For hospital strategic planners, the notion of competition isn't limited to hospitals within close proximity. The push to build broader, diverse networks has coincided with the emergence of convenient care providers (e.g. retailers, urgent care centers, free-standing ED’s, etc.) and growth in the number of ambulatory surgery centers. These factors have all converged to redefine how strategic planners think about their market.

In an environment like this, planning and marketing can’t be static – they have to become dynamic; tapping into advanced market-based analytics and visualizing how different data sets overlay and the lens they create. For as much insight state-level data sets or standard U.S. Census data can provide, they are limited in their ability to sufficiently answer the questions today’s competitive environment generates. Nor can free online geo-coding or legacy mapping products.

As you think about market-based analytics, the breadth (or lack thereof) of different data sets and the tools you rely on consider:

1. Widen your lens - No matter how current or robust a state data set may be, none is perfect. You have to be able to augment state data sets with other public data sets – such as MedPAR, OP SAF and Hospital Compare – to help create a more thorough view of your market. And when it comes to demographics, don’t settle for age, ethnicity and income. That’s just your baseline. What are the lifestyle habits of a population, how do they consume healthcare, what’s the percentage of insured?
   
   
2. Make Technology Your Ally - Free mapping tools may not hit your budget hard but that benefit is quickly (and painfully) offset by a lack of sophistication and usability. Same for older software products (many of which are no longer supported). Tools predicated on manual geo-coding or unable to overlay multiple visual representations of data aren’t worth the hassle.
   
   
3. Become a Cartographer - You know so much about your market, patient and facility. Be sure you don’t forfeit the ability to think outside of the box or identify trends that may be invisible to something with less in-market familiarity.

You can read more about these best practices and challenges facing hospital strategic planners and marketers in our latest INSIDER. Click here to read.