October 16, 2009
Reduced workforces mean heavier workloads for many so making diagnostics available to patients during non-work hours is a win-win situation for the patient and the hospital.
Businesses have cut many expenses during the economic downturn, and many have had to resort to cutting staff. With these cuts brings an ever- increasing workload to those remaining employed, not to mention a sense of uneasiness and insecurity regarding employment. Many patients are reluctant to ask for time off to attend to healthcare matters including diagnostic testing that their doctors have prescribed.
Making diagnostic testing available during days and times other than the traditional work week allows for patients to take better care of their health. In addition, it can increase hospital revenue. Truly a win for both the patient and the hospital.
Some hospitals are doing this through:
- Accessible and identifiable diagnostic center with easy parking.
- Slightly extended hours on weekdays – opening at 7 am and closing at 7 pm.
- Hours of operation including weekends.
- Ease of scheduling with one phone call and one location to book everything from bloodwork to x-rays to a MRI.
- Last minute scheduling options so that patients can get in on short notice
These are tough times for operations and costs for many businesses, including hospitals, but making diagnostic services which are often product lines that suffer in a tough economy, more accessible are critical moves to keep a healthy community and a healthy bottom line for your hospital.
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Posted by Jimmy Warren
October 14, 2009
In small to medium size markets, doctors are often high-profile in the community and there’s a genuine interest in knowing their backgrounds and experiences. Your hospital’s ads can tell their stories.
Sometimes doctors return to their hometowns to set up their practices with a welcoming community but more often than not, they are recruited to towns and cities where patients have more than a little curiosity about their potential doctors.
Having grown up in a small town in Alabama, most people either know you or know about your family. Small towns have a sometimes intrusive, but often endearing, interest in their high-profile citizens and doctors definitely fit that category.
I’ve used this strategy of highlighting a doctor’s background many times in the past. It works. Doctors that only practice or primarily practice at your hospital are good candidates and patients will remember them when their services are needed.
Examples of copy points to consider:
- Where they went to medical school and did their residencies-particularly for well-respected and well-known programs
- Any fellowships they completed in addition to their residency.
- Any awards or honors they have received.
- Let your copy introduce them as local, if that’s the case
- Include previous experience, be it military service, mission work or providing care at the local free clinic.
- Milestones such as having completed over 1000 carotid artery stent procedures or 500 successful total hip replacements.
- Use doctors’ photos in interesting and creative ways.
Your hospital advertising provides a great opportunity to let the community know about their local doctors and in turn develops loyalty to the hospitals where they are on staff.
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Leave a Comment » | Branding, Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing, Marketing Ideas | Tagged: doctors in hospital advertising, feature doctor in ads, Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
October 13, 2009
Celebrating a milestone such as a 100 year anniversary can be a prime opportunity to tell your hospital’s story and build patient loyalty.
If hospital walls could talk there would be incredible tales of hope, heartbreak and uplifting care. And when your hospital reaches a milestone, be it 25, 50 or 100 years in existence, it’s a strong testament of success.
Many hospitals have interesting pasts that invoke a sense of community pride. Gadsden Regional Medical Center in Gadsden, Alabama is one such example.
In 1906 Dr. Rawls started the city’s first hospital in a home. By the 1950’s, the hospital was owned by the county’s Baptist Association and through their leadership and with major help from the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, a new hospital was built on land donated by Goodyear, a major employer in the area. The construction was funded in large part by payroll deductions of the Goodyear plant workers.
The rich and storied past provided a great opportunity to retell that history and highlight the hospital’s many accomplishments.
Things to consider for your hospitals special milestone:
- Community-wide events such as picnics, parties for people born at the hospital, galas for the physicians and major donors, dedications of new wings or the donation of a commemorative sculpture to honor the past.
- Erect a timetable display reveling major milestones of the hospital’s history in the lobby, cafeteria or other public areas.
- Develop a media campaign to tell the history in a compelling way.
- Design, print and mail a detailed history piece to the hospital’s market area or patient data base.
- Have clever, medical-related specialty items to give away at public events. Pill boxes, thermometers, first aid kits, water bottles, baby medicine dispensers are all good examples.
- Plan radio and tv show appearances to promote all the upcoming events.
- Use facebook and twitter to promote events in each phase of the celebration.
- Produce a short video on the history and celebration to post on youtube, use at speaking engagements and feature on the hospital’s website.
Seize the opportunity and make the most of these markers in time and continue to build patient loyalty. It’s a wonderful way to sell your hospital to newcomers to the area as well as reinforce the brand to your community.
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Leave a Comment » | Branding, Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing, Marketing Ideas, Social Media | Tagged: anniversary celebration, brand, brand loyalty, celebrations, Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing, milestones, Nancy Siniard, patient loyalty | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
October 13, 2009
Posting prices and outcomes on hospital website is a gutsy move yet one that has been beneficial for one hospital system – to both the patient and the hospital.
Geisinger Healthcare System in Pennsylvania posts their prices and outcomes on their website so patients can compare outcomes on different procedures as well as costs to other hospitals in the state and nationwide.
The hospital website links to a U.S Government site that allows comparisons of hospitals on several fronts including:
1. Hospital Process of Care
2. Hospital Outcome of Care
3. Survey of patient’s hospital experience
4. Medicare payment to hospital
5. Number of Medicare patients treated
While most hospitals post some of these numbers, few actually post the “Outcomes of Care” and likely with reason. The comparisons are a great tool for the consumer when deciding on a healthcare provider. In addition, it’s an excellent way to promote and improve the hospital’s performance. This transparency is admirable and Geisinger obviously values performance results.
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6 Comments | Hospital Marketing, Internet, Marketing Ideas, Patient Experience | Tagged: Geisenger Healthcare System, Geisinger Hospital, hospital comparisons, Hospital Marketing, hospital pricing, Jimmy Warren, Nancy Siniard, prices posted on website, transparency of hospital | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
October 13, 2009
Digital outdoor boards provides instant messaging.
Digital has revitalized outdoor advertising. It has greater impact than traditional static outdoor and it allows multiple messages to rotate on the same unit. In addition, it provides immediacy – perhaps the most powerful benefit.
E! Entertainment recently purchased from Clear Channel Outdoor, 125 digital billboards in 20 markets to plug its weeknight ”E! News”, displaying breaking news alerts as it happens. Instead of a static message, E! is digitally posting breaking news on outdoor referring the viewer to the network’s nightly news show for more details. The message can be changed almost instantly as news breaks. The Los Angeles Times was perhaps the first to try such an effort as early as 2008.
So instead of one or two or three static messages, hospitals can use digital boards to deliver instant messages. True, a hospital doesn’t have continuous news to post on a digital board, but the capability certainly deserves some creativity.
Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama uses digital outdoor to post the picture of each new baby born in the hospital.
The board shows the picture of the newborn and its first name. Of course, parental approval is required and last names are not provided. But the result is not only proud parents and grandparents but also the branding impact the hospital gives its OB services.
It’s refreshing, as you drive down the road, to see the photo of a beautiful newborn baby. Not only does that give you that “feel good” moment, it also subtly communicates that Jackson Hospital is in the baby birthing business while positively branding their service.
This is just one way to use the immediacy of digital outdoor. There must be many others. Even public service announcements, like updates on the swine flu epidemic, could be effectively communicated using digital outdoor. Pardon the pun, but the sky really is the limit for digital outdoor boards.
Digital outdoor is not your Father’s outdoor, but as Jackson Hospital can attest, it sure can make a father proud.
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7 Comments | Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing, Marketing Ideas | Tagged: clear channel outdoor, digital billboards, digital outdoor, E! Entertainment, Hospital Advertising, hospital billboards, Hospital Marketing, hospital outdoor, jackson hospital, outdoor advertising, outdoor marketing | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
October 13, 2009
Most insured patients don’t worry about the cost of a procedure but when the uninsured choose a non-emergency test, they respond to advertised prices.
As the healthcare debate looms, we keep hearing there are 46 million uninsured people in the United States. And these people really want the diagnostics and preventative care for their families and themselves just like those who are insured. When there is family history or risk factors for heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis or diabetes for example or presenting symptoms, these patients want to take action but costs are a major roadblock.
Advertising special offers or pricing certain diagnostics can be a great way to increase your diagnostics numbers and your hospital’s bottom line.
Consider package pricing the following:
- Offer and advertise a set rate for mammograms or run a special rate during the month of October for a breast cancer awareness campaign.
- Do the same for colonoscopies.
- Advertise cardiac scoring tests that are affordably priced and can be done with one visit. Or do a businessman’s testing complete with the CT Scan for a higher price point.
- Establish a special rate with your OB-GYN’s to offer set pricing on bone density testing and pap smears.
- Advertise pricing for a full lipid profile on bloodwork to include cholesterol and triglyceride levels, as well as diabetes testing. These are common problems among the working poor.
- Other common problems are back pain for laborers, chest pain and cough in smokers and sinus problems. Price and advertise x-rays and make non-workday hours available.
Preventive care leads to healthier lifestyles. And when the uninsured want to improve their health, make them feel welcome in your diagnostics environment with pricing they understand and can afford. It’s much better for the patient and the hospital when decisions and diagnosis are made BEFORE an emergency.
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Leave a Comment » | Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing, Marketing Ideas, Uncategorized | Tagged: advertising healthcare price, advertising preventive care, advertising to uninsured, Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing, increase diagnostic revenue, Nancy Siniard | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
October 13, 2009
If Microsoft search engine Bing becomes as popular as predicted…it will require new optimization tactics.
If Microsoft search engine, Bing, becomes as popular as predicted…it will require new optimization tactics.
So you’ve worked hard to be ranked on the first page of Google Search. Congratulations! But then along comes Bing. Bing is Microsoft’s new search engine and in less than a year when Microsoft takes over Yahoo’s search infrastructure, it could account for over 30% of the U.S. search market.
And Bing ranks pages differently than Google. There is less emphasis on inbox traffic and more on content and key words. The same strategy will not optimize both.
So the landscape and the challenges could drastically change. Microsoft is still tweaking Bing, but it will definitely be different then Google. That may mean a company may need two websites, one to optimize for Google search and one for Bing. That of course will require more financial and personnel commitment.
So just when we were about to have it figured out and enjoy the fruits of successfully being organically found on the first page of Google search, there is a new player who has great potential to capture significant market share.
It’s still a bit early to develop strategies for Bing, but if they do manage to get 30% or more market share it cannot be ignored. Investment in Goggle search will lose 30% of its value and two parallel strategies for search engine optimization will be required. It’s not something marketers want to hear but it’s something to watch and be prepared for.
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3 Comments | Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing, Internet, Marketing Ideas, Social Media | Tagged: bing search, google search, healthcare marketing, healthcare search, Hospital Marketing, hospital search, internet marketing, Jimmy Warren, online marketing, search engine optimization, SEO, yahoo search | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
October 12, 2009
Art can speed a patient’s healing process 
Hospitals spend millions on the latest technology to help heal patients. Great emphasis is placed on best practices to improve outcomes, and rightfully so. Hospitals should provide the best technology possible and strictly allow best practice guidelines to help patients get well as soon as possible.
But recent research shows that the right art on hospital walls can speed up the healing process. Upali Nanda, who has a doctorate in architecture with a specialization in healthcare systems states, “Scientific studies show that art can aid in the recovery of patients, shorten hospital staffs, and help manage pain.”
Nanda conducted a study at Houston’s St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital using two types of art. They compared images, which had been proven to calm patients, including green landscapes, water scenes, architecture, and emotionally expressive pictures of people. In the second group, abstract art was used. The results showed that art depicting familiar, calming scenes were effective helping patients, but abstract art was not nearly as effective.
Nanda says, “One theory is that abstract art allows patients to project their own anxieties onto the image, and thus pictures that clearly portray pleasant images are more soothing.”
Based on these findings, hospitals should take great care in using art on the hospital wall and in hospital rooms. And they should take care determining the type of art displayed. . Rather than modern or abstract art, realistic, familiar and appealing art scenes should be used because they help the healing process.
Healing is a science, but now we know it is also art.
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1 Comment | Hospital Advertising, Marketing Ideas, Patient Experience, Uncategorized | Tagged: art and healing, healthcare marketing, Hospital Advertising, hospital art, Hospital Marketing, Nancy Siniard | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
October 12, 2009
Texas non-profit Scott & White Hospital is a success story on changing the focus on outcomes, patient satisfaction and cost efficiency.
The Scott & White Healthcare System based in Temple, Texas is holding the line on healthcare costs through collaboration and cooperation. This amazing program has different incentives than the “fee for service” type of compensation.
Some of the things they are doing worthy of study are:
1. Scott & White Doctors are employed by the hospital and do not feel pressure to use multi-million dollar machines because they don’t own any.
2. Doctors are on salary but are paid bonuses linked to patients being “happy and healthy” and not on how many office visits and procedures the patients generate.
3. Hospital interiors are “more Hampton Inn than Hilton.”
4. Frontline doctors at their 31 primary care outpatient clinics work closely with specialists at the main campus —sharing test results and scans in computer assisted huddles. This sometimes saves an unnecessary appointment with the specialist.
5. State of the art electronic records are shared throughout the system-something a physician in private practice couldn’t run.
6. The administrator must be a doctor and the 800+ doctor system uses a strong peer review system to stop overuse and improve fiscal discipline.
7. Self-improvement is encouraged with doctors getting 15 paid days off for educational activity and service to the group.
8. Patient surveys and outcomes records are used to evaluate performance.
While this system has some shortcomings, it is certainly doing a lot of things very well and patient outcomes paired with the cost savings in healthcare should be a model for all to study.
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Leave a Comment » | Hospital Marketing, Marketing Ideas, Patient Experience | Tagged: healthcare costs, hospital cost efficiency, Jimmy Warren, Scott and White Hospital, Temple Tx | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
September 10, 2009
Consumers are expecting more from websites. They want sites that are transactional.
Hospital websites have been a staple of hospital marketing efforts for many years now. It’s not only expected, it’s a necessity. There is probably no hospital in America without a website.
As you peruse various hospital websites, most are fairly good and some are very good. All the necessary information is provided: location, services, careers, information for patients, schedule of educational classes and the like. And of course, the mandatory stuff that most visitors don’t read like mission statement, values and history are there. And some sites provide extremely helpful and quite comprehensive health information.
Is this enough? In an age where consumers expect websites to have interaction and commerce, most hospital websites come up short. Basic informational sites, regardless of how robust the information, are no longer adequate. Consumers expect to interact and transact business on websites. And hospitals need to take the next step in that direction. The more advanced hospital sites allow visitors to:
- Order flowers from the gift shop to be delivered to patient rooms.
- Select get-well cards online that can be customized and personalized, printed within the hospital and delivered.
- Sign up for classes and seminars.
- View their bill and make payments online.
- Complete and submit electronically pre-admission registration forms.
As consumers depend more and more on the web to conduct business and to get things accomplished, hospitals have to adjust. Just providing information is not enough anymore. More will be expected. And the faster these services are available, the sooner hospitals can use their website to more effectively create points of contact with the consumer, establish a stronger relationship, build loyalty and enhance the brand.
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28 Comments | Hospital Advertising, Internet, Marketing Ideas | Tagged: hospital websites, interactive website, Jimmy Warren, transactional website | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
