In June 2022, Dr. Lorissa MacAllister had the opportunity to present some of her early research exploration on how Brand Value is increased in healthcare. This work was shared as a part of a larger half-day intensive with the leading researchers in the field and is now published as conference proceedings.

To review the full conference proceedings, click the highlighted link below.
Dr. MacAllister’s submission begins on page 70.

Strategies for Research in Healthcare Settings: Challenges and Opportunities Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) Conference proceedings 53^rd annual conference in Greenville South Carolina.

The publication reviews the definitions of Value, Brand, and together Brand Value as it pertains to the healthcare industry. 

Value is an elusive term we are all trying to achieve without the full understanding of how its obtained. Shifting the discussion to value as an equation or a measuring tool that is customized to each situation, and not a universal definition, is imperative to move to a more comprehensive understanding. 

The Value equation in healthcare has three key elements which are customized to each situation.  (Landon et al. 2021)

• Components – cost (direct and indirect) and outcomes (quality, adverse effects, harms, benefits)
• Scope – what service is the focus (single, episode, or condition)
• Perspective – whom are we serving/focused (individual patient, provider, caregiver, insurer, society/population, and policy maker)

A Brand is a symbol, sign or design that identifies a good or service (Maurya et al 2012).

Brand Value is a symbol, sign or design with positive meaning and attractiveness. The physical environment is key to how we improve Brand Value.

Once we understand the definitions, we can move to improve Brand Value by looking at the science of storytelling and the ability to ascribe meaning to a situation or experience from a human perspective. Your brand is the story others are telling about you, you can influence it, but you can’t control it.

Dr. Kahneman has shown we can influence storytelling through an understanding of how the brain remembers an experience. The story people will tell about an experience is not the full experience in grueling detail, but the satisfactions and disappointments experienced during their engagement. A person’s experience with your facility will directly influence the story told about you and your organization, and ultimately will be the reason why others will want to return. We see this in practice in reviews of restaurants or vacation rentals online. The reviewer focuses on a specific interaction whether it be good or bad and how it impacted them.

We can use science to create a clear path to higher Brand Value with a focus on human interactions in a deliberate and measured way. Science has demonstrated subtle moves and placements of features like a hand wash sink (MacAllister et al 2019) or a greeter station can influence how people feel and engage. The bottom line – when it comes to your healthcare organization, elevate the human experience and you will experience increased Brand Value.

REFERENCES

• Landon, S. N., Padikkala, J., & Horwitz, L. I. (2021) Defining value in health care: A scoping review of the literature. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 33(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzab140.
• MacAllister, L., Zimring, C., & Ryherd, E. (2019). Exploring the relationships between patient room layouts and patient satisfaction. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 12(1), 1-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/1937586718782163.
• Maurya, U. K., & Mishra, P. (2012). What is a brand? A perspective on brand meaning. European Journal of Business and Management, 4(3), 122-133.