Healthcare Marketers on the ‘Privacy-First’ Approach
On August 16th, Novant Health notified around 1.3 million patients that their protected health information has been breached, after running a promotional campaign on Facebook advertisements. A local news report suggests that some of the patient’s information leaked involved their email address, computer IP addresses, phone numbers, and appointment date.
While healthcare marketing leaders are able to impact customers by trusting and understanding the data that best serves them, they are still entitled to ensure that the data is protected.
Use of digital tools such as social media platforms and campaigns holds a greater capacity to enable patient engagement. However, they could still impact patient privacy. For instance, in the case of Novant Health, the campaign tool used was intended to track its overall success online.
As the marketing executives are making efforts to develop an advertising or branding strategy, they must also hold patients’ safety as their priority. Amy Stevens, the Vice President of marketing and communications of Murrells Inlet stated, “It is incumbent upon those who serve the healthcare to uphold the trust and privacy of the patients first, as they turn to healthcare during their most vulnerable times.”
In response, Sue Jablonski, the senior VP of OhioHealth said, “The key is a strong partnership with IT, compliance, and legal.”
Effective marketing can hence be attained by additional data safety. With such a purpose, healthcare marketers are encouraged to direct their attention towards data privacy practices that are purposeful, transparent, consent-driven, and helpful in establishing trust among patients.
