”) and even then, a 25 to 45 minute wait wasn’t unusual.

Personally, I can’t remember the last time I had a flu shot at a doctor’s office. Last year, it was done while traveling between the B & C concourses at the Charlotte Airport in North Carolina – 5 minutes, $35 and a record of the event sent to my email before I boarded the plane. My husband and I had H1N1 injections administered by a pharmacist at RiteAid on a Sunday afternoon. No appointment, no waiting.

If you haven’t yet noticed, retailers such as CVS and Walgreens are already heavy into flu shot promotion season. Here are a few lessons from the retailing of these preventive injections:

• Price is front and center – you know what you’re going to pay before you walk in the door; price points seem to be hovering in the $30 range
• Convenience is all about the consumer – CVS’s “Flu Shots Your Way” promotes your ability to “click, call or come by”
• Loss leaders drive traffic – one retail pharmacy is giving the flu shot free when you spend $30 on a core set of brand products; could there be some co-marketing spend here as well?
• Keep the paperwork minimal – at the airport kiosk, I checked ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to 5 questions and signed permission to administer
• Customer service, customer service, customer service – no additional explanation needed

All of this customer experience design is there for a $30 flu shot; what might happen if we put the same effort into a $30,000 inpatient procedure?

Marketing Innovations Frame Chief Marketing Officers' 2010 Agenda

2010 marks the beginning of a new decade – one likely to be characterized by significant change and transformation in the health industry. Converging forces of payer reform, industry consolidation, consumerism, and advanced information technologies are challenging the underlying basis for competition.

Economics are front and center, creating a compelling case for the role that marketers must play in an increasingly competitive industry. What an opportune time to establish marketing leadership as a strategy-critical business competency for healthcare organizations.

It’s that opportunity that will frame the Chief Marketing Officers’ Innovator’s Studio agenda in 2010:

• To transform marketing practice to growth-oriented strategic leadership.
• To drive value-innovation across the health system.
• To crusade for customer-centered practices.
• To build powerful, sustainable brands.
• To develop results-oriented marketing capabilities.
• To realize market success.

The year’s first on-site intensive for the Chief Marketing Officer’s Innovator’s Studio is scheduled March 22 & 23, 2010 at the Catalyst Ranch in Chicago. The deep dive topics – Innovations in Service Line Marketing and Thinking Retail– will jump right to the heart of where marketing executives can impact their health systems’ core business and improve competitive performance.

We’ll learn from experts that have achieved dramatic results from integrated approaches to business, brand and marketing strategies for clinical service lines, ambulatory and retail health services. Come prepared to brainstorm new ideas and frame out service line marketing innovations.

For more information about The Innovator’s Studio, contact me by email (kcorrigan@navvisandcompany.com) or call me at 757.640.8515.

Pre-Paid Gift Cards for Urgent Care

Solantic walk-in urgent care, the Jacksonville-based company that introduced the three-day feel better guarantee and a transparent menu board with up-front pricing, recently announced the launch of online ordering for the Solantic Card.

The cash-value card works similarly to a retail gift card, providing consumers a unique and convenient way to pay for services provided at Solantic’s 30 urgent care centers throughout Florida. Cards may be purchased in increments of $25 up to $500, and redeemed for urgent care and wellness services provided at Solantic locations. Cards also are available for purchase in Solantic centers.

The Solantic Card was created as a solution for those seeking to supplement high-deductible health insurance plans, to cover co-pays, for the self-employed, and for wellness services. It also provides an attractive option for employers who don’t provide traditional health benefits, but are looking for alternatives ways to provide medical coverage.

Just like Starbucks, card balances can be checked online and additional value can be added to the card at any time. Solantic’s prices are also posted online and in the clinic. A basic visit (defined as a minimally complicated medical condition requiring minor treatment) is $89.

Since its founding in 2001, Solantic has been a leader in applying retail concepts to the practice of urgent care medicine. The company displays wait times on queue monitors, offers online registration, and a guarantee on its services—if you don’t feel better, return to Solantic and be treated for free. They currently operate 30 centers across the state of Florida.