Humanizing healthcare in Chicagoland

Presence Health cares for over 4.5 million people, making it one of the largest health systems in Illinois. Although it holds an advantage in scale, leading academic institutions and similarly sized integrated systems crowd the provider market. It’s hard to stand out, especially when consumers in the area didn’t recognize Presence Health as a differentiated provider in terms of quality and reputation — despite its distinctions for exceptional care in clinical programs and facilities. That challenge was made exponentially more difficult thanks to the hospital network’s formation through the merger of two independent health systems and 150 locations.

So, Presence Health came to Lippincott. We worked with management to rein in these inconsistencies and to build a brand strategy and consumer experience to propel Presence Health through this challenging environment.

We began by learning more about the Illinois healthcare consumer, using quantitative analysis to identify nine unique consumer segments that varied by attitude, behavior and health profile. With these target consumer segments in mind, we underwent a comprehensive look into Presence Health’s core strengths as well as external consumer feedback. We discovered that it already boasts an empathetic and deeply compassionate culture, unparalleled access to care in the community and a diverse range of services that offer truly holistic treatment.

As further testing revealed that consumers search for the empathy and compassion that Presence Health already delivers — and other providers lack — we built out a brand positioning centered around human connection. Within a system that often feels overwhelming and confusing, we set out to bring back a vital human touch to healthcare.

However, although a compelling brand story is critical, we’ve found that the experience we build around that story contributes up to 70 percent of a brand’s impact. Our design of the Presence Health consumer experience considered the entire consumer journey — from building relationships with caregivers and the health system, to engaging with care options and following up over time. By identifying the moments that cause the most frustration for patients, we improved the interactions that make the biggest difference, including scheduling, information management and education. Our visits to Presence Health facilities highlighted those particular opportunities for enhancement and ensured we were grounded in the realities of the system.

Using the brand positioning as our compass, we collaboratively identified hundreds of experiences that would alleviate consumer frustrations, tested each idea to ensure it aligned with the new brand, and then developed a plan to guide implementation.

The brand and experience strategy helped Presence Health articulate the qualities that make it so unique and deliver on its ultimate mission: to provide compassionate, holistic care with a spirit of healing and hope in the communities it serves.