National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation
People Over Profits
_SECTOR: HEALTHThe National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) represents nonprofit, mission-driven advanced illness and hospice care providers across the US. In 2022, NPHI approached Emergence with a need to redefine NPHI’s brand positioning for a diverse audience of healthcare providers, insurance payers, policymakers, and the general public.
Through in-depth research, public polling, and workshops with leaders in hospice and palliative care, Emergence has helped NPHI build a movement around community- and values-based healthcare. In 2023, this culminated in the publication of a blueprint and other materials, serving as a rallying cry to transform the narrative around declining health.
_THE CHALLENGE
When hospice organizations began to emerge across the US throughout the 1970s and 1980s—almost all were community-based nonprofits. Since then, private equity firms have taken an interest in the space, and the number of for-profit hospices has exploded from 30% of all providers in 2000 to 73% in 2020. Yet nonprofits provide 10% more nursing visits, 35% more social worker visits, and twice as many therapy visits vs. for-profit hospices per patient day.
This shift in the hospice landscape has grave implications for the wellbeing of American families. A recent study found that only 18% of Americans trust the US healthcare system to put their well-being ahead of profits.
_SEARCHING FOR THE SIGNAL
Emergence interviewed more than 30 subject matter experts and conducted extensive desk research to understand the intricate dynamics of the hospice field. We also launched a large, nationally representative quantitative study to explore American attitudes and experiences with healthcare, aging, and end of life. Finally, we organized a series of small group discussions involving caregivers of seriously ill and dying loved ones.
Across all of this research, we saw a need to redefine the value proposition of NPHI and its 100+ members. Highlighting nonprofit tax status in and of itself was not effective, so we focused on the deep community roots and decades of expertise these organizations have delivering elite care in chaotic circumstances.
_EMERGENCE
Building on the brand positioning work, Emergence developed a bold, clean new brand for NPHI – including a new logo and brand book to guide their creative. We also created sample messaging and clear guidelines to assist NPHI members in communicating with their local audiences.
To put the brand and strategy into practice, we wrote and designed People Over Profits: A Values-Based Movement for Declining Health. This field-building blueprint summarizes all of our research and lays out a new way forward for the hospice field—one based on people, not profits.
_EVOLUTION
By repositioning NPHI as a brand and developing the People Over Profits blueprint, Emergence has helped NPHI build a movement around community- and values-based healthcare.
NPHI’s 100+ members have implemented the messaging and design guidelines we developed to engage key stakeholders in their local markets. On the national level, the People Over Profits blueprint has been distributed widely on Capitol Hill to support NPHI’s ongoing policy work. Emergence has also presented key findings to NPHI member boards and other relevant audiences, supporting NPHI’s efforts to serve as a trusted authority on declining health and end of life.