The current health and human service landscape is being shaped by the 'end' of the pandemic period and its lingering effects, high inflation rates and higher wage rates, and new competition. To navigate through the year ahead to longer-term sustainability requires a good strategy, metrics-based management, financial strength, and a more pronounced focus on a broader range of marketing competencies than ever before.

In the last two newsletters, I’ve focused on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as a growth strategy for provider organizations (see Acquire Or Be Acquired: The OPEN MINDS Guide To M&A and Making Mergers Work). But M&A is only one method of growing your overall revenues. The other is from organic or internal growth, by the expansion of your organization’s own operations.

Online marketing is no longer cutting edge—it is best-practice marketing that leverages the web-based channels that are now used by 307.2 million consumers in the United States. As of 2022, 91.8% of the total U.S. population accessed the internet—approximately 84% (281.5 million) through a mobile device.

Marketing matters more now than ever as part of a sustainability strategy for health and human service organizations. Why? The health and human service field has, over time, moved from an economic model resembling local utilities to a national competitive model. And, that competition is focused on value to the customer—the payer, the health plan, the consumer, and/or the caregiver, depending on your organization—vs. the quantity of services provided.