Hospital marketing – Carlos Peiró
Carlos Peiró is specialized in hospital marketing. He studied law but when he realized that working as a lawyer was not his true vocation, he became interested in marketing. What he likes most about this profession is its relevance for any company, regardless of its sector, and the challenges involved with its constant evolution.
He explains us the most striking features of hospital marketing and tells us what it is like to work day by day creating campaigns and managing the social networks and reputation of the brands of the IMED Hospitales group. He also advises us, thanks to his training in law, on how we can act legally in the face of a threat to the reputation of our company.
You studied to be a lawyer. when and why did you start to get interested in hospital marketing?
I started to get interested in marketing between the 4th and 5th year of my career, when I realized that I liked the law but did not want to dedicate myself to it.
I decided to study marketing because I think it is vital for any company nowadays and, being in constant change (for technology or even consumers), there are always new challenges to face.
Do you think your knowledge of law helps you in your current job?
Yes they have helped me. In particular, to know that the information of each patient is even more relevant in this sector than in any other kind of marketing.
What do you like most about hospital marketing?
I am especially attracted to see how, from the marketing department, we can help to improve services and patient care in our hospitals.
What are the peculiarities of this sector?
This sector has several peculiarities. Our patients do not want to be at the hospital, and when you deal with their health you must put all the means so that their experience is the best possible.
On the other hand, patients always come when they suffer from some ailment to see what the “Dr. Google “, so ending false myths and offering useful and truthful information to the patient is very important.
What book do you advise us about hospital marketing?
“Marketing sanitario; evolución-revolución“. This book teaches us to focus completely on the patient, generating added value to our hospital care and how to manage crises and our image. Also, the publisher is from ESIC, where I trained in marketing, so I totally recommend it.
What should we know to do SEO in hospital marketing?
We must clearly set our target audience, define the keywords we are going to use and optimize our content to generate as much traffic as possible.
Neither do we forget the social networks that, from my point of view, are vital today.
What is your opinion about people being able to leave a Google review of a hospital or clinic without a proof that they have actually visited it?
Reviews in Google are becoming a very important part to be managed by companies, and more in the medical sector.
That there is no way to check if a person has been or not in a place to rate it is dangerous. But I think that, in general, people really think about the places they have been and, when there are enough opinions, the false reviews are diluted.
How do you manage the reputation of doctors? What issues should be paid more attention?
Knowing the opinion that a patient has had about a consultation or a doctor is ideal for other patients and for us, since it provides us with very valuable feedback.
In case of receiving any comment that could endanger the reputation of a doctor, we analyze the case and pass the opinion to the doctor so that he / she can provide us with an answer that justifies his / her performance.
What are the main threats to a doctor’s reputation?
In general, we must pay attention to the comments related to the results and to the opinions of the patients who think that the specialist has not shown great interest during the consultation.
Have you ever had reputation problems in the hospital? How was the process?
Being a company with several hospitals that serve many people, we have found reviews, both on google and social networks, that can be dangerous.
When we have a complaint that escapes the common and is not a simple protest, but a substantiated comment; to prevent that the patient does not feel ignored and his anger is increases, we always pass to the address of each center the comment with the aim of analyzing the specific case and, if possible, give a response that satisfies the pantient and finds the solution to the problem, if there is one.
The important thing is to always answer the patient in an educated manner in which he understands that we have paid attention to his specific case and give him a solution whenever possible.
When do you recommend us to take legal action on a reputation problem?
For the moment we haven’t had to face this problem, but in case a totally false and disproportionate comment is affecting the reputation of a company, both civil and criminal actions can be demanded.
Do you agree with Google’s “medical update”? How has it affected you?
Luckily we have not been significantly affected by the google algorithm change. What this has taught us is that we should be aware of all these updates and their quality qualifier guides to know how to react at all times.
