The Healthcare Intelligence Hub E-Newsletter
Data / Empowering High Performance
Providers' Perceptions: the Value of Bulletin Board Focus Groups
Jennifer Dennard, Social Marketing DirectorFebruary 7, 2011
Porter Research has long been a believer in research methods that are best suited to a client's needs, which in the healthcare space often entails reaching high-level executives. To recruit the most participants for studies related to healthcare market trends and perceptions, brand awareness, product positioning, development strategies and messaging, it is often beneficial to utilize Bulletin Board Focus Group technology - a cost-effective research tool that offers the busy healthcare executive the ability to participate in an on-line focus-group style setting at their convenience anytime, any place.
An Educational Opportunity
Executives view these types of studies not only as opportunities to provide their two cents about emerging healthcare market trends like health information exchange (HIE), accountable care organizations (ACOs) and associated product development needs, but as opportunities to learn from their fellow study participants via the exchanging of ideas. It is this exchange between participants that often opens up whole new beneficial areas of dialogue not anticipated by clients.
Michael Mistretta, Vice President of Information Systems and CIO at MedCentral Health System in Ohio cites the opportunity to learn from this online experience as one of his main motivators when it comes to participating in bulletin board focus groups. "The questions and topics are usually timely, and there is a diversity of opinions and geography, which allows me to see if the challenges and opportunities we face match those of other providers across the country," he says. "It is also an opportunity to ground our views and perspectives, to see if the direction we are heading in matches that of the industry. While we want to be leaders at what we do, we don't want to be headed someplace that the market may not be conducive to."
Mistretta, who is helping MedCentral Health transition through the digital changes required under healthcare reform, is a healthcare executive active on the frontlines of keeping up with market trends and related products that may be best suited for the needs of his facility's patients. He is a good example of the type of high-caliber participant that brings educated and unbiased responses to the candid questions posed and discussed within a bulletin board focus group.
He particularly enjoyed participating in a recent Porter Research study on ACOs, "because it was so timely and everyone is trying to figure out the impact this type of thing is going to have." As part of an organization that is just beginning to consider accountable care, Mistretta derived a lot of value from being able to exchange ideas with and read the comments of other providers who are further along the ACO road. "The study seemed to provide us with as much information as it did the company sponsoring the study," he adds.
Larry Fitzgerald, Associate Vice President of Business Development and Finance at the University of Virginia Health System, echoes Mistretta's thoughts when it comes to using bulletin board focus groups as a way to stay educated about what is going on in the industry. "I get value out of seeing what my peers are doing across the country and seeing what their thoughts are."
Fitzgerald came away from the recent Porter Research ACO study with the feeling that "no one really knows where this whole subject matter is going at this point. We're not accustomed to thinking about healthcare IT outside of our own hospitals. When we think about the IT necessary to make this work, we have to think about connecting hospitals to us that may be competitors. What I took away from it was that we are very immature as an industry in how the whole concepts of ACOs are going to operate."
Fitzgerald is no stranger to research; he participates in research studies in one form or another as often as once a week, and finds the flexibility afforded by the bulletin board focus group methodology key to his ability to participate. Mistretta is of a similar opinion. "It is much easier to participate in focus groups when the schedule is under my control," he explains. "My position is such that the time commitments can be unpredictable with the required problem-solving I am involved in on a daily basis. If I can fit in 15 minutes here or there, or do it off-hours, it's great. I once actually did my focus-group posting over a broadband connection while traveling to a site visit. I literally use almost every hour of my day doing something, so I use time like that when I have it available."
Flexible scheduling also helps keep the time commitment involved to a level each participant is comfortable with. Mistretta typically spends 30 to 45 minutes per comment posting period. "Receiving most of the questions at once, with a week to respond, and then a couple of follow-up questions for clarification based on the postings worked well," he says.
Driving Value
The ultimate goal of bulletin board focus groups is to take participant insight and shape that information into business intelligence that a client can use to guide any number of activities, be that creating new brand messages, refining product development roadmaps, testing product concepts, gathering competitive intelligence or gauging brand awareness. The "insight" part of this equation is critical to the success of any product - be it software or service.
Bulletin board focus groups offer a unique way to attract the senior level healthcare executives best suited to offering educated feedback to validate a client's direction. It is their invaluable insight that will drive the messaging, in turn driving the value of that solution in the marketplace.
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