Alternative media Supporting the Patient-Physician Relationship Deirdre M. Cimino, ASID President and Director of Design LIFE ScapeS Inc. Successful marketers who provide an ethical and sensitive solution directly to the patient-consumer, while addressing the critical function of promoting healthcare, will build brand loyalty. In today’s burdened healthcare environment, an important psychological element — the patient’s perception of administered care — is often overlooked and inadequately planned for within the physician office. Years ago, the goal was to create a clean, efficient environment that fostered clarity of thought and allowed for appropriate diagnosis of the illness based on physicians’ preferences. This was a solid and practical objective, when physicians had the opportunity and time to meet and greet their patients on a first-name basis. Today’s patient experience, however, is far less personal. This, in turn, places a strain on the relationship with the physician before the intake session even begins. Ideally, form followed function where the layout of the office, for example, was routinely designed based on the physician’s input — a one-person perspective — thus ensuring that the workflow within the various areas/rooms was meticulously maintained. Since today’s model of practicing successful medicine was not addressed, inevitably the costly form that faithfully followed the prescribed functions of various areas is now outdated from the moment the physician opens his or her door. It is paramount that today’s medical and marketing communities give ample consideration to the patient’s view. By addressing an improved two-point perspective, which takes into consideration the patient-physician relationship, the potential for positive change is vastly improved. From the patient’s perspective, today’s office-visit experience is less than ideal. Outside the administrative space, the area designated and designed as the waiting room quickly becomes the main concourse for foot traffic. Patients bounce back and forth from their chairs to the main reception desk as they fill out forms. They then are finally ushered through a narrow hall to their assigned exam room. Within the exam room, patients are subjected to four confining walls and harsh standard fluorescent lighting, as they wait at times for an additional 30 minutes to be seen and treated. Unlike the staff, patients have no control over their space; they cannot change it to benefit their mental well-being or individual need. Other than a quick visit or two from the nurse, patients are offered little to break the monotony in the sterile exam room. As patients look around for visual comfort, they often are faced with various brand logos and names displayed on wall charts, tissue boxes, and pen cups. Items that are designed to remind the prescribing physician about specific brands, but are foreign to the now agitated patient. To the patient, compassion appears to have stopped at the exam-room door, and so too does the sense of treatment. Branding without merit is simply perceived by the patient as visual clutter until the physician arrives. Product branding that is carried out respectfully and with educational value can be incredibly beneficial. Marketers need to consider ways to elevate their campaign’s product/brand status to the patient. Providing educational content and health advocacy information is a fundamental step in the right direction. Improving upon existing and needed products that physicians routinely use within the exam room and that provide real value to both the patient and the attending physician can greatly benefit a campaign. While the exam room is a fixed space, there are practical solutions that can improve the patient-physician relationship. Successful marketers who provide an ethical and sensitive solution directly to the patient-consumer, while addressing the critical function of promoting healthcare, will build brand loyalty. The patient gains a new awareness and an inspired view of healthcare. This creates a natural appreciation yielding loyalty toward the physician practice as well as to the sponsor. In turn, marketers can elevate the current status of poorly perceived care to a rich and colorful vista that projects compassion and communications benefits to a renewed patient today while supporting a healthier patient-physician-sponsor relationship for tomorrow. LIFE ScapeS Inc. is a health-advocacy based company that produces “LIFE ScapeS,” an interactive educational newsletter that incorporates a full-circle Web-based service to improve the patient-physician relationship. For more information, visit life-scapes.com. September 2004 VIEW on Marketing

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