Healthcare entities must stay aware of the developments in their industry. It allows them to adapt to changes and stay competitive at all times. Gone are the days when only hospitals and clinics offered healthcare services. In 2023, digital healthcare platforms, pharmacies, telemedicine, and pharma companies have joined the race. Since there is increased competition, healthcare entities depend on competitive intelligence to stay forward. Some healthcare entities invest heavily in market intelligence to stay ahead of their competitors. Informed decision-making has always been a challenge for healthcare entities. Decision-making will improve when companies use the right healthcare competitive intelligence strategies. Let us discuss the competitive intelligence strategies for staying ahead in the industry.
Comprehending Healthcare Competitive Intelligence
Before discussing the best strategies, it is essential to understand the term competitive intelligence in healthcare. Competitive intelligence in healthcare is the process of collecting and analysing information about competitors. It includes examining activities, marketing strategies, operations, and performance of competitors. The strengths and weaknesses of competitors are analysed with the help of competitive intelligence. It allows healthcare entities to predict market trends and the moves of competitors. When you can anticipate the competitors’ plans, informed decisions are made to maintain competitiveness.
The best healthcare companies keep a watch on the activities and behaviours of competitors. It allows them to improve their healthcare services and remain the best in the market. Let us understand the concept of Healthcare Competitive Intelligence with an example. Let us say a healthcare company is actively involved in drug research and discovery. The company will deploy competitive intelligence strategies to identify the drugs being developed by competitors. The company launching a new drug first will make the most profit. The healthcare company can accelerate the drug discovery process after knowing the moves of competitors.
Experts often consider competitive intelligence as a subset of market intelligence. Market intelligence is a broader concept that involves identifying changing regulations, trends, customer behaviours, competitor activities, industry changes, and more. It is concerned with the overall market, whereas competitive intelligence focuses on the competitors within the market. One can say that competitive intelligence is a particular component of market intelligence that only focuses on the competitors.
Healthcare Competitive Intelligence: Best Strategies
Many companies deploy healthcare competitive intelligence strategies, but only a few succeed. It can happen due to numerous reasons, like:
- Lack of defined objectives
- Lack of data
- Lack of resources
- Data misinterpretation
- Lack of expertise
- Changing market landscape
- Incompetent digital solutions
- Ignoring ethical norms
- Poor data analysis
Here are the best competitive intelligence strategies for healthcare companies to say ahead:
Set Clear Goals
You must define clear goals before indulging in competitive analysis. It could be improving customer services, accelerating the R&D process, identifying new markets, or increasing revenue. Competitive intelligence strategies are formed based on these goals. There’s no point in conducting competitive research without predefined goals.
Know Your Competitors
Knowing your competitors is among the first things to do for competitive intelligence. It is essential to identify both direct and indirect competitors before indulging in competitive intelligence. Direct competitors are the ones offering similar healthcare services or products. On the other hand, indirect competitors target the same audience or address similar customer needs. An indirect competitor might not offer the same healthcare services or products. After identifying the competitors, rank them according to relevance and impact on your business. Competitive intelligence efforts are made according to the impact of a competitor on your business.
Gather Data
Data is the root of competitive intelligence in the healthcare industry. You must collect data regarding the strengths, weaknesses, activities, and operations of competitors. There are advanced digital tools available for data accumulation in the healthcare industry. It is crucial to note that competitors will not miss out on using technology to their advantage. It is better to use digital solutions and boost the
competitive intelligence process. The top healthcare companies monitor the digital footprints of other entities. They monitor social media activity, SEO strategies, and website updates of competitors to know their moves in advance.
Following Ethics
You cannot ignore ethical considerations in healthcare competitive intelligence. Avoid practices that might tarnish the reputation of your healthcare company. For instance, you cannot know competitor activities by bribing their employees or managers. Many malpractices for competitive intelligence result in penalties from regulatory authorities. Not to forget, an unethical move might tarnish the reputation your company has built over the years. Healthcare entities must rely on publicly available data and reports for competitive analysis.
In a Nutshell
Competitive intelligence allows healthcare entities to adapt to changing conditions. They can improve their performance by knowing about the strengths and weaknesses of competitors in advance. A healthcare entity can always partner with a third-party research firm to get competitor news ethically. Invest in healthcare competitive intelligence now!
