There’s no shortage of the same sounding mission statements.
Healthcare brands use them as a “decoration”.
But a mission statement carries with them unexplored advantages.
Bring your cup of coffee or tea, and let’s start with some examples…
Healthcare Mission Statement Examples
A quick disclaimer: Fictitious examples will be marked with (ex).
So let’s start:
Hospital Mission Statement
Healthier, community hospital, Orlando
Why We Exist (Purpose Statement): To make our community safer.
How We Do It (Mission Statement): In an age where malpractice threatens the lives of our community, we aim to create a safe environment by emphasizing precautions, safety, and welfare of our patients. We do that by striving to lower medical errors, reduce readmission rates, and educate our patients on how to live a healthy lifestyle.
Caresect, Psychiatric Hospital
Why We Exist (Purpose Statement): To rekindle our patient’s lost hope.
How We Do It (Mission Statement): Because not all wounds are visible, we, are dedicated to healing the unseen. We do that by helping our patients overcome mental health challenges. We’re committed to being confidential, sympathetic, and approachable in our communications and treatment.
Future’s Youth, Pediatric Hospital (ex)
Why We Exist (Purpose Statement): To make a healthier future generation
How We Do It (Mission Statement): They inspire us to be better, push us to fight harder, and drive us to bring our best. We treat your kids like our own. We do that by being family-focused in our treatment and assuring that they’re in a friendly and protected environment.
Dental mission statement
Confidental™, Dental practice
Why We Exist (Purpose Statement): To enable our patients to lead a stress-free lifestyle.
How We Do It (Mission Statement): What good is a smile if you’re nervous about it? Our practice was founded to help patients lead a stress-free lifestyle. The more confident you are, the less stressed your life is. There are many ways to fight anxiety; one is to be confident in your dental appearance. That’s where we come in. We make you confident in your smile.
Odentia, Dental practice
Why We Exist (purpose Statement): To provide a pain-free lifestyle for patients
How We Do It (Mission Statement): Forget the dental horror show and step into a fantasy world of seamless dentistry. Odentia is committed to providing a painless patient experience. We do that by gently delivering our care service, seamless shots, and a magic touch.
Utile Teeth, Dental practice (ex)
Why We Exist (Purpose Statement): To spread oral hygiene and facilitate its accessibility.
How We Do It (Mission Statement): Most practices claim convenience, we live by it. We strive to make oral care as convenient as a light switch. We do that by improving our availability, increasing patient choice, and lowering wait time. We’re committed to investing in the latest technology for faster dentistry and same-day care for our patients.
Chiropractic mission statement
Naturalis, Chiropractic practice (ex)
Why We Exist (Purpose Statement): To help people live life without restrictions.
How We Do It (Mission Statement): When your life is stifled by discomfort; We come to the rescue. We peel off the layers of physical restriction through a natural approach to healthcare and healthy lifestyle modifications.
The Joint Chiropractic
Why We Exist (Purpose Statement): To improve the quality of life.
How We Do It (Mission Statement): Our mission is to improve the quality of life through routine and affordable chiropractic care. We’re committed to our no-appointment policy, convenient hours and locations to make care more accessible.
Complete Wellness Chiropractic
Why We Exist (Purpose Statement): We exist to radically re-energize the health of our community to restore the beauty in families.
How We Do It (Mission Statement): To educate and adjust as many families as possible back toward optimal health through natural chiropractic care.
Pharmacy mission statement
PharmaPlus (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): To improve everyone’s comfort and well-being by providing the most convenient pharmaceutical services for patients.
FFA Drugs (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): To increase patients accessibility to pharmaceutical drugs by providing quality products at affordable prices.
Nursing home mission statement
Lively Clam (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): To leave a legacy of excellence by helping seniors lead comfortable lives and achieve independence.
Nostalgic Homes (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): We’re here to create authentic atmosphere where residents feel right at home.
Hospice mission statement
Light Places Hospice (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): We don’t know if there is life after death. But we know there is life before death. And this is where we come in. We provide patients seamless experience in their ending journey. We aim to honor the patients' dignity and empower them in their hardest time.
Right Moments Hospice (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): It was never about the end, it’s about the current moment. We’re here to enable patients live their life to its fullest, experience love and what it means to be understood during hardships.
Physical therapy mission statement
MotionUnleash Health (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): To restore freedom and embrace motion for a life unleashed. we’re dedicated to guide you towards a life of pain-free movement and limitless potential.
PowerSteps (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): We’re here to transform your pain into power. With every step, we stand alongside you, breaking barriers and leading you to a life of renewed strength, resilience, and endless possibilities.
PotentialForge (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): To shatter boundaries, sculpting strength from discomfort. Step with us into a realm of renewal, where pain is merely a stepping stone to your full potential.
Massage therapy mission statement
Symphony of Relief Wellness (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): Step into a realm where hands dance on tired skin. We’re not just rubbin' backs, we’re conjuring symphonies of relief. Let your knots be banished, as we paint your body’s canvas with sweet liberation.
MuscleVerse (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): To compose verses of relief, an ode to tired muscles and weary spirits. Unravel, unfold, let the tensions be your forgotten stanzas.
Mental health mission statement
MindUnwind (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): To untangle the mind’s mess. Our words are lifelines, pulling minds from chaos, weaving calm in the noise.
SoulSong (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): Amidst Life’s Song, we shape strength. Hearts hurt, souls ache, we guide the tune of recovery, crafting melodies of survival.
Medical spa mission statement
Tranquil Haven Spa (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): To moments of peace in life’s chaos, we are Tranquil Haven Spa – shaping serenity for your tired soul.
Reflections Spa (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): Reflections Spa, where layers fade and whispers of renewal dance, revealing your natural beauty anew.
Pediatric mission statement examples
Fanning Flames (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): Fanning Flames of Potential: We tends to sprouting souls, igniting sparks that light lifelong paths of strength.
Rainbow Pediatrics (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): Crafting Strong Beginnings: At Rainbow Pediatrics, we plant seeds of health and nurture dreams, painting the canvas of each child’s journey with care.
Urgent care mission statement
Healing Breeze (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): To cradle moments of need, weaving quick healing and gentle respite into life’s hurried rhythm.
Bloom Now (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): Where ailing moments find solace and health blooms anew in the urgency of now.
Psychologist Mission Statement
MindSculpt (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): To navigate the labyrinth within, mending fractured souls and sculpting strength from chaos.
Primary care mission statement
EternalEmbers primary care (ex)
How We Do It (Mission Statement): where flames of well-being are tended, and the embers of health glow eternal.
What is a mission statement in healthcare?
A mission statement in healthcare is a short statement that summarizes the commitments of your hospital or practice to achieve a higher vision.
Think of your mission statement as an actionable ladder to climb so you can achieve your greater goal.
Each step of the ladder gets you closer to your ultimate goal.
This is why your mission statement should be actionable.
Why would you need a mission statement?
Well, a mission statement is as good as its practical use.
If you’re going to have a mission statement as a decoration for your website or “just for show”, No, you don’t need one.
If, however, you want to increase commitment from staff, patients, and skyrocket your operational efficiency, then yes. You need one.
As you might know, medical businesses routinely separate functions or hierarchical levels to achieve efficiencies, However…
These divides lead to confusion, anxiety, and distrust as employees work at cross-purposes, taking refuge in functional silos instead of a collaborative environment.
This makes your medical staff sub-optimizing when you need all parts working together.
Your employees go about directionless, without an understanding of their role in delivering the (non-existent) consistent experience for patients.
And everyone pulls in a different direction.
Even in smaller practices/clinics, without a concrete mission in place, they grab at short-term gains while incurring the long-term loss of their identities.
People lose a sense of mission, and your practice values fizzle out.
This is where having a high sense of mission comes into play.
It ensures that all stakeholders know what to do to achieve the end goal.
It creates a uniformed and palpable objectives to shoot at.
A strategic mission in place makes everyone committed to the role they play.
And when everyone is firmly committed, employee productivity soars up, and more gets accomplished.
Deadly pitfalls of being inauthentic in your mission statement
Most medical businesses treat mission statements or any cultural values as a “nice to have on a website page” kind of gimmick.
So they copy and past or half-assedly conjure up some phrases that are deemed to be morally good.
Use that as an accessory to their about us section and call it a day.
Medical Businesses like this are missing the mark and hurting their reputation.
We’ll go through common traps so you can mitigate the risk.
I) Being unaware of what it means to have a mission
Developing a mission statement is not a marketing tactic to enhance reputation.
People see through inauthenticity.
And the last thing you want is to hurt your healthcare brand by mimicking other’s principles or philosophies.
To have a high sense of mission means to increase commitment and buy-ins from your team.
It means everyone will work towards the leader’s vision, and accomplish what your practice aims for.
II) Your practice’s mission statement is not a collection of “sound bites” for people to read, it is a claim to be acted out
You see, you could have a mission statement and not post it for patients to skim through it on your website.
In fact, you could keep it only internally.
A mission statement is meant to direct your staff and your interaction with patients.
It is not an advertising slogan.
As long as you act out the commitment infused in your mission statement, you’ll gain the advantage of a coherence workflow.
III) Not being specific and actionable enough
You ever wondered why these corporate values all look the same?
Well, because they are broadly defined which render them unactionable.
I’ll illustrate with an example:
Let’s take a closer look at some of the healthcare mission statements
- “To provide quality care for patients”
- “To provide patient-centered healthcare with excellence in quality”
- “Our mission is to improve the health of those we serve”
- “To promote health and wellness through quality healthcare”
Do you see a common theme?
Well apart from being all the same, they are non-actionable.
What do you mean by quality care? Or by “patient-centered”?
When you probe for specifics, they all fall flat.
Which makes it hard for anyone to take it seriously or act upon it.
We’ll see actionable examples of mission statements in a minute.
IV) They start backward and miss the critical pieces that form a mission statement.
You can’t have a mission statement without vision and a purpose.
A mission statement needs to be backed with a purpose and a vision to be different from the others.
It needs to have a concrete goal in mind so you can form actionable commitments towards the future.
Now, I’m aware that the word vision is tossed around a lot in healthcare.
And most of the time, “vision” is just another misused word or catchphrase people come up with rather than a strategic vision planning.
So, to recap, for you to ensure that your mission statement is unique and well received, you need to create a proper core (a purpose and vision) that work as the foundation for it.
And that’s exactly what we’ll go into next…
Anatomy of a great healthcare mission statement and Brand DNA
Now you’ve seen that a mission statement can’t be formed without a vision.
And a vision can’t be genuine without a purpose or “reason to exist”.
You see, Mission, Vision, and Purpose are what we call in branding: A Brand DNA.
A brand DNA is a branding strategy that aims to build a purposeful foundation for your healthcare brand.
It consists of 3 Stages Purpose, Vision, Mission.
The Purpose Statement answers the question of :
- Why does our medical business exist, besides making a profit?
- Why do we get out of bed every morning?
- What’s our driving force?
The Vision statement answers the questions of :
- Where will our brand be in 20 years?
- What will tomorrow’s success look like?
- Where should we not go? What happens if all fails?
- Are we strategically following a path to achieve our objective?
The Mission statement answers the questions of
- How do we do what we do, differently?
- What is our day-to-day commitment to achieve our vision?
- How can we implement an action plan for our commitments?
Now we know the building blocks of an authentic medical brand, let’s build our way up until we reach a concrete mission statement.
The steps are as follows:
- We’ll start building our purpose or a “why” for your brand.
- Then we’ll build a concrete Mission statement, and lastly
- We back our mission with a concrete vision
But before we start with the #1 step, let’s stop a moment to talk about what advantages you get when you have a purpose statement.
The unmatched advantage of a purpose statement
Communicating with a why is a huge competitive edge for your medical practice.
Because stating your “why” differentiate you from the rest by firing an emotional response from your audience.
People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it
― Simon Sinek
A purpose statement is a short statement of why your healthcare organization exists besides making a profit, what its overall goal is, and why should anyone care.
Usually, When you try to communicate a message, you start with the “what”
Example: “We offer the highest oral care with affordable prices”
That’s what you do.
The issue is, ‘What’ messaging only engages with the neocortex - the part of our brain that’s rational.
And here’s the bad news, 90% of decisions are made by emotions. (the limbic part of our brain)
So to leverage that, you must communicate with a “why message”
A “why message” is a communication method that is infused with emotions and a purposeful narrative.
And because an emotional message will directly communicate to our limbic part of our brain (the part that is responsible for emotions)…
Your patients and staff will be more receptive to it and you have a higher chance of steering their “buying-decision”.
To illustrate I’ll give you two version of a pitch for a hospital
One that uses a “why messaging” and the other a “What messaging”
1) [What Messaging Pitch]:
“We’re healthier, we offer the best healthcare services to our patients at affordable costs, want to join in?”
2) [Why Messaging Pitch]:
“What good is a healthcare service if it’s not safe? Our hospital was founded based on safety. We believe in being safe first. Because we know that good health begins with safe communities. We’re Healthier™, we offer the safest healthcare services in town. Want to join in?”
Do you see how different the two pitches are? That’s the power of having a purpose or a “why”.
Brand DNA: Creating a Mission and a Purpose Statement
To craft a purpose and a mission statement, we’ll use the Golden Circle Model.
You can download the free pdf version here
The why will be considered as a Purpose Statement.
The how will be considered as a Mission Statement.
EXERCISE STEPS:
- Take 5 minutes to consider and take notes on:
- “What” your medical business does
- “How” your practice achieves the “what.”
- Write them on a sticky note and pin them to their respective circle (You can also use it online with a virtual whiteboard here)
- Now take 5-10 minutes to answer these questions about the “what” and “how” you defined in step #1
- Why would the “what” and the “how” your medical brand provides truly matter to someone?
- If your care service achieves your customers’ needs, how will it make their lives easier?
- Is your “how” specific and actionable enough?
- Take 5 minutes to craft a “why” statement embodying “why” your healthcare brand exists.
- Share your golden circle with your group.
- Solidify your hospital or practice what, how, and why.
- Use your golden circle definitions to guide your healthcare brand, marketing messaging, and communication with patients.
# EXAMPLE
Why We Exist (Purpose Statement): To create the safest community for our patients.
How We Do It (Mission Statement): We emphasize the precautions, safety, and welfare of our patients. We do that by striving to lower medical errors, reduce readmission rates, and educate our patients on how to live a healthy lifestyle.
What We Do: We provide the most risk-free healthcare services to our community
Now that you have a mission and purpose statement, let’s back that up with a strategic vision for the future.
Creating a healthcare Vision Statement for your practice
Okay, you have a mission, but where does your mission lead you to?
If you don’t know where your medical practice is heading, you’ll run the risk of running into aimless paths.
Great healthcare leaders use their vision to orient their decisions.
They govern the present by which vision they have in mind.
“Does this get us closer to where we’d like to be as a medical practice”?
“Are we deviating from our end destination? How can we retract?”
To answer such questions, a vision is critical.
To form a concrete vision for your practice, we’ll use Future Brand Model™ and The Brand Vision Statement exercise.
# First Exercise, the Future Brand Model™
You can download the free pdf version here
EXERCISE STEPS:
- Take 15 minutes to move on through the timeline: (use sticky notes and pin your writings on the timeline or
use an assignment calendar
. You can do this also online using
Miro’s
virtual whiteboard
- (Now) where are you now? In terms of business metrics — what’s your practice size, patient base, lifetime value, and so on
- (5 years) Where do you see your healthcare brand in 5 years in terms of growth?
- (10 years) If you achieve all your goals in 5 years, then What will your practice look like in 10 years? How big will it be? and what other care services could you offer? Will you expand to other locations or add other service lines?
- (15 years), What impact will you have on your industry in 15 years? How will your healthcare brand expand? (15 years is a lot of time and the market changes rapidly, this is hard to predict, But it was never about being accurate.)
- Next, in the aspiration field, Take 5 minutes to write down your ultimate aspiration. If it all goes right, how will you impact the category you’re in? Here you can use superlatives like “The world’s (safest, most loved, most convenient…)”.
- Finally, define your ideal future state — your final destination or desired end state. What would the world look like if this problem was solved? If you were successful in what you do, how will your medical brand change the community/world? (make it simple and concrete, and avoid any buzzwords or jargon)
Share and discuss the notes and the writing with your team and move on to the next exercise.
# Second Exercise, The Brand Vision Statement
You can download the free pdf version here
The truth about mission statements in healthcare
Having a mission statement for your medical business is only one part of the puzzle to creating a successful healthcare brand.
But it’s a critical piece.
It’s a way to differentiate your practice from the rest.
It gives your staff and patients a reason to believe in what you do.
Mission-driven healthcare businesses are always on the frontier of their respective fields.
Your mission, purpose, and vision are your map to navigate the future for your medical brand.
If you’d like to build a concrete strategy for your brand DNA (a mission, vision, purpose) you can always reach us at unnus™.
