Speaking the Language of Healthcare

Let’s face it. Healthcare is big business but in the center of it, the industry is experiencing a seismic shift.

How big is this shift becoming? According to the national Health Expenditure Report, U.S. healthcare spending reached $3.3 trillion, or roughly $11,000 per person in 2018 and continues to climb. These business statistics are not only for hospitals but include the myriad of outpatient, urgent care centers, medical office buildings (MOBs), ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), etc., that must abide by strict emergency mandates to meet compliance by their federal regulatory agencies.

Since Hurricane Sandy pummeled New York City in 2012, new and more stringent emergency management programs (EMPs) and compliance requirements have been implemented for healthcare systems. With the new mandates, plus the advent of COVID-19, cross-contamination prevention and disinfection is more critical than it has ever been in the medical arena.

Most disaster and remediation contractors have a comprehensive knowledge base of biology, microbiology and how cross-contamination occurs in the built environment. Additionally, implementing best practices for cleanup and knowing when to use negative and positive pressurization is crucial in healthcare. Cross-contamination for healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) is one of the gravest concerns and how to control the spread is still unsolved.

Summary of Requirements for Healthcare Emergency Management Programs

1. Safeguarding human resources
2. Maintaining business operations
3. Protecting physical resources

In order to be successful in selling to healthcare, one must first understand the hierarchy. There are three levels of approval, and each level speaks its own language and has its own goals. Each level has its own set of issues or “hot buttons” and key performance indicators (KPIs) that are considered important. Knowing who and what level of leadership within the healthcare hierarchy gives the final approval for services and products is critical for success.

Knowing how to present services/products to win a contract is all about speaking the language of healthcare and relating to the decision maker.

Frequently, members of the disaster recovery industry present only to the facility or sometimes the clinical staff. The C-suite ultimately will give the go-ahead to move forward. Additionally, selling to healthcare is no longer a one-hospital, one-sale opportunity. Healthcare is now a system, and selling to the entire system should be the goal for all EMPs and other critical services.

Three Levels of Approval

• Executive C-Suite
• Clinical
• Facilities

The role of each decision maker should be of high priority to the seller, and should be strategized before the sales presentation. Who ultimately signs the check for the product/service is the language or combination of languages one must address, or the audience will lose interest quickly. Therefore, knowing who and what level of leadership within the healthcare hierarchy will be in the sales meeting will determine the content of the presentation as well as determine the outcome.

Presentations should always address three key objectives that all healthcare must meet:

• Reduce risk
• Manage liability
• Provide enhanced clinical outcomes

Healthcare is one of the most capitalized and top-growth industries of the future. Becoming involved now will offer a lifetime of opportunity for decades.