Highmark Health launched an advertising campaign Sunday that sketches the outlines of a new health care system that is “smarter, simpler and more caring,” according to one of the print ads.
The All for Health campaign combines personal stories with a call to lower the cost of health care while improving the quality of care and how well the patient does after treatment.
Television, billboard and online ads are also part of the campaign, which is Highmark’s first for Southfield, Mich.-based advertising agency Doner. Doner replaced Highmark’s longtime ad agency Mullen Pittsburgh earlier this year. Highmark President and CEO David Holmberg told the Pittsburgh Business Times in an interview Monday he was pleased with the results. The cost of the campaign was not disclosed, but Holmberg said the cost was within the carrier’s advertising budget.
“It’s an all-encompassing campaign and the new agency brings a fresh set of eyes and they embraced our vision of building the health care system of the future,” Holmberg said Monday. “I think they did a nice job of capturing that.”
One ad indirectly refers to UPMC’s recent decision to drop 182,000 Highmark seniors who have Medicare Advantage coverage.
“Health is a promise that we’ll always be there for seniors, no matter what happens during your golden years,” the ad reads.
UPMC will end in-network coverage of Highmark’s Medicare Advantage members Dec. 31, a decision driven by the inability to reach reimbursement terms with Highmark for chemotherapy. UPMC claims that the hospital network is contractually entitled to a higher reimbursement for chemotherapy than had been paid in the past, but Highmark balked, saying the increase does nothing for the quality of care.
Holmberg said the issue is attracting national attention.
Medicare has approved the billing practice, which has been adopted by hospitals nationwide that certify doctors’ offices as hospital outpatient clinics to claim the higher reimbursement.
“It’s a real cost driver on a national level,” Holmberg said. “Changing the billing address from one address to another isn’t improving a patient’s outcome.”
Date: April 13, 2015