Gartner reports show
that complex B2B solutions involve a purchasing committee of 6–10 individuals, each spending 45% of their buying journey on independent research.
Committee-based purchasing decisions are arguably most difficult within healthcare systems, so you can be confident that for health IT buying, these numbers trend even higher.
Before healthcare marketers can determine how to reach the healthcare C-level, we must first understand who has a seat at the proverbial buying committee table.
The ever-expanding health IT buying committee
In our healthcare marketing agency’s 20+ years in business, we’ve researched, targeted, and engaged with just about every C-suite role.
Of course, committee size, member makeup, and buying cycle length will depend on many factors, including organization size, structure, budget, and existing infrastructure, among others.
With that in mind, here are some of the committee members you can expect to encounter based on the type of health IT product under consideration.
These C-suite titles can also be reasonably expanded to include VPs, directors, and managers within their departments. You will always find nuances in both titles and responsibilities, including some executives with dual roles. And new titles are added to the growing list each year.
Healthcare executives to reach and engage by product category
Click to jump to a product category:
- EHR, data integration, HIE, interoperability
- Patient engagement, patient safety, patient satisfaction
- Revenue cycle management
- Telehealth, remote patient monitoring
- Analytics, business intelligence
EHR, data integration, HIE, interoperability
Strategy: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Business Development Officer, Chief of Managed Care, Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Integration Officer
Budget and revenue: Chief Financial Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Administrative Officer
Clinical: Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Clinical Officer, Physician-in-Chief
IT: Chief Technology Officer, Chief Technology Innovation Officer, Chief Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Health Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Medical Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Information/Informatics Security Officer, Chief Nursing Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Data Officer, Chief Privacy Officer
Patient engagement, patient safety, patient satisfaction
Strategy: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Business Development Officer, Chief of Managed Care, Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Integration Officer, Chief Population Health Officer
Budget and revenue: Chief Financial Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Administrative Officer
Clinical: Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Clinical Officer, Physician-in-Chief
IT: Chief Technology Officer, Chief Technology Innovation Officer, Chief Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Health Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Medical Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Information/Informatics Security Officer, Chief Nursing Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Privacy Officer
Experience and quality: Chief Quality Officer, Chief Experience Officer, Chief Patient Experience Officer, Chief Patient Engagement Officer, Chief Patient Safety Officer
Revenue cycle management
Strategy: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Business Development Officer, Chief Innovation Officer
Budget and revenue: Chief Financial Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Administrative Officer
IT: Chief Technology Officer, Chief Technology Innovation Officer, Chief Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Health Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Information/Informatics Security Officer, Chief Privacy Officer
Experience and quality: Chief Experience Officer, Chief Patient Experience Officer, Chief Patient Engagement Officer
Telehealth, remote patient monitoring
Strategy: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Business Development Officer, Chief of Managed Care, Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Integration Officer, Chief Population Health Officer
Budget and revenue: Chief Financial Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Administrative Officer
Clinical: Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Clinical Officer, Physician-in-Chief
IT: Chief Technology Officer, Chief Technology Innovation Officer, Chief Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Health Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Medical Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Information/Informatics Security Officer, Chief Nursing Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Privacy Officer
Experience and quality: Chief Quality Officer, Chief Experience Officer, Chief Patient Experience Officer, Chief Patient Engagement Officer, Chief Patient Safety Officer
Analytics, business intelligence
Strategy: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Business Development Officer, Chief of Managed Care, Chief Innovation Officer
Budget and revenue: Chief Financial Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Administrative Officer
IT: Chief Technology Officer, Chief Technology Innovation Officer, Chief Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Health Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Medical Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Information/Informatics Security Officer, Chief Nursing Information/Informatics Officer, Chief Data Officer, Chief Privacy Officer
Target the healthcare C-suite wisely
The most important thing to keep in mind is the bigger the purchase (both in dollar amount and impact on the health system), the bigger the committee — and the bigger the required marketing and advertising budget to effectively reach all influential stakeholders.
Account-based marketing (ABM) is ideal for reaching target companies and different individuals on the buying committee with content specific to their role. And don’t sleep on intent data, even if you feel your product is too niche (spoiler alert: it’s not). Public relations and analyst relations can also get you in the publications and reports that weigh heavily in the C-suite decision-making process.
Any one of these individuals can kill a deal. On the flip side, any one of them can be your biggest advocate. Provide each with as much useful information as possible, relevant to both their job and the health system as a whole.
Remember, each is spending 45% of their buying journey on independent online and offline research, so produce marketing materials that align with each target’s priorities. Are they focused on value-based care initiatives? Managing M&A activity? Improving quality measures? Something else?
Show how you can help them succeed.
Need to reach the healthcare C-suite?
Did we miss any titles? Let us know!
