Joanelle’s diverse early career in retail, which moved into healthcare marketing and PR laid the foundation for a 45-year career. She became a pioneer in the field, she established Florida’s first in-house hospital ad agency, and continued to evolve with the industry through the rise of computerized data, digital media, and specifically targeted strategic branding. Her work included national campaigns, global partnerships, and community-driven initiatives like founding the national project, Buddy Check-12, which won her a Peabody Award, and along with a local project, awarded her the national Silver Anvil Award.

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Key Insights on Healthcare Marketing

1. Marketing Must Be Human-Centered

• Healthcare marketing differs from other industries because it is deeply personal, emotional, and tied to the full human lifespan.
  
• It requires building trust, truth, and empathy—qualities that must be embedded vertically and horizontally in every interaction, from front-desk staff and dietary to physicians and volunteers.
  

2. Communications Are Culture-Driven

• True communication with patients stems from people (not just systems) and must reflect shared mission, cultural awareness, and dedicated community care.
  
• Misalignment between leadership and staff expectations, or lack of transparency, erodes trust quickly denigrates brand recognition and value.

3. Strategy Demands Flexibility and Data

• Marketing success depends on understanding the product, audience, delivery, and timing. Strategic questions include: What’s the need? How is it delivered? Who is the customer? Of course, price enters the equation in two ways: reimbursement from the insurance company to the doctor and health system balanced with private out-of-pocket pay…and the value of the price, such as is it competitive? Priced for profit? Sustainably priced?
  
• Campaigns must integrate pricing, promotion, delivery logistics, and competitive differentiation, especially in multi-location or specialty practices.- keeping in mind the core component of ownership of the organization – profit or nonprofit.
  

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Challenges in Today’s Landscape

• Systemic Shifts: The industry faces mounting pressure from changing reimbursement models, insurance conflicts (e.g., Baptist vs. Florida Blue in Jacksonville and affecting more than 50,000 patients, including children, in NE FL and SE GA), provider shortages, and unionization.
  
• Market Chaos: Practices are rapidly evolving through M&A activity, shifting insurance networks, physician and service activity, and patient frustration with fragmented care.
  
• Technology and Consumer Expectations: Patient experience, social media, and online reviews now have a massive influence—one bad interaction can ripple through ten others (or more) instantly.
  

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Trust, Branding, and the Patient Journey

• Building brand trust is harder today; patients are often disconnected from providers due to insurance and scheduling hurdles.
  
• Branding must be protected fiercely (e.g., Joanelle references the breakdown of JOI a leading group physician brand in 2025 after more than 40 years of premier services).
  
• The patient journey starts with a the first impression with an appointment phone call and extends to parking convenience, waiting room ambiance, check-in process, wait time to be seen, in-room interaction with staff and/or the physician – and if the staff or physician “listened” to the patient creating and affecting patient satisfaction with the appointment, and finally the check-out process. Small things really count—tone of voice, a clean environment, appropriate interior design, and comfort of the reception and treatment rooms – for instance, years-old magazines left to be read by anxious patients mirror the tone of the practice; updated magazines—small things add up and matter.

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Advice for the Future of Healthcare Marketing

• Keep it simple: Clear strategies and clean execution matter, set the pace.
  
• Know your numbers: Understand local demographics, zip code analytics, cost of acquisition, and/or end goal (possible book-of-business sale), and regional/local competition.
  
• Prepare for disruption: Organizations with strong reserves, tight branding, and agile marketing will survive the storms ahead—from workforce issues to demographic shifts (like declining birth rates) and impact from federal funding (i.e. Medicare/Medicaid).  Litigious circumstances on social media can have an immediate effect on branding, good or bad. How a practice rates in the mind of the consumer must be nurtured.
  
• Lead with empathy: In a field where life, disability, and death are central, compassion and dedication to the delivery of excellence in health/medical care must drive every marketing touchpoint.
  

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Interviewed:
Joanelle Mulrain
50 years in marketing and public relations with roles such as the VP of Marketing for Baptist Hospital, and advising clients like AARP and Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanelle-wood-mulrain-2436a42/