Regulatory Challenges in Healthcare Marketing: A Fractional CMO’s Guide

Navigating healthcare marketing is a major task due to stringent laws and regulations. The slightest mistake can mean the difference between maintaining a good reputation with patients and facing legal issues.

To help your healthcare company market your services legally, you can enlist the help of a healthcare fractional chief marketing officer (CMO). These marketing professionals have the skills and experience to help companies achieve compliant marketing strategies.

Continue reading to learn more about healthcare regulations and marketing challenges and tips for doctors.

What Is Healthcare Marketing?

Healthcare marketing is the process of promoting and selling medical products and services. It also involves attracting new patients and retaining them at your healthcare organization.

Advancements in technology (as well as the COVID-19 pandemic) have led healthcare companies and providers to switch from traditional marketing methods to online or digital ones. These have made healthcare services more accessible without the need to go to a physical hospital.

Medical professionals also use healthcare marketing to maintain customer relationships. The fast and easy communication allows doctors to keep in touch with their patients and share important information, such as treatment plans, medical news, and informative content. 

Medical device companies also rely on healthcare marketing (and just like theyrely on their fractional CMOs for medical device companies). Marketing allows medical device companies to provide how-to instructional content, updates on device innovations, and sales support, often with a personalized touch.

Digital healthcare marketing also makes it easier to track your company’s performance. Healthcare marketers can easily monitor key metrics, such as client acquisition cost and retention, making adjustments when necessary. 

Take a look at what successful healthcare marketing can do!

5 Regulatory Marketing Challenges and Tips for Doctors

The expertise of a fractional CMO is essential in creating healthcare marketing campaigns that are both creative and compliant with legal requirements.

Listed below are important rules and regulations to take note of to stay compliant:

1. HIPAA Compliance

According to The HIPAA Journal, the number of healthcare data compromises has been rising since 2014. This emphasizes the importance of maintaining HIPAA compliance.

One of the most important marketing challenges and tips for doctors is HIPAA compliance. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act safeguards all protected health information (PHI) and ensures it is used legally by doctors, healthcare providers, and healthcare marketers.

Healthcare professionals must follow five main guidelines set by HIPAA to ensure compliance. 

These rules are as follows: 

1. Privacy Rule: This enforces the patient’s right to access their PHI, and the healthcare provider’s right to access and refuse access to PHI.
2. Security Rule: This focuses on the protection of electronic PHI through technical, administrative, and physical safeguards.
3. Breach Notification Rule: Covered entities must notify the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) of any PHI breaches within a certain timeframe.
4. Enforcement Rule: This rule oversees all compliance requirements and imposes penalties on violations by covered entities.
5. Omnibus Rule: The Omnibus Rule brings all previously passed laws together into one to improve overall security and confidentiality.

Furthermore, HIPAA compliance can be achieved using marketing tools with robust security and privacy measures, including:

• End-to-end encryption to prevent unauthorized access
• User authentication, including multi-factor authentication
• Access control that is only available to authorized users
• Audit trails to monitor who has data access and when data is accessed

2. Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission implements antitrust laws to prevent predatory company practices and promote fair competition between businesses. It also governs the ethical marketing of products in any industry and ensures the protection of the consumers of these products.

Marketing in other fields may not always be clear about certain details, but in the healthcare industry, the FTC requires transparency about the claims you make about your products.

It is important to approach healthcare marketing delicately and with full honesty. Be clear about your products, what they do, possible side effects, etc. Doing so helps establish trust among consumers. It can help prevent the FTC from taking legal action against unsubstantiated claims and misleading customers.

3. Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration is a government body that prioritizes public health. The FDA oversees and reviews the production of products relating to food, cosmetics, and medical products.

In the case of healthcare, this act ensures the safety and legitimacy of over-the-counter drugs, supplements, prescription drugs, and other health-related products. Depending on the product, companies need the FDA’s approval before selling these products to the public.

Similar to the FTC, the best way to comply with the FDA’s regulations is to present accurate and truthful information when marketing your products. Ensure your claims are supported by factual evidence as well.

Additionally, before marketing and releasing any healthcare products, thoroughly review the FDA’s guidelines to ensure you meet all their requirements. Doing so increases your chances of getting their approval.

4. Consent Management

Consent management is the key to maintaining trust between the doctor and the patient. It is crucial in ensuring honesty and upholding the patient’s right to privacy.

A consent management platform is one of the best ways to maintain compliance. This helpful tool obtains and manages user data for marketing purposes. These tools also allow the patient to consent or not, depending on their preferences.

Consent management also plays a big role in maintaining compliance with HIPAA regulations. Healthcare marketers must receive consent from the patient or their legal guardian before gathering their data to ensure their protection.

Transparency is also an important factor in consent management. Healthcare providers must clearly state how they use this data in their privacy policy.

5. Website ADA Compliance

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires websites to be fully accessible and compliant with ADA standards. This means websites must be fully usable for those with disabilities.

Access to medical information, resources, and communication with medical professionals is vital, especially for those with disabilities. Maintaining ADA compliance is not only a legal requirement but a way to promote inclusivity and give disabled individuals equal chances at healthcare services.

Some ways to make your website ADA-compliant include alt texts and captions, audio transcripts, color contrast, and keyboard accessibility features. These website ADA compliance tips are effective ways to maintain trust with disabled patients seeking medical guidance online.

You can seek the help of a website ADA compliance agency to guide your overall web design. They help ensure all elements of your website adhere to ADA rules and regulations. 

Ensure Ethical Healthcare Marketing With an FCMO

Healthcare marketing comes with various challenges that are often overlooked. Understanding these medical marketing challenges and tips for doctors is the first step to overcoming them.

A fractional CMO can help you navigate through these challenges. Their expertise in marketing and compliance is a true asset that will help your healthcare organization advertise effectively, ethically, and legally.

Digital Authority Partners connects you to a network of competent fractional CMOs to lead the charge: Reach out to us to learn more about our services!

Sources:

Customer Retention Strategies: Building Loyalty in the Digital Age | Johnson & Wales University

Healthcare Data Breach Statistics | The HIPAA Journal

Omnibus HIPAA Rulemaking | HHS.gov

Health Care Competition | Federal Trade Commission

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