Expanding Healthcare Systems’ Partnership Portfolio: Youth Sports a Win-Win
Many healthcare systems understand the importance of community outreach and strategic partnerships. Still, when it comes to identifying organizations to strategically align with overarching strategy and goals, it can sometimes be a daunting task. One area often overlooked is youth sports. Over the past two decades, the youth sports business has seen tremendous growth. Today, it's a multi-billion dollar industry, with investments in venues/complexes across the country, elite leagues that provide professional coaching, and economic boosts within destinations around the country due to tourism/travel.
Some of the many benefits of partnering with youth sports include:
Reinforce the healthcare system's position in the region as a community leader
Develop premier partnerships with marquee brands supporting the health and wellness of the area’s youth athletes
Create direct referral pipelines for youth athletes and their families to seek care
Use as a content platform for healthcare systems to disseminate wellness information to families throughout the area
Through strategic partnerships with actionable goals, healthcare systems can build a level of trust and notability in the specialized care and services they offer to families in communities across their region. Youth sports partnerships can complement a system's existing partnership portfolio, creating a partnership program that supports the whole health of athletes of all ages and levels in the region. Some of the ways to do this include:
Bring the healthcare services directly to the kids participating in sports
A localized approach that offers hands-on participation like offering on-site care at team games or providing content on ways to stay healthy can make an enormous difference in how a community perceives a healthcare system.
Building partnerships with marquee brands, like professional teams, other well-known community wellness and fitness organizations, as well as important health-related events, can bring new ways to reach youth sports organizations and their families. To reinforce its position as a healthcare leader in the community, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in Seattle integrated a fully functioning clinic inside the Seattle Kraken Community Iceplex. This location is where the pro team trains and kids of all ages participate in league skating and hockey. The clinic has become the destination for sports injuries at the complex and a place to bring in new families seeking care. Additionally, the facility is a place for clinicians to educate families and provide resources on staying healthy.
Create a branded “youth sports program”, highlighting the system’s level of expertise, and providing the parents of youth athletes the assurance their kids will be receiving the same treatment as some of the region’s top athletes.
Healthcare systems with the available resources have found that developing specialized youth sports programs organized and maintained by their internal teams created an opportunity to develop strong relationships with youth athletes and their families. These programs typically include sessions with dietitians and performance specialists to ensure kids are developing healthy eating, exercising and lifestyle habits. Some healthcare systems with active pro sports partnerships have partnered with their contracted teams to offer these youth programs onsite at the pro facilities—a fun moment for youth athletes.
Develop a concierge program to provide parents with a place to go for all of their kids' needs.
These programs can offer a frictionless user experience to navigate their kids’ healthcare needs, simplify increased volume and case management and be a one-stop portal where youth athletes can make appointments throughout the system.
Marketing this initiative with specialized CTAs and CRM campaigns deployed across all partnerships can track new volume and be a tool for lead-generation to specific service lines with access and capacity. Youth sports provide a targeted approach to pediatric and adolescent care across multiple disciplines. To be accessible to all athletes of any level including kids, NYU Langone in New York City partnered with the Brooklyn Italians to offer athletes and their families access to an exclusive concierge service for both in-person and video appointments. Partnerships like this help bridge the sometimes daunting world of healthcare with the families that need it most, in a receptive environment focused on improving youth health and athletic performance.
To learn more about the work we are doing with healthcare systems and their partnerships with youth sports take a look through our website or reach out to us to see how we can help build your healthcare system and expand your partnership portfolio.