Healthcare Brands That Work was published by North York General Hospital Foundation Website – September 2008.
Do you know how doctors and other healthcare professionals earn their patients’ loyalty?
They do something memorable.
I recently had my gallbladder removed at the North York General Hospital. As a marketing consultant to healthcare professionals, this was an enlightening, if otherwise unwelcome, experience.
Dr. Jain, Dr. Hew and Nurse Cameron earned my loyalty. They did something memorable that transcended the competent removal of a gallbladder.
They treated me with kindness.
I come from a family of physicians and can say with a fair bit of confidence that healthcare professionals consider this procedure to be routine.
That’s what the doctors think.
But I only have one gallbladder (make that had) and let me be abundantly clear about this… I did not consider my surgery to be routine!
I have since been on the mend and I am enormously grateful for the expert medical care I received at the hands of Dr. Jain and his surgical team. I am also in awe of the magically disappearing scars, only one short month after the procedure.
But what will I remember?
I will remember that despite how rushed off their feet I am certain this team of health care professionals was, and despite the obscene number of gallbladders they have probably removed in their careers, they did not treat me like I was routine.
The doctors took the time to make eye contact, gently pat my shoulder, hold my hand and tell jokes to calm my nerves. The nurses and administrative staff made the effort to keep my family updated on my progress before they got to the point of worry. The hospital volunteers gently coaxed me back on my feet when it was time to go home.
Now that’s memorable.
It is profoundly interesting that the humane treatment I received at North York General Hospital is entirely consistent with their branding. A brand that, ironically, is one of the examples that I reference in the branding course I teach for various professional associations.
The North York General Hospital logo consists of an orange icon, the hospital’s name and a tagline: Embracing Health. The liberal use of orange enables the logo to exude warmth. The icon itself, a circle encircled by two concentric curves, appears to be a reference to the shape of a hug. Finally, the two-word tagline includes the word ’embracing’ meaning to hug, to encircle or to welcome. As you can see, colors, icon and tagline all work together to convey compassion.
That was my impression of the North York General Hospital brand before having had any experience with it. My impression has stayed the course because, quite simply, this brand kept its promise.
Photo credit (top): torontobroad