Chief Marketing Officer

Chief Marketing Officer Has Moved to a New Blog Site

2011-12-12T06:07:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers,

Chief Marketing Officer has moved to a new blog platform. Please click here to go to the new site and subscribe for updates. While there, check out the four part series on Marketing Resource Allocation Decisions. As always, your comments, questions and suggestions for content are always welcome.

Thank you for following Chief Marketing Officer. I look forward to our conversations on the new site.

Karen Corrigan

Marketing the Power of Pink

2011-10-29T10:04:00.000-04:00

True confession: I dislike pink. And the marketer in me winces every time I see another pink ribbon etched, woven, stamped, hung or printed on everything from yogurt cups to kitchen appliances to clothing and even pet food. Don’t get me wrong – I get it. Breast cancer has taken the lives of people I treasure. And I wholeheartedly believe that physicians, healthcare marketers, organizations like the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and even all of the consumer products and services brandishing pink have saved countless women by raising awareness of the importance of early detection.

So what’s the beef? I wish I could offer up a rational argument for my stance on pink, but admit it has more emotional than rational origins. Perhaps it’s what appears to me to be the over-commercialization of the cause. Or maybe something more deep-seated, like fear.

Six months ago, Susan Lilly (one of our colleagues at Corrigan Partners) learned she had breast cancer. She found a lump under her arm and soon discovered that it was a particularly aggressive form of the disease. The past six months have been an endurance race of chemotherapy, surgery and recovery for Susan, her husband and two young daughters. The good news is good! While she still has a couple more surgeries to go, she is now re-entering normalcy – whatever that is.

I remember the stomach-sinking dread felt when Susan first called to say she had breast cancer. And can only imagine what it must have been like for her and for thousands of other women who hear those words coming out of their physicians’ mouths. But Susan taught us much here at the office. How not to give into fear. How to take control of your illness. How to be a smart healthcare consumer, not just a patient. How to keep going through the chemo treatments. How to embrace the fashion possibilities when she lost her hair. How to keep your humor – and your faith – through it all.

So there it is. I’ve outed Susan with her full permission. She has incredible strength of character and is much loved and admired by her colleagues for 'just being Susan.'

And yes, she and I share similar views on pink. But maybe we just need a little more distance from the tribulations of the past six months to embrace its power to heal.

Chris Boyer's Social Media ROI Ragtime

2011-10-19T09:48:00.000-04:00

You might be tempted to suggest that Chris Boyer (Director of Digital Marketing & Communications, Inova Health System) keep his day job until you realize that this is his day job! Thanks Chris for this morning’s chuckles. Wish I’d been there to see it in person. (Thanks also to Dan Dunlop for feeding highlights from the Health Care Social Media Summit through his blog – The Healthcare Marketer).

A ‘Can’t Miss’ Event – The 15th Annual Greystone.Net Healthcare Internet Conference

2011-10-15T06:01:00.000-04:00

The 15th Annual Greystone.Net Healthcare Internet Conference will be held November 7 – 9, 2011 at the J.W. Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes. This year’s theme, The Convergence: Marketing and IT Collaboration – The Time is Now, is one of the reasons this annual Greystone.Net event has become a ‘must attend’ priority for me. With Convergence, Greystone.Net is introducing a new section focusing solely on the collaborative and innovative strategies and technologies transforming healthcare. The keynoters and featured presenters are topnotch experts in the realm of web, social and mobile trends, innovations and practical applications.

I’m also excited for the opportunity to present with with Sentara Healthcare’s digital marketers, Lee Gwaltney and Jessica Carlson on the topic of “Digital Brandscaping: Extending Your Brand Across Web, Social and Mobile Sites.” We’ll be addressing the importance of a proactive, focused and purposeful approach to brand management across web, social and mobile sites as well as with patient and provider portals, and with clinical information systems such as electronic health records. Our session is scheduled for Monday, November 7 at 4:15 p.m.

While there, drop by the Brains on Demand booth in the Exhibit Hall. We’ll be there with our Brains on Demand partners Brand =Experience, Klein & Partners and Eruptr.

Can you believe it’s the 15th year for the Greystone.Net conference? It’s a terrific event that just gets better every year.

Hope to see you there!

The Future of Healthcare Marketing

2011-10-13T08:23:00.001-04:00

I had a chance to talk with Bill Moschella Co-founder & CEO of eVariant about the future of healthcare marketing at the SHSMD conference this past September. Here’s that interview. What advice do you have for marketers seeking to improve marketing performance and build future ready marketing operations?

Improving CV Volumes, Revenue and Business Performance - A Webinar for Healthcare Executives

2011-10-11T12:28:00.000-04:00

Join Art Sturm, president & CEO of SRK, by webinar on Thursday, October 20 as he discusses how top heart programs are benefiting from the "strategic halo effect" in growing volumes and improving business performance for cardiovascular service lines. You'll learn strategies and tools for growing CV service line revenue and improving collaboration across multiple specialties. Key topic points include:

Growing new and returning patient revenue.
Optimizing resource utilization, including physician alignment.
Developing strategies to build collaboration among multiple service lines.
Streamlining operations by creating a common view that focuses the enterprise.
Tracking revenue and cost performance of individual service lines and individual physicians.

The Strategic Halo Effect also addresses the essential question: how to thrive in this new era of healthcare reform?

Follow the link below to learn more about this complementary webinar.

The Strategic Halo Effect: the Science of Improving CV Service Line Volumes, Revenue and Operations; Thursday, October 20, 10 AM Pacific, 12 Noon Central, 1 PM Eastern.

In Remembrance of a Healthcare Colleague and Dear Friend . . .

2011-10-05T10:36:00.000-04:00

A memorial service will be held this evening for Nancy L. Eleuterius, a former co-worker and friend who, at age 68, left this earth far too young. I first met Nancy more than 30 years ago at Riverside Hospital in Newport News, Virginia. She worked in patient registration and I had just come on board as assistant director of marketing. What I remember most about that meeting was her warm, wonderful welcome to a strange new city and introduction to the institution. Shortly thereafter, Nancy left to take a job as director of administrative services for Norfolk General Hospital (now part of Sentara Healthcare in Virginia). I was sad to see her move on, but also joined the Norfolk General team later that same year and once again had the pleasure of working with Nancy. Hailing from Mississippi, she was the quintessential Southern lady; a steel magnolia with a big heart, quick wit, lots of smarts and true grit.

In the coming decades at Sentara, Nancy went on to become the director of operations for First Step, the first managed care contract in the nation for the Department of Defense. She was then promoted as the president of Sentara Mental Health Management and brought her very successful career to a close when she retired as president and CEO of Sentara Behavioral Health Services.

I have many wonderful memories of Nancy and hope you will indulge me in sharing a few of those with you today.

First, she was a champion of ‘patient experience’ before it became the trendy thing to do. Make that ‘customer’ experience – Nancy also believed that making it easy for doctors to schedule and admit patients would result in better business outcomes. We’re talking the early 1980s here – long before most hospitals understood or cared about the connection between service culture and financial performance. She alerted me – a very green marketer at the time – about a stream of patients being referred to our specialists by primary care docs in rural North Carolina. Told me about the number of calls coming in from people looking for doctors. Was concerned about patients and families trying to find someone to help them deal with the complexity and confusion of hospital stays.

In the earliest days of healthcare marketing, she was the catalyst for development of physician referral development, consumer call center and guest relations programs at Sentara.

Perhaps my favorite memory will be how the two of us conspired to keep a talented ‘temp’ worker in the health system. I first hired the temporary employee to help with the opening and marketing of a major facility expansion project. She was a fantastic find. When my funding ran out, Nancy and I arranged to have her work as a temporary employee in admissions, supporting a number of initiatives there. When her funding ran out, I had another new project that needed support. It took a couple of years, but we both knew great talent when we saw it and beat the ‘no new FTEs’ gridlock to bring her on in a permanent position. Today that person, Carol Via, is the vice president for corporate marketing at Sentara and remains one of the best marketing practitioners with whom I’ve had the privilege of working.

But Nancy wasn’t just about work. When I went into labor with my third child on the day before Thanksgiving, she showed up at our house to watch our toddler while my husband and I went to the hospital.

Over her lifetime, Nancy received numerous awards and recognitions for her accomplishments and contributions, served on boards and volunteered for community charities. What she was most proud of however, and held most precious, were her two daughters, Cindy and Deborah. She prayed daily for their health, safety and happiness.

A story that best characterizes Nancy goes like this. On a trip to New York City she decided to experience high tea at the Pierre Hotel. If you’ve ever done this, you know that it is a crowded happening (and if not, you must!). Nancy snagged a table with two seats in the Rotunda, ordered her tea and scones, and sat back to people watch. A tall, well-dressed gentleman asked if he could take the seat next to her, to which she agreed and for the next hour or so engaged in a conversation ranging from the weather to favorite restaurants to Broadway hits to world politics. When the gentleman rose to leave, he shook her hand and thanked her for one of the more pleasant afternoons he had experienced in some time. Immediately upon his departure, the wait staff clustered around her with questions. “Wow, do you know him? What was he like? Did you ask for his autograph?” Nancy, being Nancy, said “Know who?”

The answer was Michael Jordan. I still believe she had to look him up once she got home, but somewhere along the line learned he was rather famous. But that was Nancy. Every person was uniquely special – yet just a fellow human being.

Nancy was someone I looked up to and aspired to be like. She was a major influence both personally and professionally – I never stopped learning from her.

She will be missed by many, many people. And though her years were short, she lived each one with great enthusiasm and the world is a better place because of the time she spent on it.

Nancy L. Eleuterius

Nancy’s life will be celebrated at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church, 5345 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA 23462-1889 on Wednesday, October 5, 2011. The memorial Mass will begin at 4:30 p.m. Flowers may be sent to St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to St. Michael Building Fund, P.O. Box 523, Biloxi, MS 39530.

Number of Consumer Health Apps to Reach 13,000 by Next Summer

2011-09-22T10:22:00.000-04:00

MobiHealthNews' newly released report Consumer Health Apps for Apple's iPhone reveals that the number of health apps for consumers has grown at a steady rate over that past 18 months and projects that by next summer there will be more than 13,000 health apps intended for use by consumers. The study is based on an analysis of 18 months of data from Apple’s AppStore and also shows that the average price of a paid health app is trending upward from $2.77 last February $3.21 in July 2011. Of the 9,000 health apps available for consumers today, slightly more than 16% are for cardio fitness and around 14% for diet. Other categories include women's health, sleep, chronic disease, medication management and mental health.

Click here for more information about the study (full report available for a fee).

Heading Out to SHSMD Connections 2011!

2011-09-12T11:29:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again. Beginning tomorrow, hundreds of healthcare executives, planning and marketing professionals, communications leaders and other experts will be pouring into Phoenix for the annual conference of the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. The conference officially kicks off on Wednesday morning, September 14 and continues through Saturday morning, September 17 at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort.

Personally, I'm looking forward to reconnecting with long-time colleagues and friends, meeting and getting to know new people, learning new things and having a little fun along the way.

This year, I'm honored to be speaking with Terri Goren of Goren & Associates and Phyllis Marino, vice president of market development at MetroHealth System in Cleveland. We'll be presenting on Thursday, September 15 from 1:30 to 2:45. Our topic - Can't We All Just Get Along? Marketing and PR Professionals Uniting for Winning Results -- will address the challenges executives sometimes face when trying to get their marketing and PR teams on the same page, and offer insights into driving better and more collaborative performance.

At Corrigan Partners, we're also excited about our new partnership with Brains on Demand, a unique collaborative offering seamless access to leading healthcare research, brand, marketing, communications and social media experts that can help you address a multitude of needs and projects. We'll be in the Exhibit Hall during exhibition hours at booth #813. Stop by and see us, and register for a free day of consulting from one of our experts.

I hope you will also join us at the Corrigan Partners Sunrise SIG Breakfast on Friday morning from 8:00 am to 9:00 am. Join a table discussing a topic of interest and meet some new people over coffee and breakfast.

For a list of all the great topics, speakers, events, exhibitors, etc., click here to visit SHSMD's website. And thanks also to the SHSMD staff for the hard and expert work they put into making this a great annual event.

See you there!

Preparing for Hurricane Irene

2011-08-26T20:43:00.000-04:00

My colleagues in our Norfolk, Virginia based Corrigan Partners firm have spent today securing homes and property and assuring the safety of our families. Some of our team live in flood-prone areas and have been ordered to evacuate. We expect the weather to deteriorate overnight, with hurricane winds, rain and flooding to escalate on Saturday and continuing through the early hours of Sunday.

If predictions hold true, it is likely that we will lose power and phone service, and have limited access to the Internet, email and voicemail. Emergency officials have warned that it could take several days to a week or more to restore. If you want to contact us, please do leave an email or voicemail and we will make every attempt to respond as quickly as possible.

We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding as we get through the storm clean-up and return to normal operations.

When we have access to the Internet, we’ll post any changes or updates on our Facebook site at www.facebook.com/corriganpartners.

To all of our clients, colleagues, friends and family in Irene’s path, please stay safe. We wish you the best.

Karen

Feed Your Brain with these Conferences for Healthcare Marketers

2011-08-21T19:50:00.000-04:00

Remember when August meant gearing up for the new school year - shopping for school supplies, refreshing the wardrobe, looking forward to being back in the classroom? For us grown-up healthcare marketers, Fall still signals a season of continuous learning with some outstanding conferences and webinars. Here's a few I'd recommend. Any other suggestions?

SHSMD Connections 2011
American Hospital Association
Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development
September 14 - 17, 2011
JW Marriot Desert Ridge Resort
Phoenix, Arizona

Healthcare Reform: Implications for Marketers
Forum for Healthcare Strategists Webinar
September 28, 2011
1:30–3:00 pm (CDT)

Third Annual Healthcare Social Media Conference
October 17-19, 2011
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minnesota

Hospital and Physician Relations Executive Summit
Forum for Healthcare Strategists
October 19 - 21, 2011
Camelback Inn and Spa
Scottsdate, Arizona

15th Annual Greystone.Net Healthcare Internet Conference
November 7 - 9, 2011
JW Marriott Orlanto Grande Lakes
Orlando, Florida

Look forward to seeing you out there.

Karen

10 Advertising Terms You Should Learn Today

2011-07-13T09:52:00.000-04:00

In the world of digital marketing, advertising terms like PPC, CPM and CTR are fast becoming so yesterday. Marketers and advertisers are cooking up an alphabet stew of new acronyms, words and, well, jargon to describe a new wave on on-line advertising technologies.

If expressions like RTB (real time bidding) and DSP (demand-side platform) leave you scratching your head, and terms like re-targeting, dynamic creative and geofencing aren't dancing on the tongue, then grab the iPad and take some notes from Business Insiders article on "10 Advertising Terms You'll Be Hearing For Years, So Learn Them Now."

Click here to read the article.

Practicing What They Preach - Smokers won't be Hired by SSM Health Care

2011-06-23T08:29:00.000-04:00

Recently, I was driving past a top notch tertiary medical center that has a smoke free campus. Across the street from the hospital in the median of a major thoroughfare sat a half dozen employees in their scrubs taking a smoke break. From the car, I could see both the smokers and the smoke-free campus banner. The contradictory image was quite startling.

Now, SSM Health Care hospitals in St. Louis will start a tobacco-free hiring policy next month. Job applicants at the seven SSM hospitals will be asked whether they have used tobacco in the last six months. If the answer is yes, that applicant will be eliminated from the hiring process. SSM spokesperson, Chris Hutton stressed that the health system wants employees to model healthy behaviors and take better care of themselves. Lowering healthcare costs related to employees that smoke is also a factor - the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention puts that cost at an additonal $3,400 annually per employee.

SSM is not the first health system to ban the hiring of smokers - and I hope they won't be the last.

Click here to read more.

Engaging Patients with Chronic Illness through Online Technologies

2011-06-16T15:01:00.000-04:00

Chronic diseases are among the most common, costly, and preventable of all health problems in the U.S. Incident rates are on the rise and will continue to grow for years to come. Under healthcare reform, new value based payment systems are targeting costs associated with chronic care. This will have an impact on volume as well as revenue for hospitals on a national scale and as a result, hospitals will have to implement new and robust initiatives using online platforms to meaningfully engage patients with chronic illness - and outcomes of that engagement.

So here's an interesting question -- should marketers play a role in patient management? One could and should argue that as new risk payment models take hold, customer relationship management may be key to retention, behavior modification and better self management of chronic illnesses. Business outcomes will not only be impacted by customer acquisition but also by our ability to better understand what drives profitability under risk contracts.

Active Data Exhange, through its KnowledgeShare 2011, is hosting a webinar on Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 1:00 pm eastern time to explore this topic. Discussion points will cover:

Facts about the dramatic growth in chronic disease that will occur in the coming years and projected impact on healthcare systems
How planning, marketing and communications professionals can best be prepared to handle the surge in demand through web technology as a strategic enabler
How Parrish Medical Center in Titusville, Florida is leveraging web technology to manage and drive patient education and community outreach programs.

I'll be joining the webinar along with Mathew Haggar, Communications Coordinator at Parrish Medical Center and Christopher Smith of Active Data Exchange.

There is no charge for participation. Click here to learn more and to register.

Brian Whitman Joins the Corrigan Partners Team

2011-06-14T07:40:00.000-04:00

F. Brian Whitman

Today, I'm thrilled to announce that F. Brian Whitman has joined the team at Corrigan Partners, bringing his creative, results-oriented business and brand building expertise to our clients. Over the course of his career, Brian has been responsible for all aspects of brand and marketing management, including brand building, marketing planning, new product launches, partnership development, marketing promotions, corporate communications, crisis management and merger communications.

Previously, Brian served as vice president for Indiana University Health Bloomington, with responsibility for marketing, community relations, business development, physician outreach, CRM/call center, service excellence and community health. There he served as IU Health’s organization’s regional branding officer. He also worked at Clarian Health Partners, Inc., where he led service-line marketing for cardiovascular and cancer. Prior to Clarion, he was employed at Corporate Creations, Inc., where he had account oversight for Cummins Engine, Delta Faucet and Methodist Health System.

Brian holds an MBA in health care management from Western Governors University, and a BA from the University of Indianapolis. He teaches healthcare marketing at Indiana University as adjunct faculty, and is an active member the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD).

I've known Brian since his Clarion days and have always been inspired by his thoughtful, creative and comprehensive approaches to engage consumers, build brands and grow business. Welcome aboard, Brian.

Brian can be reached at brian@corriganpartners.com or (317) 572-7024.

Passion, not Promotion, Built this Doctor's Blog Audience

2011-02-17T17:48:00.000-05:00

Susan Lilly

During a webinar yesterday, I listened to Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson of “Seattle Mama Doc” fame – She’s a pediatrician mom who writes a widely followed blog for Seattle Children’s Hospital. Dr. Swanson didn’t start blogging to promote herself, but because she wanted to be a reasoned voice in an age of media hype trumping science. Her passion was evident while making the case for physician blogging. In fact, her passion is the key to her success as a blogger, which has the additional benefit of boosting the profile and mission of Seattle Children’s. The hospital gives her free reign on what to post, which gives her blog (and embedded You Tube videos) authenticity and personality.

To enhance a program or raise awareness, you need to go where your patients are. Today, they are online. Do you have a physician or nurse in a service line who has a passion to engage and help patients? Who has the time to commit to posting once a week?

Remember to be patient; blogs take some time to gain traction. But that’s ok as this gives the blogging doctor or nurse time to find her comfort zone in the blogosphere.

Take a look at Dr. Swanson’s blog for inspiration: http://seattlemamadoc.seattlechildrens.org/

Susan Lilly consumes vast amounts of health industry data so you don’t have to. She has worked in the healthcare field for 20 years - in both private and public sectors - and focuses on telling the stories that help health care clients grow and thrive.

Prioritizing Marketing Resources Key to Achieving Return on Investment Goals - Part 1

2011-02-15T10:17:00.001-05:00

For most healthcare marketers, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) comes not in the dead of winter but in the dreaded annual cycle of budget planning. Hunkered down with plans and spreadsheets, most are trying to conjure up ways to achieve more with less. Unfortunately, too many end up spreading scarce dollars over too many projects.
When stuck between a rock (the health system's need for profitable growth) and a hard place (the drive to cut costs), how do marketers prioritize marketing investments and gain organizational commitment to those investment decisions?

First, clean house. Use this opportunity as a time to take a stand and stop funding those activities that have no or minimal impact on strategic growth, customer acquisition, customer retention and financial performance. Specifically look at non-marketing activities that sap resources and work with your colleagues across the health system to eliminate or move those deeds elsewhere. Make sure your team is performing at its best; while it's always difficult to move people out, when you are being asked to do more with fewer FTEs, each has to be a stellar performer.

Second, use a marketing resource allocation methodology to prioritize limited marketing resources (dollars and FTEs) to those growth and marketing initiatives that have the best potential for improving business performance and positioning the organization for long-term success.

In prioritizing marketing resource investments, there are three basic decision points:

What businesses, clinical programs or market expansion initiatives offer the best opportunity for growth and profitability?
Within priority programs and service lines, what strategies and tactical initiatives will best achieve marketing goals?
What infrastructure investments will be required to support effective growth and marketing management?

In other words, what will you choose to invest in to drive growth and improve profitability, and what activities and support systems will contribute most to those objectives? Both top-down and bottom-up approaches to resource allocation are necessary; top down for strategic planning across a health system’s portfolio of service lines and market initiatives; bottom up to develop individual marketing budgets within each priority program.

I know that some of the toughest issues marketers face during the long, cold winter of the budget season are cutting others' pet projects, sunsetting outdated communications tactics, navigating the politics of competing priorities, and so on and so on. Just saying 'no' has not been an option for some; a marketing resource allocation method can better arm the marketer with data-driven rationale for investment decisions.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll explore the components and key questions to delve into for each of the three decision points listed above. In the meantime, let me know some of your toughest budget challenges -- together let's find a way to stop doing more and focus on achieving more.

Your Brand's Value is Influenced by the Company it Keeps

2011-02-08T08:15:00.002-05:00

Many years ago, an older and wiser colleague gave me this advice: be careful where you put your logo. A point made all too well, when at one of our port city’s many waterfront festivals, I ran smack dab into a biker (the Hell’s Angels, not Lance Armstrong, type) wearing our health system’s 100th anniversary t-shirt. There was our carefully-crafted and beautifully-designed ‘future of medicine’ message and logo stretched across the beer belly of a large, bearded and seemingly-intoxicated man complete with ‘die young’ tattoos, leather studded neck collar, and dangling cigarette. The dichotomy of the message and the media underscored the importance of context for brand building communications.

Professors Brian Sternthal (Kellogg School of Management) and Myungwoo Nam (INSEAD) conducted a series of experiments (Kellogg Insight) to determine how the environment in which a brand appears influences brand perception, and concluded that managing the brand’s environment is just as important as managing the brand. A more favorable context produces a more favorable perception, and a negative context, a less favorable one.

Most marketers know this and work hard at selecting and controlling media that enhance and complement the brand – but the advent of the Internet and increasing popularity of social media sites have made this a more challenging aspect of brand management. Organizations fear and avoid social media channels, citing the need to maintain control. As if by not showing up, they have somehow done so. But they’re really in denial that a cyber-biker might just be sporting their brand in a compromised context around the web.

So the question for chief marketing officers is how do we help health systems replace old concepts of control with those of engagement, conversation, relationship, community, partnership, insights and influence?

Social Media Marketing Now 10% of On Line Promotions Spending

2011-02-03T08:25:00.002-05:00

Of the $28.5 billion projected to be spent for on-line advertising in the US this year, 10.8% ($3.08 billion) is earmarked for social media networks - which represents a significant jump from the $1.99 billion spent in 2010. And that number is expected to rise again next year to 12.1%, according to a new report "Worldwide Social Network Ad Spending: 2011 Outlook."

The report's author, Debra Aho Williamson, comments, “The skepticism of a few years ago has faded; large brands are allocating more marketing budget to social media than ever before, and their social network ad spending is also rising. Two categories of advertisers are emerging: major brand marketers that increase budgets gradually, and performance advertisers that spend heavily and bring extensive search marketing expertise.”

How are you planning to allocate your promotions dollars in 2011?

A Visit to One of Your Employed Physicians May be the First Exposure Patients will have with Your Hospital. What Kind of “Patient Experience” will They have?

2011-01-31T12:24:00.000-05:00

Steve Wilkins

Guest Post by Steve Wilkins
Now that over 50% of physicians are employed by hospitals, this is question that is on the minds of progressive hospital executive teams. With good reason. Patient-reported outcomes, including satisfaction and loyalty, are going to play an increasing role in determining how much hospitals and physicians are paid. This means that astute hospital marketers will be able to build a strong business case for investing in programs aimed at creating superlative ambulatory and inpatient experiences for patients.

But Our Physicians Already Have High Patient Satisfaction And Loyalty Scores

Health care executives should take little comfort in the high patient satisfaction and loyalty ratings found uniformly with just about every physician. Generally speaking, “one can assume that the quality of care is, actually, worse than surveys of patient satisfaction (suggest)”according to Avedis Donabedian, MD, the father of today’s quality movement. Donabedian goes on to say that “patients are, in fact, overly patient; they put up with unnecessary discomforts and grant their doctors the benefit of every doubt, until deficiencies in care are too manifest to be overlooked. “

Just look at the quality of physician-patient communication, a key ingredient of the “patient experience” in the physician’s office.

In only 26% of the visits are patients allowed to complete their opening statement (agenda) without interruption (by the doctor); in 37% the physicians interrupted; and in 37% physician never asked about the patient’s visit agenda.
Studies suggest that patients do not express their health concerns, expectations or opinions in up to 75 percent of physician visits principally because their doctor never asked.
Primary care physicians typically spend less than 60 seconds informing patients how to take new medications…or why.
Primary care physicians and patient disagree about the diagnosis, treatment, and cause/severity of their condition over 50% of the time.
Over 50% of patients walk out of their doctor’s office not understanding what they were told, including why or how to take their medications.

For their part, patients today are hard pressed to rate the effectiveness of their relationship with their doctor. The evidence conclusively shows that poor physician-patient communications is the norm rather than the exception. As such, most patients do not appreciate all the ways in which their doctor could in fact do a better job communicating with them.

Why Is Any Of This Important?

Simple. In the near future, your hospital and physicians will be paid according to things like how well they communicate with patients. More importantly, high quality physician-patient communications is highly correlated to improved outcomes, fewer hospital re-admits, fewer medical errors, improved patient compliance and increased patient satisfaction and loyalty.

So if you marketing team is looking for a simple and effective position strategy, consider improving the way your physicians and patients talk to each other. This strategy is so simple no one else in your market will be able to figure out what you are doing. But that’s OK…because your patients will sure see the know!

Steve Wilkins, MPH is the author of Mind the Gap. His posts appear regularly on Better Health Network, KevinMD.com and the Wall Street Journal Online Edition. Mr. Wilkins, and his company Smart Health Messaging, focus on developing evidence-based solutions for improving the quality of communications between physicians and patients...and in so doing, improve safety and outcomes, increase adherence and satisfaction and reduce costs. www.healthecommunications.wordpress.com

I do solemnly (and publicly) declare . . .

2011-01-25T12:30:00.000-05:00

Allison Sherwat

by Allison Sherwat, social media marketer

A recent New York Times article describes a well-tried technique that is being applied in a new venue: thousands of individuals are posting New Year’s resolution videos to social media sites, and in some cases engaging in online programs that will monetarily reward (or punish) the declarer for reaching (or not) her goals. Importantly, most social networking sites make it easy to tell your friends about your ambitions. According to the article, economists say people who make resolutions public are far more likely to fulfill them.

I wonder how health systems could leverage this public declaration of intent to achieve strategic goals. Not only would this provide incentive for the provider to achieve the goal, but it would serve as a tool of engagement with consumers who would want to track your progress. For those organizations struggling to get meaningful engagement from their consumers through social media efforts, this might be just the ticket.

What goal or target could your organization share with the market? The potential for consumers to reward your achievement is great.

Click here to read the New York Times' article.

Allison Sherwat has a passion for innovative marketing, business and new media strategies that help organizations grow and better serve customers.

Social Media: Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?

2011-01-23T03:49:00.000-05:00

Kari Foster

by Kari Foster, social media marketer

When I tell people that I help healthcare organizations establish their Facebook and social media presence, the responses vary from “Cool!” to “I don’t have a Facebook account and don’t intend to get one.” You can likely imagine the age of those commenting, but not all of them fall within the likely stereotypes. In fact, we recently posted an article on this blog about the shrinking gap between older adults and millennials when it comes to online activity.

The commonality I find among naysayers, however, is that almost all are considering only the “Mr. Hyde” Facebook fan page. They’ve experienced the sites of the helplessly-narcissistic or recklessly-eager-to-share. Call me Ms. Glass Half Full, but what about the Dr. Jekyll’s out there?

Can we dismiss out of hand the successes of Mayo Clinic or Children’s Hospital Boston in the social media sphere? What about open source Web apps like Google Person Finder , developed by thousands of volunteers in search of a way to help after Katrina and then again after the Haiti earthquake? These apps combined missing persons’ data from sites all around the Web into a single, free place for that information to be gathered and shared.

Gathered and shared – isn’t that what we’re trying to do? When we create a place where patients, families and providers, alike, come together to find information, connect with services, share experiences and offer support to one another, we also create a community that identifies with and grows more loyal to our brand.

Today’s marketers must go where their customers congregate. Avoiding social technologies because we fear what someone ‘might’ say puts us further out of touch. Any tool works best when used correctly. After all, we didn’t stop using telephones because we grew tired of kids calling the house and asking if we had Prince Edward in a can, did we?

Embrace social technologies. Develop your strategy. Put in place solid policies and take the time to educate staff and physicians on appropriate use. Your customers will thank you.

Kari Foster helps healthcare organizations and providers create and manage social media marketing activities. Follow her on Twitter @kskipperfoster.

Make Marketing Performance Measurement a Priority in 2011

2011-01-17T06:28:00.000-05:00

No doubt about it - strategic growth and improved financial performance are top priorities for health systems and hospitals in 2011, putting increased pressure on marketing leaders to deliver effective returns on marketing investment.

Where to start? Begin by establishing and gaining agreement on performance targets and metrics, and putting in place the mechanisms to track and report on progress against goals.

Marketing performance measurement and management (MPM) is the process of analysis and improvement of the efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of marketing investments and activities. This is accomplished through alignment of marketing activities, strategies, and metrics with business objectives.

A marketing performance measurement framework can be a useful tool for developing those measures and metrics most relevant to an organization’s strategic growth goals. Three categories of measures are often considered:

Enterprise growth: measurement of overall performance against business outcomes, growth goals and competitive sustainability; e.g., revenue growth, profitability, market position, brand leverage, etc.
Marketing strategy: measurement of return on marketing investment (ROMI) from core marketing strategies and processes; e.g., high-impact segmentation strategies, service line development, market expansion, portfolio diversification, retail innovations, clinical partnerships, etc.
Marketing activities: comparative measurement of effectiveness, efficiency and outcomes of specific marketing and sales tactics or programs; e.g., direct mail campaigns, web traffic, risk screening events, physician sales,

Some marketers use a marketing performance dashboard to monitor, manage and report results. Marketing measurement systems can also be designed to report at health system, regional, facility and service line levels.

So what are the critical success factors for marketing performance management?

Making marketing performance measures, monitoring and reporting systems a priority
Targets and metrics aligned to strategic planning, business development and operations priorities
Decision support systems with timely access to performance data
Cross functional collaboration to set and agree on targets and metrics
Cross functional accountability for outcomes
Regular reporting intervals to review progress against goals
Timely adjustments to strategy and/or course corrections

A high-performance marketing operation requires outcomes accountability for marketing activities and expenditures. A marketing management measurement and reporting system can be a powerful tool for building support and helping health leaders better understand the inter-dependency of strategy, operations and marketing in achieving growth and marketing goals.

What have been your successes and challenges in marketing performance measurement?

"Social" Medicine

2011-01-10T16:04:00.000-05:00

Susan Lilly

Facebook is everywhere. It was the top-visited website of the year for the first time in 2010; Google came in second. Technology companies are integrating Facebook into their gadgets, pre-installing FB as a core function in such items as mobile phones, iPads, e-readers, TVs, cameras, and video game consoles. This dramatically expands the reach of the social networking site beyond the computer to all portable electronic devices making Facebook nearly ubiquitous.

So what does this mean for marketers? We know that Facebook has more than 600 million monthly active users, of whom more than 230 million access the site on mobile devices. We also know that consumer technology manufacturers are trying to build a social experience around their products. Meanwhile, 40% of online consumers use social media for health information!

However, hospitals and other health care delivery settings are not in the consumer product business. But they do provide services to help people get and stay well. So, the challenge is to take the natural human inclination to share information and experiences, and make it easier to build that around the health community. It can be as simple as posting job openings on Facebook, to inviting fans to watch together a broadcast on weight loss surgery.

So, while some health professionals are reluctant to join the conversation, Facebook will continue to proliferate as a means of communication, with health care consumers searching for emotional and informational support. What could be better than providing that support for your local online community?

Susan Lilly consumes vast amounts of health industry data so you don’t have to. She has worked in the healthcare field for 20 years - in both private and public sectors - and focuses on telling the story inspired by research findings to help health care clients grow and thrive.

PR One of Fastest Growing Professions; Especially for the Social Media Savvy

2011-01-10T10:09:00.001-05:00

Good news for PR professionals. Employment is expected to increase 24 percent by 2018, making P.R. one of the fastest-growing professions. Those with knowledge of business, strategic communications, research, finance and, most important, how to use technology — especially social media — will have an edge.

Read more at the New York Times.

High Performing Hospitals Don't Leave Patient Experience to Chance

2011-01-10T08:32:00.002-05:00

Last week, I posted a story about a hospital where parking attendants from an outsourced management company were less than sympathetic to a visitor who had spent the night by the bedside of her best friend’s dying child. The incident underscored for me the importance of alignment and accountability across an organization – including independent contractors and vendors – to deliver on brand experience and customer service expectations.

Brand experience is not created by accident. Well, at least great brand experience is not. Establishing and communicating brand service standards clarifies for employees – and contractors – the specific actions and behaviors that are expected of them in delivering great customer service and generating customer loyalty. High performing organizations define and frequently communicate the standards of excellence required to create experiences that are meaningful and valued by patients and their families – and lead to achievement of the health system's business objectives.

Kristi Peterson is a consultant (and long-time colleague) that has helped hundreds of organizations address organizational alignment to service standards. She left this comment on last week’s post – I wanted to share her advice for building accountability into your contracts with outsourced service providers. Writes Kristi:

“A poignant story that makes a very important point. It also hinges on a major concern of mine, thus an editorial comment first. We get so caught up in collecting patient satisfaction data (and feeding on percentile results) that the voice of the customer isn't heard. The numbers do the talking. The relative impact of contracted service providers on the experience is overlooked. It is challenging to capture meaningful feedback on some of these services (such as the one featured). The last thing that's needed is another survey to monitor the performance. Who experiences the customer's frustration, disgust and dismay? Employees. It's important to collect their ideas.

In terms of holding contract service providers accountable for contributing to the patient/customer experience - build into your contracts/reviews the expectations that they will:

Regularly capture feedback from front-line employees (e.g., "What procedures/policies create confusion, inconvenience, dissatisfaction for customers?") and internal departments/stakeholders (as appropriate);
Reinforce employee communication/service skills through training/coaching;
Adopt and hold their employees accountable for your service standards;
Report at least quarterly one service improvement they have instituted; and that
Executive/manager representatives of contract service firm will regularly visit to watch, listen to, touch and smell your customers. That's the only way they can get a taste...correction, if they mystery-shopped their own services, they would get a better taste of what the service experience is really like, for customers and employees alike!

We should all spend time being underground bosses.”

Amen, Kristi.

Kristi Peterson consults on customer experience, patient satisfaction and leadership effectiveness. She was a pioneer in the movement to raise customer service standards in hospitals and establish the link between patient satisfaction and employee engagement. You can contact Kristi at kristi@kristinepeterson.com.

Hospitals Must Hold Private Contractors Accountable for Delivering on Patient Experience

2011-01-06T10:30:00.002-05:00

Just before the holidays, a colleague received word that her best friend’s two-year old daughter had been found unresponsive in her crib. She was revived and rushed to the hospital with life-saving measures underway. But the news was not good. The child had gone without oxygen for too long.

My friend, Chris, dropped everything to get to her best friend’s side. She sat in the hospital with the anguished parents for the next 24 hours, watching an endless parade of doctors and nurses running tests, conducting evaluations, trying to comfort the hopeful mother and father. Sadly, the little girl died.

I can’t begin to imagine the depth of grief that the parents and four-year old brother of this young girl are experiencing; just seeing the raw pain etched in Chris’ face brought me to tears as well.

The doctors and nurses in our hospitals are cast in these real life dramas every day. And, occasionally, despite their most heroic efforts, some patients don’t survive. But the intensity of their clinical efforts combined with caring and compassion, are essential to healing the wounded hearts of the families and friends left behind.

A child’s death is not the ‘patient experience’ we want to address in our brand and patient satisfaction discussions, but it was nonetheless the ‘experience’ that this family endured. They will remember the kindness of the staff.

When Chris reluctantly left her friends’ side to return home to her own family, she walked to the hospital parking garage (which is run by an outsourced contractor) to retrieve her car only to learn from the attendant that “this lot closed at 6 pm.”

“Can I just get my keys?” asked Chris. “I need to go home.”

Learning that the keys were sent elsewhere at 6 pm, she treks in the frigid evening air to another building on an unfamiliar campus to retrieve keys from another attendant that began to lecture her about the rules and regulations of the parking garage.

“Can you cut me a break?” she pleaded, “I’ve been with a dying child.” Then she got her keys, walked back to the garage, and drove home to hug her own kids.

The moral of the story? Everyone, from the highly specialized doctor to the parking attendant, creates experiences that live in our customers’ memories. When a parking attendant is inconvenienced rather than sensitive to the harried, worried, hurried, sad or pained needs that characterize families and visitors of the hospitalized, he or she tarnishes your brand. Outsourced operators that touch patients and visitors need to be held to the same expectations of customer care, concern and service.

Trying to Remember Your Child's Medical History Specifics? There's an App for That!

2011-01-05T06:55:00.001-05:00

by Kari Foster - social marketer

East Tennessee Children’s Hospital has launched East TN Kids, a new app that allows you to save vital health information about your child in one, easy to find place: your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. This free app allows parents to save data on everything from insurance and emergency contact numbers to immunizations and surgeries. It also provides hospital directions, doctor contact info, and general medical information for easy reference.

The app can be password protected, and once the information is loaded, it can be shared with other devices via Bluetooth connection. It stands to reason that as more physicians begin to carry iPads, sharing all this data can be done even more quickly.

With today’s on-the-go families, it’s more important than ever to have easy access to your child’s medical history data, especially in an emergency. The East Tennessee Children’s Hospital website, http://www.etch.com/, includes a step-by-step tutorial to make set-up a snap. Even if you don’t live in the region, the East TN Kids app could be a useful tool, and perhaps you can let your child’s doctor know “There’s an app for that!”

Kari Foster helps healthcare organizations and providers create and manage social media marketing activities. Follow her on Twitter @kskipperfoster.

Waving Goodbye to 2010

2010-12-30T06:52:00.000-05:00

As 2010 comes to a close, it’s time to turn our attention to the future and focus on emerging trends, issues and opportunities facing healthcare marketers in the year ahead. But before we do, please indulge our brief stroll down Memory Lane to reflect on these 10 key posts from 2010.

The Gap Between Older Adults and Millennials is Shrinking When it Comes to Key On-line Activities

Ever hear a healthcare executive say “our patients are older and don’t use the Internet”? No doubt there are generational differences in on-line activities; however, the gap between how younger and older generations use the Internet is shrinking in a number key areas according to Pew Research Center’s Generations 2010.

Read more; download the report . . .

Five Things Healthcare Marketers Should Break Free From in 2011
by Priya Ramesh of CRT/tanaka

Last Monday, I had the opportunity to talk social media trends and what’s next with Chief Marketing Officers in the healthcare space at the Innovator’s Studio in Chicago. As part of the discussion, we were asked to break into two groups and identify a few traditional tactics that the CMO’s in the room would commit to get rid of in 2011. Let me just say the experience was very eye-opening. I strongly recommend this exercise with your team at the end of each fiscal year to sit as a group and identify where you can cut expenses and re-invest that money/resources into other more efficient ways of doing things. So here’s a list of five things that a group of highly experienced, smart healthcare marketing leaders decided to move away from in 2011 that might get YOU thinking:

Read more . . .

Putting Market Share in Perspective
a point of view from Chris Bevolo

For many hospital marketers and their CEOs, market share is the ultimate measure of marketing success. In the “2010 State of the Art” survey highlighted in the last issue of Healthcare Strategy Alert, respondents listed the top area of marketing focus as “increase market share.” When asked to rate “measures of success” however, respondents listed market share third, behind awareness/preference and patient volume, a drop from its first place position in 2005. But this actually may not be a bad thing.

Read more . . .

Customer Relationship Management - What are You Waiting For? (Parts One and Two)
by guest blogger Les Stern

Sophisticated customer relationship management systems for healthcare organizations have been around for almost 15 years. Yet only 15% or so of healthcare providers are using them. Before we understand the benefits of CRM, let’s agree on what the three key components of a CRM program for healthcare organizations.

Read more (part one) . . .
Read more (part two) . . .

Thinking Retail . . .

Once upon a time, I used to call my doctor’s office to make an appointment for the annual flu shot. It was always scheduled at a time more convenient for the office staff than for me (“We do shots between 10 am and 2 pm, but we’re closed from 12 to 1 for lunch.”) and even then, a 25 to 45 minute wait wasn’t unusual.

Read more . . .

Three Factors Motivate Performance - Money Isn't One of Them
Marketers have long known that price is rarely the true motivator for consumers; when it comes to motivating employees, the same principle holds

Last Fall, I heard author Dan Pink speak on the science of motivation at TEDxNASA and was delighted to run across a You Tube posting of the talk. From his study of the scientific literature on motivation, Dan outlines the myths and perils of extrinsic motivators (such as money), and describes the three key elements of truly effective motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. A key finding from the MIT study described in this piece is that, while financial rewards tend to motivate people doing 'mechanical' tasks, it has the opposite effect on workers using 'cognitive' skills.

Read more . . .

What is Your Approach to Marketing Leadership? Parts 1 and 2

Part One:
Marketing departments emerged in health care organizations in the early 1980s when prospective payment methodologies made it evident that certain clinical programs were more profitable than others. Hospitals began to compete for patients for those services and procedures that produced better financial outcomes. Many of these early marketing programs were administered by existing public relations or community relations functions, and had a strong communications focus. Over the next two decades, marketing practices matured to include other aspects of the discipline such as research, sales and referral development, segmentation, product development and brand building.

Today, marketing management systems differ significantly across health care organizations. Some are expansive, core business functions with strong growth accountabilities aligned to strategic planning, business development, clinical operations and financial management initiatives. ROI expectations center on overall growth, profitability, brand equity and creation of sustainable competitive advantage.

Read more . . .

Part 2:
Marketing orientations differ across hospitals and health systems for a variety of reasons - culture, philosophy, strategy, even knowledge or understanding of the marketing discipline. One approach is not necessarily “right” where another is “wrong” – what is important to understand is that each path requires a specific configuration of core competencies, staff capabilities, processes and investments aligned to organizational vision, strategy and business objectives in order to produce results. Misalignment occurs when management wants to achieve significant improvements in strategic growth, for example, but has a production-oriented marketing operation. Which of the following best describes your organization's approach to marketing management?

Read more . . .

Patient Experience Starts with the Hiring Process

It’s 6:45 am on a Sunday morning and I’m sitting in an airport waiting on a Southwest Airlines flight to Chicago. The flight is running a little late, and bleary-eyed passengers bemoan the extra half hour of sleep they could have had. Meanwhile the Southwest gate agents, who look much too rested and energized for such an early hour, begin the lighthearted banter for which they are known. Pretty soon, the delayed passengers are laughing at their goofy repartee of corny jests and bad-rhythm rap. Once on board, the pilot apologized for the delay and joked that he’d just had a low-carb, high energy drink to help get us there in record time

Read more . . .

President Signs Health Care Reform Act; Now What?

This week, President Obama signed into law the most significant social legislation since the 1960s. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) extends health insurance coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans ― at a cost of $940 billion over the next decade. The legislation ensures that by 2014, nearly all Americans will be required to be insured, and by 2016, the majority of the uninsured (30 million people) will be covered.To do this, the legislation expands Medicaid to cover families making as much as $88K a year. It also creates state-supervised exchanges to expand coverage access to individuals and small businesses. Other goals of the legislation are to improve affordability and accountability, crack down on waste, fraud and abuse, and ensure fiscal sustainability. What Didn’t Get Passed?
Read more . . .

Marketers Must Lead Health Systems in Embracing New Media
By John Marzano, VP External Affairs, Orlando Health

Orlando Health took the better part of a year in developing a strategy to participate in the social/digital environment. In November 2009, with full support of organization leadership we launched our plan with both a Facebook (www.facebook.com/orlandohealth) and You Tube page (www.youtube.com/orlandohealth). To date, we have acquired more than 3,800 fans to our page and have over 4,000 views on You Tube for a special heart month video called 'move it' as well as other videos featuring tours of our facilities and physician expertise. Overall, we looked at some best practices (Mayo Clinic, University of Maryland Medical System) and took a measured approach while setting very realistic parameters, guidelines for use, and expectations as part of a new communications platform that addressed the mix of traditional and digital forms of communication to engage our target audiences. In addition, we seamlessly moved two FTEs into roles that support this strategy and help us stay current with the technology.

Read more . . .

Many, many thanks to our colleagues, readers, contributors and friends for your participation and support this past year. Happy New Year to you – may 2011 bring you much joy and success.

Karen Corrigan

The Gap Between Older Adults and Millennials is Shrinking When it Comes to Key On-line Activities

2010-12-19T06:22:00.005-05:00

Ever hear a healthcare executive say “our patients are older and don’t use the Internet”? No doubt there are generational differences in on-line activities; however, the gap between how younger and older generations use the Internet is shrinking in a number key areas according to Pew Research Center’s Generations 2010.

A few key take-aways:

Millennials (those ages 18 – 33) are more likely to access the internet wirelessly with a laptop or mobile phone, and still surpass their elders online when it comes to use of social networking sites, instant messaging and online classifieds.
Internet users in Gen X (ages 34-45) and older cohorts are more likely than Millennials to visit government websites and get financial information online.
While the youngest generations are more likely to use social network sites, the fastest growth has come from internet users 74 and older: social network site usage for this oldest cohort has quadrupled since 2008, from 4% to 16%.
The biggest online trend: certain key internet activities are becoming more uniformly popular across all age groups. These include email, search engine use, seeking health information, getting news, buying products and on-line banking, among others.

Additionally, searching for health information, an activity that was once the primary domain of older adults, is now the third most popular online activity for all internet users 18 and older.

As for those older adults that “don’t use the internet”?

Nearly 80% of boomers are on-line
Over half - 58% - of adults 65 – 73 are logging on
And nearly 1 in 3 of people aged 74 and older are cyber-surfing

Click here to download a copy of the report.

Upcoming Conferences Offer Essential Topics for Healthcare Marketers

2010-12-18T09:30:00.001-05:00

As difficult as it is to carve out time on already overbooked calendars, keeping abreast of rapidly changing market forces, industry trends and strategy innovations is critical for chief marketing officers charged with growing business and improving competitive performance of health systems and businesses. Here are a few upcoming meetings where CMOs will be gathering to share, learn and network with colleagues:

The 3rd Annual Health 3.0 Conference: The Next Online Generation
January 25-27, 2011; Orlando, Florida

This conference will explore the newest outlets for social media and mobile applications that have the ability to revolutionize the way health plans handle information exchange for member engagement and ease of use for better health outcomes. Health 3.0 features strategic sessions focused on wellness management and product development, in which industry leaders, C-Level plan executives and senior directors, analyze the future of the next online generation. I'll be facilitating a workshop on the Innovation Process: Steps and Tips to Build Innovation Into Your 3.0 Offering

Click here to view the agenda.

Physician Strategies Summit
February 27 - March 1, 2011; Phoenix, Arizona

The passage of health reform, with its focus on accountable care, care coordination, and value, commands hospital/physician alignment as never before. This conference will arm healthcare executives with the information, insights and peer contacts to develop innovative, successful approaches to bring hospitals and doctors together in new delivery models. A knowledgeable faculty with practical, in-depth experience in the development, implementation, and operation of sound physician strategies will share case studies and lead thought-provoking general sessions. I'm pleased to be presenting with Carol Via Flynn, corporate director of marketing and communications for Sentara Healthcare, and Susan Milford, senior vice president for strategic marketing and planning for Centegra Healthcare, on the topic of Marketing the Employed Physician Enterprise.

Click here to download the conference brochure.

Healthcare Marketing and PR Social Media Summit
March 14 - 15, 2011; Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida

The Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media and Ragan Communications have partnered to bring healthcare marketers and PR professionals the hottest social media case studies. Top social media experts and insiders from Mayo's Center for Social Media will show you how to measure your social media efforts, build a social media plan, transform your communications strategy with mobile health applications, and more. Last year's session sold out. Click here to learn more.

Mark your calendars also for the following. I'll post more information as it becomes available.

Sixteenth National Healthcare Marketing Strategies Summit
March 27 - 29, 2011; Orlando, Florida

SHSMD (Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development) CONNECTIONS 2011
September 14 - 17, 2011; Phoenix, Arizona

Can iPad Improve Physician Sales and Referral Development Activities?

2010-12-14T19:24:00.000-05:00

by Susan Lilly - consultant, researcher, and a bit of a contrarian

Those genius marketers at Apple have channeled the enthusiasm behind their consumer products into a business application -- this time, in health care. According to the Wall Street Journal, physicians love their iPads, while medical device and pharma companies are using them as sales tools. These medical companies are buying iPads by the thousands and giving them to their sales and marketing teams. Why? Physicians prefer iPads' portability, and sales reps can quickly and engagingly present their products. No more shuffling through papers, or waiting to boot up the laptop.

Which makes me wonder: are health system sales and referral development professionals embracing iPad as a new sales aid? How could the iPad enhance your sales encounters with physicians?

Click here to read more here (subscription may be required).

Susan Lilly consumes vast amounts of health industry data so you don’t have to. She has worked in the field for 20 years, in both the private and public sectors - and focuses on telling the story inspired by research findings to help health care clients grow and thrive.

Patients Share Intimate Joys and Sorrows on Facebook

2010-12-10T10:29:00.000-05:00

by Allison Sherwat - marketing consultant, social media advocate, and mom

The nay-sayers may argue that the proliferation of social media communication has distanced us from making true connections with others. However, this intimate story in today’s Washington Post demonstrates that nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, Facebook can enable patients, providers, family and friends to connect with each other even during the most vulnerable of times. If patients are relying on this medium to connect, wouldn’t it be wise for caregivers to show up as well?

Click here to read the story: http://wapo.st/f6jOMr. But grab the kleenex first.

AHA Fellowship Aims to Prepare Health System Executives to Lead Under Reform

2010-12-10T08:39:00.000-05:00

The American Hospital Association is seeking applications from C-suite executives and senior vice presidents or vice presidents from the disciplines of strategy, physician relations/medical leadership, finance, or operations for the AHA Health Care System Reform Fellowship. The fellowship is a six-month, highly interactive learning experience designed to give healthcare leaders the tools and skills necessary to design, lead, and manage emerging care delivery and payment models, such as medical homes, bundled payment arrangements, and accountable care organizations. Visit www.hpoe.org/fellowships/health-care-system-reform-fellowship/index.shtml to learn more and download an application form.

26 Tips for Pumping Up Your Facebook Page

2010-12-09T08:55:00.000-05:00

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/

New Facebook pages for hospitals, physicians and other healthcare businesses are popping up like crazy. Whether you're just getting started or are actively growing your Facebook community, having a strategy and content plan are critical aspects of success. Social Media Examiner offers 26 great tips for marketers, social media managers, business owners and others charged with building a social presence using Facebook.

A key take-away is that content strategy is, well, key. Everything from company news to facts and statistics to contests to events schedules and helpful hints can keep you busy posting; but making sure the information is relevant to your community, having a little fun, asking your audience for advice and other conversational methods will keep your fan base engaged.

Be sure to share this link with any of your staff and colleagues that are building, managing, posting and conversing on your Facebook page: 26 Tips for Enhancing Your Facebook Fan Page - and let me know if you see a jump in traffic and deeper engagement.

What other strategies have you found to be successful in building and engaging fans?

Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD) Issues Call for Speakers for 2011 Conference

2010-12-08T09:29:00.003-05:00

Have a great marketing, planning or communications success story to share?? The Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) is looking for speakers for the organization's annual conference to be held February 14-17, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. If you have innovative strategies, cutting-edge ideas, new concepts or practical tips to help health systems improve competitive performance, submit a speaker's proposal on-line. Just follow this link: SHSMD Connections 2011 Call for Speakers.

The deadline for submission is January 14, 2011.

Doing the Safety Hustle at Carondelet Health

2010-12-07T06:20:00.000-05:00

Forget those boring safety brochures (who reads them, anyway). Carondelet Health rounded up the team to do the Safety Hustle.

Guest blogger Brian Walker of SRK Discusses the "Strategic Halo" of Integrated Service Line Strategies

2010-12-05T16:45:00.000-05:00

Brian Walker

“Strategic Halo” What is it? Why Should You Care? Part 1 of 3

By Brian Walker, Senior VP, SRK

You may have seen the “Strategic Halo” featured in a recent HealthLeaders post as an innovative strategy of breaking down existing product line silos and truly understanding the interdependence of your products and services, physician impact and patients ongoing pattern of care. “Halo” implications have a broad strategic value from marketing and planning to finance and physician staffing as well as customer satisfaction and loyalty. Now it seems to also be emerging as one possible strategy on the road to an ACO.

Historically, too many healthcare organizations have looked at their product lines as stand alone entities: “Our CV business is worth $X million and we see X# of patients each year with a primary clinical focus on Y” What the “Strategic Halo” (created by SRK) suggests is to look more broadly to better understand the upstream (where your existing patients are coming from within your organization) and downstream (where your patients go) journeys and the total feeder impact across product lines.

Looking beyond the simple transaction or vertical experience is something other industries have done successfully, however healthcare has been slower to adapt. “Halo” thinking can now arm your organization with similar data insight to make informed business decisions. By following your patients over time you best understand their behavior, financial value, experience and overall continuum of care.

From a CMO perspective, this approach has been extremely valuable in helping improve segmentation and targeting, focusing cross-sell and loyalty tactics, better measuring marketing activity and ultimately driving more revenue.

Interested in learning more?

On Tuesday, Dec. 7, SRK will host an educational webcast on: "Product Line Integration" focusing on the marketing and ACO implications of the "Strategic Halo." I'll be joined by Karen Corrigan on the session. Registration is free; but space is limited. You can click here to register.

In the coming weeks, I'll post more on the topic.

Part 2 of the “Strategic Halo” will showcase actual hospital data and how this strategy is helping executives make more informed business decisions for their healthcare organization.
Part 3 of the “Strategic Halo” will discuss both the short-term and long-term implications of this strategy

Brian Walker is a senior vice president with SRK, a national healthcare marketing and strategy company based in Chicago, Illinois. Brain can be reach at 312.335.2788 or bwalker@srksolutions.com. Follow him on Twitter @catalyst4growth.

HHS Introduces Healthy People 2020

2010-12-03T07:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, HHS released Healthy People 2020, an ambitious10-year agenda for improving the nation’s health. Healthy People 2020 is the result of a multiyear process that reflects input from a diverse group of individuals and organizations. Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans.

The initiative's overarching goals are to:

Attain high-quality, longer lives free of preventable disease, disability, injury, and premature death.
Achieve health equity, eliminate disparities, and improve the health of all groups.
Create social and physical environments that promote good health for all.
Promote quality of life, healthy development, and healthy behaviors across all life stages.

Click here to download a copy of the Healthy People 2020 brochure. You can also learn more and download additional resources at www.healthypeople.gov.

Holiday Mishaps are Focus of this Humorous Hospital TV Spot

2010-11-27T09:21:00.014-05:00

Does healthcare advertising always have to be so darn serious? Lexington Medical Center's Christmas season advertising employs a humorous twist to show they're at-the-ready for real life Clark Griswolds.

SHSMD Healthcare Advisory and Webcast to Focus on Trust and Transparency in Healthcare Marketing Communications

2010-11-20T07:06:00.000-05:00

Mark your calendars. On November 30, the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) will release an all-new, downloadable advisory entitled Principles and Practices for Marketing Communications in Hospitals and Health Systems. Then, on December 8 at 1 pm eastern, SHSMD Board and Healthcare Advertising Task Force members Carol Koenecke-Grant (Guthrie Healthcare System) and Larry Margolis (SPM Marketing and Communications) will present a 75-minute SHSMD U webcast on the principles and practices outlined in the advisory. Topics to be covered include:

A marketing communications checklist
Instituting a formal review process
Awards, ratings, and accreditations
Conveying price information
Use of endorsements and testimonials
Use of physicians in marketing communications
Social media
Pay to play: Blogger advertising
Responding to another organization’s unsubstantiated or misleading communication
And other ethical considerations

The webcast is free for SHSMD members and $99 for non-members. For more information check out SHSMD-U.

Five Things Healthcare Marketers Should Break Free From in 2011

2010-11-17T12:59:00.000-05:00

by Priya Ramesh of CRT/tanaka

(Reprinted from The Buzz Bin, a CRT/tanaka blog)

Last Monday, I had the opportunity to talk social media trends and what’s next with Chief Marketing Officers in the healthcare space at the Innovator’s Studio in Chicago. As part of the discussion, we were asked to break into two groups and identify a few traditional tactics that the CMO’s in the room would commit to get rid of in 2011. Let me just say the experience was very eye-opening. I strongly recommend this exercise with your team at the end of each fiscal year to sit as a group and identify where you can cut expenses and re-invest that money/resources into other more efficient ways of doing things. So here’s a list of five things that a group of highly experienced, smart healthcare marketing leaders decided to move away from in 2011 that might get YOU thinking:

YELLOW PAGES: Are you kidding me? I mean, I was surprised that big organizations still spend millions of dollars every year in advertising in the Yellow Pages (physical directory) that goes straight to the dumpster! Seriously, when was the last time you reached out to that bulky thing to find a business or a service? There is a reason why Google is so successful. Why not spend the Yellow Pages budget into SEO for your website? Chris Silver Smith, SEO expert and contributor on one of my favorite blogs, Search Engine Land discusses why Yellow Pages is becoming an obsolete concept. Must read. If you are still doing Yellow Page advertising in 2011, I really would love to hear from you and understand the ROI behind that. All about hard metrics at the end of the day.
PRESS RELEASES: This debate continues in the PR world, and those who continue to churn out press releases every week openly admit that they do so to appease their C-Suite. So let’s do the math quickly, depending on the purpose of the press release, the whole process involves several hours of research, writing and my favorite part: the APPROVAL PROCESS. Then we drop it blindly on a distribution system without any SEO, multi-media content, anchor text and hope that the Wall Street Journal and New York Times is going to call you asking for an interview. I am sorry if that’s what you are doing right now, you belong to the dark ages of PR. First let’s start by renaming it a News Release. With citizen journalism, blogs and Twitter breaking news these days, company announcements need to be geared toward all audiences versus just the “press.” Maybe its time to cut down on the weekly churn and focus on multi-media content for your company announcements that actually get read, blogged about and tweeted. Start by exploring Pitch Engine. CRT/tanaka clients have seen good results with Pitch Engine releases.
NEWSLETTERS: Every month, we spend a gazillion hours mailing or e-mailing the company newsletter that’s filled with content about ourselves. We all know readers are more interested in WIIIFM (What Is In It For Me?). Instead generate content that highlights industry hot topics, best practices, use cases that help your customer/employee get better at what they do. Further e-newsletters are fading due to low click through rates and corporate blogs are taking over as good alternatives. All that time spent on a company newsletter can very well be spent on a blog that generates fresh content and keeps you on top of search rankings and if you do it right, start generating leads for your business. Debbie Weil, well known B2B social media expert shares some very useful tips on how to integrate your e-newsletter with blog efforts in this post.
BROCHURES: Okay I get it that some of you might need that fancy brochure to leave behind after a sales meeting or at a trade show, but honestly, do we really need to kill that many trees every year on print materials that get tossed once you leave the room? How about creating digital content that’s more engaging? I still like flash drives or a piece of personal technology that eases some stress in my work life. If the whole point is to get noticed, then why not provide something that matters to your audience and in the process of doing so, ensure they remember your brand name. Hey if healthcare marketers can move away from printed collateral in 2011, anyone can! Right?
MEETINGS WITHOUT SPECIFIC GAME PLAN: Some 25 million meetings take place in corporate America and according to Peter Economy, 50 percent of business meetings are a complete waste of time. I couldn’t agree more when the groups at Innovator’s Studio agreed that they need to think before scheduling a meeting and then to run that meeting most efficiently. Giga Om’s Imran Ali did a really nice story on how to run meetings effectively — Google style. http://gigaom.com/collaboration/work-hacks-how-to-run-meetings-google-style/. I think its beneficial to highlight an excerpt of the Giga Om story below:

Google’s Marissa Mayer was recently interviewed by Business Week. In the interview, she described her own methodology for dealing with the 70+ meetings she needs to attend each week. Mayer’s six key principles for running productive meetings are:

Set a firm agenda. Mayer believes agendas provide focus and help participants find routes toward achieving a particular goal.
Assign a note taker. Mayer’s meetings tend to use multiple displays to project presentation slides, a live transcript of the meeting and a ticking stopwatch! Each element provide focus, and crucially a record, enabling non-attendees to stay informed.
Carve out micro-meetings. Mayer routinely divides larger meetings into smaller 5-10 minute blocks to highlight particular subject areas. This enables agendas to remain flexible, but disciplined, and also allows wide-ranging discussions to occur.
Hold office hours. Each day, for 90 minutes at 4 p.m., Mayer holds court with colleagues in her own office. Co-workers can choose a slot on a first-come-first-serve basis. Incredibly, she’s able to get through up to fifteen meetings in these periods.
Discourage politics, use data. To avoid showing favoritism and to minimize office politics, Mayer insists all decisions are driven by performance-based metrics and analytics. (This approach has caused some controversies, as related by former design director Douglas Bowman.)
Stick to the clock. The “ticking clock” mentioned earlier might sound draconian, but is apparently a source of levity at meetings, exerting a subtle motivation, but also underlining a precious commodity in a busy organization.

Thank YOU Innovator’s Studio especially Karen Corrigan and Carla Bryant for facilitating this discussion last week. Nothing ever gets translated into action if we first don’t accept and verbalize the areas of improvement. Your workshop helped us just do that.

So if you had to pick just one of the five goodbye items above, which one would you say goodbye to in 2011?

Priya Ramesh is director of social media for CRT/tanaka. She helps companies employ strategies to leverage new media platforms such as YouTube, blogs, Facebook and Twitter, in order to drive results by building awareness, increasing brand visibility and increasing lead generation. Her experience includes managing social media efforts for Network Solutions (the leading web-hosting service provider) and its Grow Smart Business initiative.

AMA Adopts Policy to Guide Doctors in Use of Social Media

2010-11-11T08:56:00.002-05:00

A new policy by the American Medical Association (AMA) aims at helping physicians to maintain a positive online presence and preserve the integrity of the patient-physician relationship.

“Using social media can help physicians create a professional presence online, express their personal views and foster relationships, but it can also create new challenges for the patient-physician relationship,” said AMA Board Member Mary Anne McCaffree, M.D. “The AMA’s new policy outlines a number of considerations physicians should weigh when building or maintaining a presence online.”

The new policy encourages physicians to:

Use privacy settings to safeguard personal information and content to the fullest extent possible on social networking sites.
Routinely monitor their own Internet presence to ensure that the personal and professional information on their own sites and content posted about them by others, is accurate and appropriate.
Maintain appropriate boundaries of the patient-physician relationship when interacting with patients online and ensure patient privacy and confidentiality is maintained.
Consider separating personal and professional content online.
Recognize that actions online and content posted can negatively affect their reputations among patients and colleagues, and may even have consequences for their medical careers.

The new policy on professionalism when using social media was adopted November 8 at the AMA’s semi-annual policy making meeting in San Diego.

Click here for a copy of the policy.

Increase Your Healthcare Marketing Know-How with These Resources

2010-10-10T16:00:00.000-04:00

There's something about Fall that always puts me in a learning state-of-mind. And, for healthcare strategy and marketing executives, it's a season rich with opportunities to advance knowledge, track trends, learn a few new tricks and network with colleagues. Just a few weeks ago, more than a thousand marketers, strategists and other healthcare professionals met up at the annual SHSMD conference in Chicago. Craving more? Here's a line-up of a few additional upcoming conferences, webinars and events.

Hospitals & Physician Relations: An Executive Summit. October 25-27, 2010 at the JW Marriott Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. Jointly ponsored by the Forum for Healthcare Strategists and the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine. (http://www.healthcarestrategy.com/)
Marketing Neurosciences: Service Line Strategies for Marketers. HealthLeaders Media webcast scheduled live for 1 pm eastern on October 25, 2010. I'll be joining Dana Allen of Norton Healthcare and Tom Comes of Borgess Health for this session. (http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/)
ROI: Tie Value of Physician Relations to Organizational Goals. Online course from SHSMD U available November 1 - 12, 2010. Facilitators: Karen Schafer of Covenant HealthCare, and Laurie Slater an Jill Stratton of Corporate Health Group. (http://www.shsmd.org/)
14th Annual Healthcare Internet Conference. November 15-17, 2010 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sponsored by Greystone.Net and Staywell Custom Communications. (http://www.healthcarestrategy.com/)

Looking forward to seeing you out there!

Putting Market Share in Perspective

2010-10-06T07:16:00.001-04:00

Chris Bevolo

A Point of View from Chris Bevolo
For many hospital marketers and their CEOs, market share is the ultimate measure of marketing success. In the “2010 State of the Art” survey highlighted in the last issue of Healthcare Strategy Alert, respondents listed the top area of marketing focus as “increase market share.” When asked to rate “measures of success” however, respondents listed market share third, behind awareness/preference and patient volume, a drop from its first place position in 2005. But this actually may not be a bad thing.

While market share is a critical metric, it’s what I call a relative metric, meaning its value is based on how it compares to other organizations. A competitive comparison is, of course, always treasured by leadership, but it should not be considered the ultimate measure of success. For example, increased market share in volumes for a specific service line doesn’t necessarily ensure increased revenue or margin. To measure these important financial data, using Return On Investment (ROI) would be a better choice.

There also are many variables that lie outside of marketing that can move your share up or down. The capacity of your physicians or facilities, and competitor moves are two of the biggest. The best approach is to identify as many variables as you can, work hard to control for their impact, and be transparent about how much marketing really drives any shift in market share.

Market share should be one of your top metrics, and will likely always be a hot point for leadership. But to demonstrate the true value of your marketing efforts, it’s best to employ a multifaceted approach to measuring success and keep market share in the proper perspective.

Chris Bevolo is a recognized thought-leader in healthcare marketing and branding. He is a fervent blogger and frequent keynoter on the topics of marketing, branding, innovation, the patient experience, and consumer trends. He is also is the author of two books, “A Marketer’s Guide to Measuring Results” and “A Marketer’s Guide to Brand Strategy.” Chris is owner, founder and lead strategist of the Minneapolis-based healthcare marketing agency, Interval.

How does Your Physician Sales and Services Program Compare? New Benchmarking Study to Assess Trends and Practices.

2010-10-05T14:29:00.001-04:00

Physicians still direct the vast majority of inpatient healthcare in the marketplace - as many as 80% of patients enter the doors of hospitals and facilities at the direction of physicians. The movement toward a consumer-driven market notwithstanding, many hospitals, health systems and large specialty practices have turned to physician sales or referral development programs to grow their business. Unfortunately, motivating physicians to change referral patterns is a daunting task under the best of circumstances and the lack of industry “best practices” complicates the situation even further.

In September 2010 Corporate Health Group (CHG) launched their third benchmarking study of Physician Sales and Service. The National survey will obtain new trends and craft comparisons and a gap analysis of data captured 2005, 2008 and now 2010. The survey (a mix of open and closed ended questions) is available online and respondents will get a free Executive Summary. (and who turns down 'free' these days?)

The results will provide detailed management and benchmarking data for physician sales managers and healthcare executives to benefit their programs for future success. Key insights will include:

How are others in your shoes attaining ROI successes?
What new best practice is growing net new referrals?
What are emerging trends in physician relations?
How does your program compare to national leaders in physician relations?

You can participate in the study (and get a free copy of the Executive Summary) by clicking on this link: Take the Survey.

Additionally, if you work for a large system or association, CHG can set up a unique organization code so that you receive a report showing overall trended data (2005, 2008 and 2010) compared to your organization. Get the code prior to taking the survey by contacting Laurie Slater at Corporate Health Group (lslater@corporatehealthgroup.com).

Part 2: Customer Relationship Management - Getting Started

2010-10-02T08:23:00.001-04:00

A Point of View from Guest Blogger Les Stern.

So last time I asked you: “What are you waiting for?” in terms of starting a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program for your organization. And I’m thinking, maybe you just don’t know how to get started.

Getting started means answering three questions.

1. Who in our organization should be involved?

First, you need to sell the concept to everybody. CRM is an enterprise-wide initiative that needs buy in from the highest levels (see last post on the benefits of CRM). The team that actually selects the CRM vendor should include the following:

Marketing (to spearhead the process)
IT (to deal with the data)
Finance (to ensure all assumptions on ROI, etc. are correct)
Physician relations (if marketing to physicians is a key strategy)

2. Who should we contact?

Stay away from generic CRM companies that have a technology solution that they claim they can “adapt” to healthcare. Instead, look at CRM providers that offer:

A database specifically designed for healthcare
Built in segmentation or modeling that can quickly target the right people for specific campaigns (the ideal target is likely to need the service and be profitable)
Reports that can easily answer all your questions, from targeting to tracking ROI
Staff that are healthcare CRM experts
An easy to use tool, if you do not want the CRM provider to do everything (both options are available)

3. How do we make our decision?

There are several excellent providers, but no one provider is the best choice for everybody. Here are the key steps:

Initial presentations at your location, focusing on how their solutions can meet your needs. At the initial meeting, if you are planning on using their tool, you may ask for a demonstration. (Note: the companies may ask for a call prior to this meeting so they can get an overview of your organization, your needs, etc.)
Compile all features and put together a matrix of all features, including pricing, so you can easily make comparisons.
Check references. Do this early on, so any red flags can be raised early in the process.
Visit the finalists. Make sure you meet the person who will be your account manager. And go through a case study from beginning to end.
Make your decision. You will have a lot of information to make your decision. Trust your instincts.

Good luck. Let us know how you do.

Les Stern is president of L. Stern & Associates. He can be reached at info@lsternmktg.com.

Part 1: Customer Relationship Management - What are You Waiting For?

2010-09-15T22:23:00.004-04:00

A Point of View from Guest Blogger Les Stern.

Sophisticated customer relationship management systems for healthcare organizations have been around for almost 15 years. Yet only 15% or so of healthcare providers are using them.

Before we understand the benefits of CRM, let’s agree on what the three key components of a CRM program for healthcare organizations.

Capturing data from across the enterprise and consolidating it into a database
Analyzing the database to determine the best marketing opportunities and the best targets for those opportunities
Identifying the return on investment from those campaigns

Here are the benefits of implementing a CRM solution:

It improves the bottom line. A CRM program allows you to target your efforts on your most profitable customers (consumers or physicians) and people who “look like” your most profitable customers. For example, if you are doing a promotion for mammographies, CRM will allow you to target women who not only are most likely to need these services, but will also be more profitable customers for you. CRM also can improve your bottom line by lowering marketing expense. Since you know the best people to market to, you don’t have to spend money marketing to others.
It is quantifiable. CRM allows you to track the return on investment of your programs. By using control groups, you can measure the impact of the marketing campaign, and counter the objection that “they would have come anyway.” As one hospital marketer recently told me: “It is a great way to substantiate that marketing decisions are valid, that marketing does move the needle, and that we need to continue to market, even in bad economies.”
It enhances relationships (and your brand). Your CRM program will enable you to send the right message to the right people at the right time, thereby allowing them to take better care of their health. Programs such as these can boost customer loyalty.
It can help you achieve your mission by improving the health of your community. This may seem counterintuitive, since you may be reducing the number of people to whom you are marketing. But think about it: (1) Through targeting, you are sending your messages to the people who most need the services; and (2) Improving the bottom line will free up resources for charity care and other initiatives to help you better serve your entire community.

So how do you go about setting up your CRM program? That topic next time.

Les Stern is president of L. Stern & Associates. He can be reached at info@lsternmktg.com.

Staying Ahead of the Curve at the 14th Annual Healthcare Internet Conference

2010-09-14T07:31:00.002-04:00

The upcoming 14th Annual Healthcare Internet Conference (November 15 - 17, 2010; Las Vegas, NV) offers a great opportunity for chief marketing officers to learn how market leaders are using the Internet, social media strategies, networked technologies, mobile media and other technologies, strategies, and solutions to connect, grow and enhance competitive performance. This is must learning for marketing executives looking to stay ahead of the curve of ever-accelerating advances and applications of new media technologies.

Conference features include:

Six general sessions to inspire and broaden your thinking about the impact of new technologies.
29 case studies from health systems recognized as leaders in the areas of technology and Web strategy.
The Eleventh Annual eHealthcare Leadership Awards Presentation, an informative session highlighting the current landscape of healthcare Internet development.
Dedicated time in the Exhibit Hall, allowing you to interact with leading consultants and vendors whose emphasis is on "Where eHealthcare and Customer Focused Marketing Meet."
Networking opportunities that connect you with your peers.

And good news for your budget - you still have a few days (until Friday, September 17) to take advantage of the early registration rate (save $100). Caesar's Palace has also announced new discounts on the room rates, now starting at $120 per night for the Roman Tower.

You can download the full conference brochure and register at the Healthcare Strategy Institute website.

On a personal note - can it really be 14 years since this conference first launched? Kudos to Greystone.Net and the Forum for Healthcare Strategists for recognizing the importance of this space early on and, along with its sponsors, advancing the industry's knowledge and application of web and technology-enabled strategies and practices.

See you in Vegas.

Thinking Retail . . .

2010-09-09T21:07:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, I used to call my doctor’s office to make an appointment for the annual flu shot. It was always scheduled at a time more convenient for the office staff than for me (“We do shots between 10 am and 2 pm, but we’re closed from 12 to 1 for lunch.”) and even then, a 25 to 45 minute wait wasn’t unusual.

Personally, I can’t remember the last time I had a flu shot at a doctor’s office. Last year, it was done while traveling between the B & C concourses at the Charlotte Airport in North Carolina – 5 minutes, $35 and a record of the event sent to my email before I boarded the plane. My husband and I had H1N1 injections administered by a pharmacist at RiteAid on a Sunday afternoon. No appointment, no waiting.

If you haven’t yet noticed, retailers such as CVS and Walgreens are already heavy into flu shot promotion season. Here are a few lessons from the retailing of these preventive injections:

Price is front and center – you know what you’re going to pay before you walk in the door; price points seem to be hovering in the $30 range
Convenience is all about the consumer – CVS’s “Flu Shots Your Way” promotes your ability to “click, call or come by”
Loss leaders drive traffic – one retail pharmacy is giving the flu shot free when you spend $30 on a core set of brand products; could there be some co-marketing spend here as well?
Keep the paperwork minimal – at the airport kiosk, I checked ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to 5 questions and signed permission to administer
Customer service, customer service, customer service – no additional explanation needed

All of this customer experience design is there for a $30 flu shot; what might happen if we put the same effort into a $30,000 inpatient procedure?

Saying Goodbye to a Colleague and Friend

2010-08-27T09:05:00.000-04:00

A. Thomas Tebbens, Jr.

When fellow marketer Candace Quinn, left me an urgent message to call her, I had that intuitive feeling that it wasn't going to be good news. And was shocked to learn from her that longtime colleague and friend, Thomas Tebbens had died just that morning. Tom was vice president of marketing and communications at Albert Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia. He'd been there just two short years, but was orchestrating major change initiatives when he passed away. Prior to his work at Einstein, Tom was the chief marketing executive at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx borough of New York City, and had a long, successful career in the advertising field. His obituary in the Philly Inquirer referred to Tom as a adman - I think he would've liked that.

Besides his professional contributions, which were many, Tom also was active in the community and in the arts, and treasured his family above all.

How hard it is to say goodbye.

Three Factors Motivate Performance - Money Isn't One of Them

2010-08-27T08:37:00.000-04:00

Marketers have Long Known that Price is Rarely the True Motivator for Consumers; When it Comes to Motivating Employees, the Same Principle Holds

Last Fall, I heard author Dan Pink speak on the science of motivation at TEDxNASA and was delighted to run across a You Tube posting of the talk. From his study of the scientific literature on motivation, Dan outlines the myths and perils of extrinsic motivators (such as money), and describes the three key elements of truly effective motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. A key finding from the MIT study described in this piece is that, while financial rewards tend to motivate people doing 'mechanical' tasks, it has the opposite effect on workers using 'cognitive' skills.

I wonder about the implications of these findings on the healthcare industry's quest to achieve clinical, financial and market performance improvements. What are our myths? That tinkering with reimbursement models will make healthcare organizations set up and take notice? That performance bonuses will transform providers into a newly energized pep squad? Maybe. But history and science suggest 'maybe not' - especially if other core elements of motivation are lacking.

And I also wonder if organizations could get to the same end faster and with a more engaged, motivated team waiting at the finish line, if as much time was spent on powering up people and leadership skills, as is devoted to endless operational restructurings, process redesigns and rounds of right-sizings. That will require a new mindset about about people as strategy-critical assets, and a much greater understanding of what drives and sustains motivation for the nurses, physicians and thousands of others that are healthcare's front line.

As Dan puts it - people are not as endlessly manipulable and predictable as you might think.

The Downside of Experience is That it Limits Vision . . .

2010-08-26T10:26:00.002-04:00

Seth Godin's blog post "Senior Management" got me thinking about the magnitude of change required to truly bring about transformation of today's healthcare systems and the leadership 'will, ideas and means' to make that happen. How can entrenched 'old timers' make room for and embrace the new, breakthrough ideas of younger colleagues?

From his post:

Worth quoting--one of Arthur C. Clarke's lesser known three laws: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is probably wrong."

The paradox is that by the time you get to be senior, the decisions that matter the most are the ones that would be best made made by people who are junior...

Click here to read more.

Marketing Analytics and Performance Accountability

2010-08-11T07:09:00.001-04:00

As organizations continue to tighten their purse strings and demand accountability from their executives, marketing departments are finding themselves under increasing pressure to justify their spending, prove the effects of their marketing campaigns, and demonstrate program success…or risk losing their budgets.

To shed more light on the topic of marketing metrics, Forbes Insights, in association with MarketShare Partners, surveyed U.S. marketing executives on the topic of measurement and accountability. The Accountability Evolution looks at how these executives are managing metrics to quantify and demonstrate the impact of their marketing. The study also identifies potential gaps between marketers’ desire to employ metrics and their actual formal execution of goal-focused measurement.

According to the survey, nearly seven in ten said they used analytics to measure marketing effectiveness. Internal resources were used most frequently to measure the success of marketing programs; 86% used internal data, with 74% relying on internal teams and 52% on internally developed tools. Fifty-eight percent (58%) used third-party data and 35% turned to outside professional services. Many marketers still report that these tools do not meet their needs and the majority believe that they're not adequately communicating the value or impact of marketing initiatives to company executives.

Click here to download a copy of the Forbes Insights Study: The Accountability Evolution: Marketers Turn to Metrics to Boost Their Strategic Value

Many Americans Still Confused About Health Care Reform

2010-07-29T09:52:00.001-04:00

Lack of understanding linked to rhetoric that preceded the final vote in March, and the complicated nature of existing health-care system.

Not sure what’s in—and not in—the new health-care legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama in March? You're not alone. More than 2,100 adults were given a list of 18 reform items and asked to identify what’s included and what's not included in the law. Only four items were correctly identified by the majority of those polled.

Most (about 58 percent) know that the reform package will prohibit insurers from denying coverage to people because they are already sick; 55 percent know the law permits children to stay on their parents' insurance plan until age 26; and 52 percent realize that people who don't have insurance will be subject to financial penalties. Additionally, half are aware that employers with more than 50 employees will have to offer their workers affordable insurance.

These are some of the major findings of today’s HealthDay/Harris Poll, conducted between July 15 to 19, 2010 among 2,104 adults (aged 18 and over).

Among other findings: 63 percent of those polled either aren't sure or don't know if the new law will increase the number of people eligible for Medicaid, (it will); 79 percent don't know or aren't sure if drug companies will pay an annual fee, (they will); 73 percent don't know the law establishes a new tax on the sale of medical devices; 66 percent don't know or aren't sure if the legislation will result in insurance exchanges where people can shop for insurance, (it will); and about 82 percent think the bill will result in rationing of health care, or aren't sure if it will. (It won't).

"The problem for the (Obama) administration is health-care reform is fiendishly complicated because the health-care system is fiendishly complicated" said Humphrey Taylor, chairman of the Harris Poll, Harris Interactive’s long-running public opinion poll. Another cause of the confusion is due to the long and heated political debate that surrounded the bill before it was passed, Taylor said.

"It seems people are still reacting to the rhetoric, not the substance of what is in the bill, because they don’t actually know what is or is not in the actual legislation."

The complete findings of this joint Harris Interactive/HealthDay health-care reform poll are illuminating. Read the full report for all the details of the poll. HealthDay's news report is available here. Full data on the poll and its methodology are available at Harris Interactive.

Mayo Clinic Launches Center for Social Media

2010-07-29T08:04:00.000-04:00

Mayo Clinic announced this week the creation of a Center for Social Media to accelerate effective application of social media tools throughout Mayo Clinic and to spur broader and deeper engagement in social media by hospitals, medical professionals and patients to improve health globally.

The Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, a first-of-its-kind social media center focused on health care, builds on Mayo Clinic’s leadership among health care providers in adopting social media tools. Mayo Clinic has the most popular medical provider channel on YouTube and more than 60,000 “followers” on Twitter, as well as an active Facebook page with well over 20,000 connections. With its News Blog, podcast blog and Sharing Mayo Clinic, a blog that enables patients and employees to tell their Mayo Clinic stories, Mayo has been a pioneer in hospital blogging. MayoClinic.com, Mayo’s consumer health information site, also hosts a dozen blogs on topics ranging from Alzheimer’s to The Mayo Clinic Diet.

“Health care has lagged behind other industries in applying social media tools,” says Lee Aase, one of the leaders of the new center. “Social media interest and activity among hospitals and health care professionals has grown remarkably, though, with the number of hospital Twitter accounts, for example, doubling in the last year. Still, according to Ed Bennett’s Hospital Social Networking List, only 762 of the more than 5,000 hospitals in the U.S. have some social networking presence. Mayo Clinic, which has been on FORTUNE Magazine’s 100 Best Places to Work For List for seven consecutive years, has been actively using social media tools to engage employees in its business strategies, manage change and share company news. Employees can comment on strategic efforts, ask leaders questions and share their ideas.

“Staff at many hospitals wanting to get involved in social media have pointed to Mayo Clinic’s activity and experience to help make the case for engagement with their senior leaders,” says Victor Montori, M.D., a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist and the center’s interim medical director. “Some have even consulted with us informally and asked for advice on implementation. One of our goals for the center is to provide a mechanism for this consultation and sharing, so we can help colleagues in health care everywhere break down the barriers to involvement.”

In addition to reaching out, the center staff will work with Mayo Clinic colleagues to find new and innovative ways to apply social media tools throughout the Mayo system. “We see immense opportunities to use internal social networking tools for collaboration among our employees to improve patient care, education, research and administration,” Aase explains. “As we find new applications, we plan to conduct research into their effects so we can measure any cost savings, efficiency gains and improved effectiveness. And when we do, we’ll be sharing those findings externally to help the whole health system improve.”

Patients at Orlando Health Join Marketing Campaign

2010-07-24T07:24:00.000-04:00

When Orlando Health launched a new advertising campaign this past year, it invited patients and community to join in and share their own pictures, stories, and video clips representing the "Family Is" theme of the campaign. Hundreds responded through the health system's Facebook page. Read more at HealthLeaders and check out the "Family is e-Scrapbook".

Visit Orlando Health's Facebook page and learn more about how the health system is engaging its community through social media.

Orlando Health took the better part of a year in developing a strategy to participate in the social/digital environment. During that time, they studied some best practices (Mayo Clinic, University of Maryland Medical System) and took a measured approach to setting realistic parameters, guidelines for use, and expectations as part of a new communications platform that addressed the mix of traditional and digital forms of media. In November 2009, with full support of organization leadership they launched their new plan.

CMO John Marzano, vice president for external affairs at Orlando Health, will present the Orlando Health case discussion at the Chief Marketing Officers' Innovator's Studio July 26-27 in Chicago.

Orlando Health in central Florida includes Orlando Regional Medical Center, the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies, the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, and MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando and other hospitals and patient care services. Prior to joining OH, John was VP at MedStar Health (Baltimore/Washington metro area) where he led marketing, communications and public affairs.

Harbor Hospital Launches Mobile Marketing Strategy to Drive ER Business

2010-07-03T07:34:00.001-04:00

MedStar Health’s Harbor Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland recently launched a mobile display advertising campaign targeting 20 Baltimore City zip codes to increase awareness of the close proximity of Harbor Hospital's Emergency Department to downtown Baltimore and surrounding neighborhoods.

"Time is of the essence when finding emergency care and we want to educate Baltimore area residents and business professionals in a compelling and innovative way that quality emergency care is only minutes away at Harbor Hospital," said Jean F. Bunker, AVP, Marketing, Community Relations & Philanthropy.

One of the first campaigns of its kind for a hospital in the Baltimore region, the 12-week mobile display advertising campaign combines mobile web advertising with the geolocation of smartphone users — such as BlackBerry®, iPhone, Palm, Windows® and Android™ users.

The hospital partnered with mobile advertising company Millenial Media to reach a targeted Baltimore City audience via advertising on mobile versions of popular news and consumer websites.

From May and through July, anyone in or around the downtown Baltimore area linking to specific websites via their smartphones may be greeted with a Harbor Hospital mobile web banner that will give them access to detailed emergency care information. By clicking on the banner, users will be directed to Harbor Hospital's mobile-specific landing page where they can enter their address via a Google™ Maps application that provides door-to-door directions to the hospital's Emergency Department. Users can contact the Emergency Department by utilizing the "click to call" feature also located on the landing page.

The mobile advertising campaign is one of several components in Harbor Hospital's new comprehensive Emergency Department marketing campaign.

What is Your Approach to Marketing Leadership? Part 2

2010-06-29T07:04:00.001-04:00

Marketing orientations differ across hospitals and health systems for a variety of reasons - culture, philosophy, strategy, even knowledge or understanding of the marketing discipline. One approach is not necessarily “right” where another is “wrong” – what is important to understand is that each path requires a specific configuration of core competencies, staff capabilities, processes and investments aligned to organizational vision, strategy and business objectives in order to produce results. Misalignment occurs when management wants to achieve significant improvements in strategic growth, for example, but has a production-oriented marketing operation.

Which of the following best describes your organization's approach to marketing management?

Product-driven

A product-driven marketing orientation assumes that as long as a health system has excellent outcomes and a top notch safety record, business will find its way to the front door. Performance improvement, leading edge clinical technologies, physician talent and development of clinical centers of excellence are core areas of focus. Awards and recognitions (such as “Top 100” designations) reinforce the organization’s quality achievements. Physician influence trumps consumer choice. The clichéd expression “build it and they will come” is an entrenched belief, as it the assumption that clinical quality alone will create competitive advantage.

Sales-driven

Sales-driven health systems primarily view marketing as a tactical tool or set of tools to drive volume to clinical services or programs. Filling beds, getting appointments, and securing contracts are primary goals. Consumer promotions, physician referral development and managed care contracting are core capabilities. The focus is on more volume for existing services. These are all good things, but a purely sales-driven organization may miss opportunities to discover new niches, create new products and lines of business, or enhance points of differentiation that grow overall revenue potential.

Market-driven

Market-driven organizations place greater emphasis on market research to better understand customer needs and discover market opportunities that can be addressed in unique ways. Designing and developing services, programs and access points to attract key customer segments are priorities for the marketing operation, making R&D a core competency requirement. Marketing planning is more strategic than in sales-driven organizations, encompassing segmentation and targeting, product positioning and design, pricing, promotion and channel strategies – and is a more integrated process through which value is created. Because growing overall market potential and profitability is as important as growing market share, marketers must have a strong P&L mindset.

Relationship-driven

Relationship or customer-driven organizations place significant emphasis on mass customization as a competency to create one-to-one relationships, enabled by sophisticated, enabling CRM technology that recognizes, supports and delivers customized messages, offerings and solutions for valued customers. Today, some of these capabilities are embedded in call center and CRM systems, but new advancements, such as the widespread implementation of electronic health records and growth in social media communities offer health systems unprecedented opportunity to better understand and predict the needs of patients and customers – and proactively design the marketing strategies, tactics and programs that stimulate and drive demand.

There is one more position to consider: the MARKET- DRIVING organization. Market-driving companies are those that re-set the rules of competition through value innovation – radical, disruptive moves that create new markets, transform customers into fans, and build such distinct points of competitive advantage that they are difficult to duplicate. Think Apple, which sold 1,000,000 iPads in less than 30 days from the product launch. Innovation is the core competency – and success comes from developing deep insights into core human desires, discovering unmet needs, and bringing creative, profitable ideas to market.

Who are the market-DRIVING health systems?

Is that YouTube soundtrack legal?

2010-06-28T06:09:00.001-04:00

Seems all it takes these days to video-publish is an idea, a Flipcam, editing software and the right theme song. Before you upload, remember that publishing a video with copyrighted music requires a license for the song.

Beginning June 29, 2010, music licensing company Rumblefish will allow users to buy a license to a copyrighted song for $1.99. However, this new service, Friendly Music, can be used only for noncommercial purposes — any commercial use requires a different license.

Taking a minute out to check the rights on your video soundtracks is a good idea.

What is Your Approach to Marketing Leadership? Part 1

2010-06-05T15:40:00.001-04:00

Marketing departments emerged in health care organizations in the early 1980s when prospective payment methodologies made it evident that certain clinical programs were more profitable than others. Hospitals began to compete for patients for those services and procedures that produced better financial outcomes. Many of these early marketing programs were administered by existing public relations or community relations functions, and had a strong communications focus. Over the next two decades, marketing practices matured to include other aspects of the discipline such as research, sales and referral development, segmentation, product development and brand building.

Today, marketing management systems differ significantly across health care organizations. Some are expansive, core business functions with strong growth accountabilities aligned to strategic planning, business development, clinical operations and financial management initiatives. ROI expectations center on overall growth, profitability, brand equity and creation of sustainable competitive advantage.

In other health systems, marketing is configured more functionally to support the development and deployment of marketing tactics aimed at research, promotions and sales. Success is measured by research metrics such as increased consumer awareness and preference, by response metrics such as increased call center or web traffic, and by sales metrics such as referrals, ER visits and procedure volumes.

Some hospitals, however, have not evolved at all from those early days when marketing relied on a narrow set of tools (e.g. press releases, health fairs, advertising, newsletters) to promote programs and services. The marketing department orientation is production – number of news releases, advertising campaigns, circulation – making it difficult to link marketing expenditures and activities to business outcomes.

Why such a difference? It can largely be explained by an organization’s approach or orientation to the market which is shaped by a variety of factors including strategic focus, growth objectives, culture or even leadership understanding of the marketing discipline.

In an upcoming post, I'll describe different marketing orientations and the configuration of competencies, staff capabilities, processes and investments that are characteristic of each.

Your Brand is What You Do; Not Just What You Say You Do

2010-05-09T10:03:00.001-04:00

In this brief and well-articulated essay (Make Your Product Work for Your Brand, CMO Strategy), author Steve Beck (VP Strategy, Organic) drives home the point that brands today are built more powerfully through the experience that consumers have with your product or service.

One of my favoritie quips, "It's not McDonald's saying their food is healthy, it is McDonald's putting healthier food on the menu. In the past, the whole world of positioning was really simple. You targeted an audience, articulated a promise and then communicated the heck out of it. You created advertising. Today everything is an advertisement -- starting with what it is you are selling."

Brand experience doesn't happen by accident; it happens by design.

Global Consumer Confidence Rebounding

2010-05-06T05:21:00.003-04:00

Global consumer confidence in the first quarter of 2010 rebounded to reach its highest level since the third quarter of 2007, providing the most definitive sign that the world is beginning to recover from the recession, according to the latest edition of the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index. As the world’s consumers started to spend again, they drove the global index up to 92 points (100 = average) in the first quarter. This represents a six point increase from six months ago and only two points short of the 94 point index mark in Q3 2007, just prior to the decline into world recession. Consumer confidence hit an all time low of 77 index points in early 2009, following the collapse of the international financial system, before steadily increasing again last year.

Nielsen’s Global Consumer Confidence Index tracks consumer confidence, major concerns and spending intentions among more than 27,000 Internet users in 55 countries. In the latest round of the survey conducted between March 8 and March 26, 2010, consumer confidence in many markets rebounded to pre-recession levels of late 2007 and early 2008. Additionally, over the past year, the number of global consumers who believe they are currently in recession dropped 19 points to 58 percent, compared to 77 percent a year ago.

That's the good news. The report, however, also highlights the disparity between East and West - the pace and extent of economic recovery is greatest in Asia Pacific and Latin American countries and, although better, still sluggish in the U.S. and western Europe, largely due to higher unemployment rates.

“Americans are still extremely cautious about spending given the uncertain nature of the recovery in the U.S. and the continued level of high unemployment. They remain committed to managing controllable costs such as gas and utility bills, and they continue to focus on repairing their balance sheets,” said James Russo, Vice President, Global Consumer Insights at The Nielsen Company. “That said, they are expressing a desire to spend more on discretionary items such as out-of-home entertainment, apparel and vacations—a noticeable shift in this survey. A huge opportunity exists for manufacturers, marketers and retailers who know how to reach the right consumers in the most effective way.”

Get the full report - click here.

Patient Experience Starts with the Hiring Process

2010-05-02T11:18:00.003-04:00

It’s 6:45 am on a Sunday morning and I’m sitting in an airport waiting on a Southwest Airlines flight to Chicago. The flight is running a little late, and bleary-eyed passengers bemoan the extra half hour of sleep they could have had. Meanwhile the Southwest gate agents, who look much too rested and energized for such an early hour, begin the lighthearted banter for which they are known. Pretty soon, the delayed passengers are laughing at their goofy repartee of corny jests and bad-rhythm rap. Once on board, the pilot apologized for the delay and joked that he’d just had a low-carb, high energy drink to help get us there in record time.

While some might see these gestures as silly, they are part of the airline’s legendary culture – one that turns customers into loyal followers. Southwest’s vigorous hiring process assures they have a better than average track record of selecting good-natured individuals that love to serve others but don’t take themselves too seriously. It makes for a great customer experience on an otherwise no-frills aircraft.

With all the talk about customer experience in health systems today, I wonder how many organizations have hard-wired their HR systems to weed out those applicants who just don’t have customer service in their DNA. Why try to train the surliness out of people that shouldn’t have been hired in the first place?

So many of our healthcare employees truly enjoy serving patients and customers, and do so admirably – often under trying circumstances. But those that don’t, hijack your brand – and break the covenant of trust between the brand and customer. That’s a marketing problem.

Matching Social Media Tools to Your Strategy

2010-04-24T15:45:00.002-04:00

The CMO's Guide to the Social Media Landscape

Strategy first is the mantra when it comes to social media tools for brand building, marketing, customer engagement, search engine optimization and more. Dean Whitney of Dean Whitney Interactive put together this guide which provides insight into the effectiveness of various social media tools against specific goals.

The CMO's Guide To The Social Media Landscape

View more documents from Dean Whitney.

Top 10 in 2010: Ten Forces Framing Strategic Discussions for Healthcare Leaders

2010-04-24T14:39:00.003-04:00

By any account, 2009 was a watershed year in which politics, the economy, public sentiment and the media all played a significant role in framing a new environment for health care over the next decade. With tumultuous challenge to the first significant overhaul of our nation’s health care system since the introduction of Medicare in the mid-1960s, health systems are still trying to determine the likely impact of payment reform initiatives on health system strategy. Here is a round-up of the most significant market forces that will shape strategic discussions over the next year, and most likely for the foreseeable future.

Top 10 in 2010: Ten Forces Framing Strategic Discussions for Healthcare Leaders

View more documents from Karen Corrigan.

Click here to download the full article.

Marketers Shifting Resources to Support Social Media Marketing

2010-04-21T06:22:00.004-04:00

Seems like marketers everywhere are reallocating budgets and restructuring marketing and public relations teams to embrace social media marketing. The implications are big - and require a thoughtful approach to redesigning the marketing operation in order to reinvent our approach to engaging consumers . . . How are you addressing this in your health system?

This article from UTalkMarketing.Com describes the shift:

Businesses Own Their Audience Through Social Networks, Not Traditional Paid Ads

Business marketing teams are switching from paid ads to social networking advertising in 2010 to gain more control because… well, they can.

Marketers shelled out more than $1.2 billion on social networking advertising last year, and that figure will only rise – to $1.3 billion this year – as advertisers aim to leverage their existing social media infrastructure in 2010, according to a new report from eMarketer.

In its social media outlook, the research firm found that advertisers plan to devote their social media resources this year on maintaining their social networks rather than growing them through paid ads. Many marketers made the investments last year in creating fan pages on Facebook, running ads on MySpace and developing the overall strategy for social media, said Debra Williamson, the eMarketer senior analyst who wrote the report. Now, they’ll look to nurture those audiences.

This shift points to a broader philosophical change, as marketers create their own audiences, rather than rent them. Brands want to invest money in building out audiences rather than just renting through TV, radio and magazines (the old way.) Example … Pepsi pulled out of the Super Bowl after 23 years to develop its own audience through its Pepsi Refresh Project online.
Marketers are looking for better ways to quantify and measure social messaging that surrounds their brands is a summary of what Williamson said. “Whenever you do a paid online campaign, you guess or estimate how many impressions you are going to get, and now they are trying to figure out how much earned media they’ll get,” she said.

Marketers are eager to apply metrics to Facebook posts, Twitter comments, viral marketing and others times and areas when and where people share or interact with a brand online, even if it’s as simple as a consumer replying to another consumer with a brand recommendation. A number of firms track and analyze earned media, such as Listen Logic, Converseon and Networked Insights.

Brands also want to understand how social media eafects the rest of a marketing plan.
“They’re realizing you don’t have to track every single metric, but you should track the ones that make sense for your business,” Williamson said. “If you want to use social network marketing for branding, then you’re going to follow different metrics in terms of whether they are looking at your fan page or passing along to friends. But if you’re looking to do a promotion, such as downloading a coupon and getting a discount at a store, then the metrics are getting better to understand that, too.”

When marketers do spend money on social media this year, they’ll be opening their wallets for Facebook with its 350 million worldwide users. Facebook spending in the United States will jump to $450 million this year, up 34% from $335 million last year.

Read more at Businesses own their audience through social networks, not traditional paid ads.

To Sell or Not to Sell: a Guide for Orthopedic Practices Eyeing Deals With Hospitals | Business and Financial

2010-04-15T11:35:00.001-04:00

From Becker's Hospital Review

Orthopedic surgeons contemplating turning over their practices to their local hospital may view such a deal as a way to lock in lifelong profits while saying goodbye to all of the administrative hassles of managing a practice. But seller beware: If money is the primary motivator, the strategy could well backfire, according to physicians who have entered into such deals. Some orthopedic surgeons interviewed say they are satisfied with deals they struck with their local hospitals and would do so again if given a chance. There are others who prefer to remain independent. But all agree that such deals are not get-rich-quick schemes, nor do they come without significant compromises and complications. That means surgeons should think long and hard about what they want to gain from aligning with a hospital before making the leap. They should also engage legal and financial experts to help make the most of the relationship, say those who have been through the process.

Read more at: To Sell or Not to Sell: a Guide for Orthopedic Practices Eyeing Deals With Hospitals Business and Financial

The New Consumer Frugality

2010-04-01T18:46:00.004-04:00

What does this mean for health providers?

Retailers must adapt to the enduring shift in U.S. consumer spending and behavior, according to a new Booz & Company survey of buying habits.

A new survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers, the second issued by Booz & Company since the early days of the recession in October 2008, confirms that a “new frugality,” born of the Great Recession and evidenced by two consecutive years of declining per capita consumption, is now becoming entrenched among U.S. consumers and is reshaping their consumption patterns in ways that will persist even as the economy starts to recover.

A new frugality, characterized by a strong value consciousness that dictates trade-offs in price, brand, and convenience, has become the dominant mind-set among consumers in the United States — and probably in other wealthy countries as well. Two-thirds of American shoppers are cutting coupons more frequently, buying low price over convenience, and emphasizing saving over spending. Per capita consumption expenditure has declined across demographic groups. Consumer sentiment remains weak. These trends are not going to change, no matter the pace of economic change.

Annual consumer surveys conducted by Booz & Company during the past two years suggest that the deep and prolonged nature of the recession, in conjunction with longer-term trends — such as ongoing shifts in the share captured by retailers’ private labels and the greater online research shoppers do before going to the store — has hardened changes in consumer spending and behavior. Even as a slow recovery is under way, it is becoming clear that consumers are not going to step up to store counters with pre-recession alacrity. Marketers and retailers that wait for them to do so are taking a major risk with the futures of their companies. And as consumer demand returns, it will likely center on a different mix of price points, brands and private labels, and retail formats than prior to the recession.

Read more at strategy + business: The New Consumer Frugality (by Matthew Egol, Andrew Clyde, Kasturi Rangan)

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Time-starved Consumers Seek ‘Brand Butlers’

2010-03-29T21:04:00.002-04:00

The convergence of consumers with limited time and the ease of providing mobile online services is creating a new class of service-oriented “brand butlers,” according to consumer insights firm trendwatching.com. Trendwatching.com defines brand butlers as brands that focus on assisting consumers to make the most of their lives, as opposed to the traditional branding model of selling consumers a lifestyle or identity.

Although trendwatching.com identifies the growing sophistication of mobile online services as crucial to the development of brand butlers, the company advises that offline services such as permanent or pop-up branded spaces and lounges tied to a specific event (music festival) or location (airport) can qualify as brand butlers. Trendwatching.com also advises that brand butlers go above and beyond top-quality products and services, so providing excellent customer service is not enough on its own to become a brand butler.

Learn more about their 8 key brand butler categories at Time-starved Consumers Seek ‘Brand Butlers’

President Signs Health Care Reform Act; Now What?

2010-03-25T08:42:00.006-04:00

This week, President Obama signed into law the most significant social legislation since the 1960s. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) extends health insurance coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans ― at a cost of $940 billion over the next decade. The legislation ensures that by 2014, nearly all Americans will be required to be insured, and by 2016, the majority of the uninsured (30 million people) will be covered.

To do this, the legislation expands Medicaid to cover families making as much as $88K a year. It also creates state-supervised exchanges to expand coverage access to individuals and small businesses. Other goals of the legislation are to improve affordability and accountability, crack down on waste, fraud and abuse, and ensure fiscal sustainability.

What Didn’t Get Passed? There is no government-run insurance plan. People can buy coverage through the state exchanges, but these will be private, nonprofit plans.

How does this impact the major health care players? Some of the key tenets are described below:

Extending Coverage for all Americans – On one hand, it is believed that the bill will benefit hospitals because more people will have insurance and hospitals will have to provide less charity care, which should result in fewer ‘write offs’ and a reduction in bad debt. However, expanded Medicaid enrollments could be a mixed blessing because Medicaid often pays hospitals less than the actual cost of care.

Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Care – It provides incentives for doctors, and hospitals that improve quality while providing for better coordination that helps to reduce harmful medical errors and healthcare-acquired infections. The bill will also provide payment reforms so providers are rewarded for the quality of care they provide, rather than just additional tests or treatments. And it rewards innovative practices where doctors and nurse practitioners provide more primary care that is coordinated with every doctor or specialist involved with a patient’s care.

Focusing on Prevention – This legislation will promote prevention, wellness, and the public health and provides an unprecedented funding commitment to these areas. It directs the creation of a national prevention and health promotion strategy that incorporates the most effective and achievable methods to improve the health status of Americans and reduce the incidence of preventable illness and disability in the United States. It increases prevention and wellness services for Medicare beneficiaries by waiving co-payments for most preventive services and by fully covering an annual wellness visit and personalized prevention plans for American seniors on Medicare.

Expanding the Healthcare Workforce – The act will fund scholarships and loan repayment programs to increase the number of primary care physicians, nurses, physician assistants, mental health providers, and dentists in underserved areas of the country. With a comprehensive approach focusing on retention and enhanced educational opportunities, the Act combats the critical nursing shortage. And through new incentives and recruitment, the Act increases the supply of public health professionals so that the United States is prepared for health emergencies.

Transparency and Program Integrity – Doctors with financial interests in imaging services, like MRI services, must inform the patients in writing that they can obtain the recommended imaging service from a person other than the referring physician, and provide a contact list. The Act also requires all drug companies, device, and medical supply manufacturers to fully disclose and report any gifts they make or financial arrangements they have with doctors, a physician practice or group. Providers enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP programs will undergo increased scrutiny for new compliance requirements. The bill calls for increased governmental auditing and revenue oversight requiring providers to become more efficient and accountable for utilization, quality and cost of care.

Funding the Program -- Funding for the landmark legislation will come from a variety of initiatives, including increased Medicare taxes for high-income individuals and an excise tax on insurers offering high-premium plans. In addition, hospitals agreed to help pay for the costs of the legislation and will contribute $155 billion over 10 years, primarily through lower Medicare payments. Health systems will also see reduced disproportionate share funding payments and cost-saving provisions resulting from program cuts for high-cost, less efficient hospitals in high cost markets. Moody’s Investors Service speculates that not-for-profit hospitals will struggle with reimbursement and efficiency pressures under health care reform legislation, triggering spending cuts, mergers and changes to revenue streams.

Most of the initiatives won’t take effect until 2014; however, the time for health systems to address both short and long term implications of the legislation is now.

Coming next: What to Expect from Industry-Leading Health Systems

Study Reveals Majority of Young Women Go On-line First with Health Questions

2010-03-24T08:35:00.000-04:00

A February survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of iVillage found that women heavily rely on the Internet as a health resource before turning to a family member or visiting a doctor. Anonymous peer networking and sharing common experiences is what drives women online for health matters, with 4 out of 5 (82%) saying there are reasons to feel uncomfortable when discussing health concerns or questions with friends or family members. Over half of women (59%) said that discussing health concerns with people they know can be embarrassing.

Click here to read more at HealthLeaders Media Marketing Weekly.

Guest Blogger: John Marzano, VP External Affairs, Orlando Health

2010-03-07T05:50:00.008-05:00

Marketers Must Lead Health Systems in Embracing New Media

Orlando Health took the better part of a year in developing a strategy to participate in the social/digital environment. In November 2009, with full support of organization leadership we launched our plan with both a Facebook (www.facebook.com/orlandohealth) and You Tube page (www.youtube.com/orlandohealth). To date, we have acquired more than 3,800 fans to our page and have over 4,000 views on You Tube for a special heart month video called 'move it' as well as other videos featuring tours of our facilities and physician expertise.

Overall, we looked at some best practices (Mayo Clinic, University of Maryland Medical System) and took a measured approach while setting very realistic parameters, guidelines for use, and expectations as part of a new communications platform that addressed the mix of traditional and digital forms of communication to engage our target audiences. In addition, we seamlessly moved two FTEs into roles that support this strategy and help us stay current with the technology.

First steps were to develop a credible presence for the organization through use of video, educational opportunities for fans to participate in, including RSVPs to health events, etc. Also, we developed a data bank of physician expert videos on a variety of clinical services that strategically drive our business. Third, we made it fun by incorporating campus activities and other special events to generate buzz, feedback, and affinity for our programs and services. Finally, more recently, we uploaded media stories and new advertising campaigns to give our fans another opportunity to hear our brand message and story.

I think an intense focus on ROI at this stage is premature. Right now it’s about engaging target audiences with another tactic/tool to communicate about the organization, build brand awareness, and build a fan base – in this case, to those that already want to hear from you. Once a good fan base is onboard, then utilize cross marketing opportunities and new modalities available from the social sites to begin to steer appropriate call-to-action, response and potential business.

Currently, site analytics available offer some measurement of success and have told us that approximately 80% of our fan base are women 25-44, which by the way fits nicely into Orlando Health’s core target audience of women 25-64. It also paves the way to engage a younger demographic for potential new business in the future. Video views add to the analytics and show us how many are watching our physicians tell the clinical story of the organization.

Common sense tells us that with anything in the digital age, we can expect the technology to evolve and change many times over. As marketers and communicators, we're expected to take the lead, adapt to our markets and move to where the potential business is moving. ROI measurements will come soon enough. Let’s establish credibility with a sound strategy first.

John Marzano is the vice president for external affairs at Orlando Health, a health system in central Florida that includes Orlando Regional Medical Center, the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies, the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, and MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando and other hospitals and patient care services. He can be reached at john.marzano@orlandohealth.com.

Consider Recession Psychology in Your Segmentation Strategies

2010-02-27T22:16:00.006-05:00

As I look back over thirty years of marketing health services, periods of prosperity ebbed and flowed with the occasional recession. When jobs declined; the numbers of uninsured increased. In hard times elective procedures diminished and bad debt ballooned. When people went back to work, consumer spending resumed and volumes bounced back. Hospitals watched clinical volumes rise and fall in accordance, predictable as rain.

But here we are in 2010, still weathering the worst recession since the 1930s. The prolonged and severe nature of it, and the distrust born of mismanagement and scandal in the financial, housing and automotive industries, have consumers in an economic funk of historic significance.

So the question for marketers is – will consumer spending bounce back with the economic recovery? Or are we likely to see fundamental and more permanent changes in attitude and consumer behavior as a result of the meltdown (think ‘depression’ era)?

These are important issues for marketing executives. And require us to understand the new ‘psychographic’ segments that may emerge as a result. Authors John Quelch and Katherine Jocz in How to Market in a Downturn (Harvard Business Review) believe that customers will fall into four recession-influenced segments, and that those segments have distinctly different behaviors when it comes to the purchase of “essentials, treats, postponables and expendables.”

Slam-on-the-brakes: This segment feels most vulnerable for good reasons – they were hardest hit financially by loss of income or housing costs that rose above their means, or worry that circumstances could change for worse at any time. They reduce all types of spending by cutting out, cutting back or postponing purchases. In healthcare, we may see this group cancel elective surgeries, not fill prescriptions, avoid medical care, self-treat, and drop insurance coverage.
Pained-but-patient: These consumers do believe that happy days will come again but worry about their ability to ride out the downturn. So they economize, but less aggressively than their slam-on-the-brakes neighbors. The largest of the segments, this one may see members adopt slam-on-the-brakes behaviors should things get worse. In healthcare, these are likely to be consumers who put off medical procedures for fear of losing time on the job or, conversely, get things fixed because they fear not having insurance if something happens down the road. They may switch to lower cost brands and back-burner plastic surgery, cosmetic dentistry or other discretionary procedures.
Comfortably well-off: This group feels good - even secure about their own circumstances even though the economy is tanking. Their consumption patterns haven’t changed much since before the recession but they tend to be less conspicuous. Although the segment consists largely of people in the top 5% income bracket, it also includes some less wealthy but confident consumers. Because these are also likely to be a bit older, they still have healthcare needs and are likely to continue using physician, imaging, surgery and hospital services, including high end out-of-pocket purchases such as cosmetic surgery, weight loss surgery and concierge practices.
Live-for-today: This mostly younger and more urban group tends to live in the moment and, unless unemployed, carries on less aware of the recession and unconcerned about long-term savings. I would expect to see them at the Minute Clinic for an ailment needing prescription and in the ER for more serious events.

The key learning is that even in a recession, not all consumers will act alike. For healthcare marketers, the challenge is to view traditional segment strategies through the lens of recession psychology. In doing so, a clearer picture is likely to emerge as to opportunity and priority of marketing investment.

Engaging Women With A Women's Heart Facebook Fan Page

2010-02-26T13:59:00.001-05:00

Navvis & Company vice president, Carla Bryant, was the featured speaker on a recent Women's HeartAdvantage webcast, where she discussed the advantages, strategies and tactics for using a Facebook Fan Page for women's heart programs. Here is the discussion deck from her presentation.

Engaging Women With A Women's Heart Facebook Fan Page

View more presentations from Karen Corrigan.

Women's Heart Expert to Present "State of Women's Heart Health in US"

2010-02-19T08:00:00.006-05:00

Here's an opportunity for you to hear one of the nation’s leading experts in women’s heart health. Dr. C. Noel Bairey Merz, will present a national overview and update on women and heart disease on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 12 p.m. EDT during a Women’s HeartAdvantage™ webcast.

Dr. Bairey Merz is Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai (Los Angeles), medical director for the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Women’s Health Program and Women’s Heart Center, and holds the Women’s Guild Endowed Chair in Women’s Health. She has been the clinical co-director for Women’s HeartAdvantage since its inception, and acts as a national spokesperson for the program in order to raise awareness about women and heart disease. Her appearances have included Good Morning America, NBC Dateline and 20/20, and she has been interviewed for the New York Times, US News and World Report and Working Woman, among others.

During the hour long webcast, Dr. Bairey Merz will discuss the latest trends regarding women’s heart health and provide a sneak peek into what the next decade may hold for women and heart disease. Session topics include:

An update on clinical trials regarding diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in women
Screenings, diagnostics and therapeutic modalities for microvascular disease in women
The most appropriate general cardiovascular screenings and diagnostic applications for women
Heart screenings protocols and practices to engage physicians and women in prevention and self care
Strategies to create and sustain a women’s heart program as part of an overall cardiovascular service line business plan

The webcast is being offered free of charge to Chief Marketing Officer readers. Click here to register.

Residents Put Dispute with Bronx Hospital Online

2010-02-17T10:56:00.000-05:00

Blocking internal access to social media sites won't help a hospital when a disgruntled staff decides to air its issues on-line. Interns and residents at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx have turned to the net to bring attention to bring attention to what they consider to be poor, unacceptable working conditions. The strategy is aimed at bringing the community into the discussion. Learn more at Residents put dispute with Bronx hospital online.

Three Ways Text Messages Can Improve Healthcare Marketing

2010-02-10T14:42:00.003-05:00

Marianne Aiello of HealthLeaders Media writes in a recent post "now that 86% of the U.S. population own a cell phone and the typical mobile subscriber sends and receives more text messages than phone calls, the use of text message campaigns will almost certainly increase across all industries. There are several opportunities for healthcare to get involved, so it will be interesting to see how this medium pans out."

She shares several examples -- from the highly publicized impact that text messaging has had in fundraising for the recent crisis in Haiti to a White House initiative to improve prenatal health and infant care. Learn more about ways to use text messaging for key audiences in her article at
Three Ways Text Messages Can Improve Healthcare Marketing.

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Guest Blogger: Mike Schneider of Greystone.Net

2010-02-09T06:03:00.006-05:00

Healthcare Marketers Embrace Social Media, But Rarely Have a Plan

If you find that getting your arms around your social media strategy is difficult, then the results of the Greystone.Net Social Media Research show that you are not alone. The study finds that hospitals and health systems are fully embracing social media -- 9 in 10 said that they had an active presence or are monitoring social media sites -- however, less than 40% say they have a formal plan for social media and struggle to clearly identify measurable return on investment.

Greystone.Net conducted the study at the end of 2009. Our sample size was relatively small -- 38 of our 100 Greystone.Net research panel participants completed the survey -- and Greystone.Net clients tend to be slightly more “Web 2.0 savvy” than other organizations, so data may be slightly skewed in that direction. But, the results mirror our findings in the field as we work with clients to plan for their Social Media and Web site strategies.

The study also found that social media has been good at helping organizations generate Web traffic, but is not nearly as effective at accomplishing other key organizational goals. Other topics of interest included budget and staffing for social media, types of social media monitoring, and how organizations measure the effectiveness of their social media efforts.

The fact that hospitals and health systems do not have formal plans for social media and are not seeing the results they desire does not seem like a coincidence to me. We anticipate a strong demand for social media planning in the future, as organizations try to catch up with the leaders out there doing an amazing job of leveraging social media.

For more information about this study or to inquire about being a member of the Greystone.Net research panel, visit the Greystone.Net Web site .

Michael Schneider is a consultant with Greystone.Net, where he has helped over 50 healthcare organizations develop Internet-related strategic plans. Before joining Greystone.Net, Mike was the Director of Database Management and Research for Emory University Health Care System in Atlanta.

Moving It for Heart Health

2010-02-04T08:10:00.003-05:00

In this YouTube find, Orlando Health's Heart Man rounds up the hospital staff to Move It for Heart Health.

Marketing Innovations Frame Chief Marketing Officers' 2010 Agenda

2010-02-02T11:18:00.004-05:00

2010 marks the beginning of a new decade – one likely to be characterized by significant change and transformation in the health industry. Converging forces of payer reform, industry consolidation, consumerism, and advanced information technologies are challenging the underlying basis for competition.

Economics are front and center, creating a compelling case for the role that marketers must play in an increasingly competitive industry. What an opportune time to establish marketing leadership as a strategy-critical business competency for healthcare organizations.

It’s that opportunity that will frame the Chief Marketing Officers’ Innovator’s Studio agenda in 2010:

To transform marketing practice to growth-oriented strategic leadership.
To drive value-innovation across the health system.
To crusade for customer-centered practices.
To build powerful, sustainable brands.
To develop results-oriented marketing capabilities.
To realize market success.

The year’s first on-site intensive for the Chief Marketing Officer’s Innovator’s Studio is scheduled March 22 & 23, 2010 at the Catalyst Ranch in Chicago. The deep dive topics – Innovations in Service Line Marketing and Thinking Retail– will jump right to the heart of where marketing executives can impact their health systems’ core business and improve competitive performance.

We’ll learn from experts that have achieved dramatic results from integrated approaches to business, brand and marketing strategies for clinical service lines, ambulatory and retail health services. Come prepared to brainstorm new ideas and frame out service line marketing innovations.

For more information about The Innovator’s Studio, contact me by email (kcorrigan@navvisandcompany.com) or call me at 757.640.8515.

In the Super Bowl of Advertising, Will Facebook Win the Trophy?

2010-02-02T10:45:00.003-05:00

This year’s Super Bowl may likely be remembered for the advertising you WON’T see – for the first time in 23 years, Pepsi will not run an ad during the Super Bowl game. Instead, PepsiCo is going online with a major digital campaign that features its own website and a heavy presence on Facebook, according to The Financial Times. The advertiser is “betting that a more interactive approach will resonate with consumers in the always-on age of social networking sites.”

PepsiCo’s digital strategy marks a major shift among consumer goods advertisers, who have historically relied more upon traditional channels and invested less in online marketing. Some analysts estimate that Facebook could increase advertising revenues to more than $1 billion this year.

More evidence of a maturing new media.

Read more at The Financial Times.

The Maturing of Social Media Marketing

2010-02-01T10:26:00.000-05:00

Would you call yourself a seasoned veteran or novice player when it comes to social media marketing? MarketingSherpa's research shows that a rapidly increasing segment of marketers are advancing from novice to a competent practitioner. And that maturity is producing dramatic improvements in results and ROI.

You can learn more during a free one hour webinar (Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 2:00 pm EST) presented by HubSpot and featuring MarketingSherpa's 2010 Social Media Benchmark Report.

Key topics to be covered include:

How each of the three stages to social marketing maturity impacts results
Where your social marketing maturity stands in relation to other marketers
Insights on how B2B and B2C marketers plan a social media strategy
Which practices are routinely performed using a formal marketing plan

Webinar registrants will also receive Chapter 3 from MarketingSherpa's 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report, titled Social Media Marketing Maturity and the Social Marketing ROAD Map.

Click here for more information or to register.

Communicating Quality

2010-01-31T09:30:00.002-05:00

What marketing executive today isn't challenged with whether and how a health system's quality performance, reporting measures, third party recognitions and other aspects of clinical quality, patient safety and customer satisfaction improvement initiatives matter when it comes to driving preference, volume and market share.

Of course quality matters - no argument from me on that point - rather, the issue at hand for most marketers is discerning at what point quality is an ante versus a true differentiating attribute. The first step in the process is developing a full assessment of what your organization is doing and how well it is doing in comparison to others, as well as understanding the potential impact of that performance - positive or negative - on consumer preference, referral patterns, contracting leverage and pay-for-value reimbursements.

Danny Fell has kindly shared a Strategic Quality Measures Readiness Assessment that he and a colleague developed for quality planning. The assessment was designed to get groups thinking about all the ways they approach and deal with quality - but mostly from a communications standpoint. The tool is available below for your review and use in developing that 'inventory' of quality activities and measures that should be considered as you develop marketing strategy.

Danny Fell is an Executive Vice President with Neathawk Dubuque & Packett, a Richmond, Virginia based marketing and advertising agency. You can email him at dfell@ndp-agency and follow his marketing posts at http://twitter.com/danfell.

D Fell Strategic Quality Measures Readiness Assessment Sqmra

View more presentations from Karen Corrigan.

Kitchen Sink Research Provides Insights into Consumers' Views on Timely Healthcare Topics

2010-01-29T10:03:00.000-05:00

Did you know that 24% of consumers changed primary care doctors in the past few years and that nearly 30% of those that changed did so for quality reasons? Or that one in six say they have encountered a serious quality issue or medical error in a hospital over the past 3 years? That 4% have traveled out of the country and 17% have traveled outside their service areas for medical care?

These and other interesting insights can be found in Klein & Partners 4th Quarter 2009 Kitchen Sink study, which takes the pulse on how consumers feel about a variety of current health care topics. Thanks to Klein & Partners president, Rob Klein, for offering up the study for Chief Marketing Officer readers.

You can reach Rob at rob@kleinandpartners.com.

Klein And Partners 4th Quarter 2009 Omnibus Presentation

View more presentations from Karen Corrigan.

New Campaign Metric: Social Chatter

2010-01-28T05:59:00.002-05:00

The rising popularity of status updates on Twitter and Facebook is giving birth to a new way for advertisers to gauge the success of ads: whether they generate consumer buzz. Ad measurement firm Millward Brown is moving to establish that metric with a new service that will place digital word-of-mouth measurements for online campaigns alongside ad effectiveness metrics like awareness, brand lift and intent to purchase.

Millward Brown has hooked up with buzz monitor firm Cymfony to analyze online sentiment expressed on social networks, blogs and message forums. The social media measurements include volume, sentiment and share of voice. Cymfony is one of a host of companies that monitors social media. Others include Radian6 and Nielsen BuzzMetrics.

Dynamic Logic used the capability to analyze an online campaign for a consumer products company that introduced a new product formula. Traditional brand metrics showed that awareness fell below the goal, even though traffic increased for the entire category. The social media buzz, however, showed that consumers who used the new formulation were pleased with it, indicating that marketing was the problem. Ali Rana, vp of emerging media at Dynamic Logic, said going beyond mere mentions to figure out sentiment is key for brands seeing if they're ads are working.

"Our clients have long been wanting holistic measurement," he said. "This helps fill in some of those gaps for now."

New Campaign Metric: Social Chatter

Is Your Marketing on Target for Young Moms?

2010-01-25T07:25:00.007-05:00

If you are targeting female Gen Xers and Ys for obstetric, pediatric, urgent care, docs or other health and wellness services, The New Female Consumer: The Rise of the Real Mom is a terrific resource for health care marketers seeking to gain a better understanding of their lives, priorities, needs and motivators.

This Advertising Age and JWT white paper explores what multiple generations of American women want when it comes to family, work and life in the 21st century, decades after the women's liberation movement. It focuses in depth on Generation X (ages 30 to 44) and millennial (ages 18 to 29) mothers and how they differ from their older counterparts. And also examines how marketers can and should improve communications that target this demographic.

Here are a couple of insights from the study:

To reach this demographic, marketers need not just to communicate that the goods and services they offer are practical and convenient; they also need to make real moms feel confident and in charge.
Marketers should empower these female consumers to delegate to others (spouses, children, brands) so they can have more time to be who they want to be—at home, at work and on their own.
Marketers have to use new ways to reach a population that rarely has time to sit down to read or watch or enjoy something without simultaneously doing something else

The New Female Consumer is a free, downloadable guide chocked full of insights, data, graphs and other information to help you better understand young moms.

Click here to link to the PDF.

Will Apple's Reveal be More Marketing Magic?

2010-01-24T06:38:00.000-05:00

Conjuring up the Latest Buzz, Without a Word

by David Carr; New York Times

This Wednesday, Steven P. Jobs will step to the stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and unveil a shiny new machine that may or may not change the world.

In the magician’s world, that’s called “the reveal.”

And the most magical part? Even as the media and technology worlds have anticipated this announcement for months, Apple has said not word one about The Device. Reporting on the announcement has become crowdsourced, with thousands of tech and media journalists scrambling for the latest wisp and building on the reporting of others.

However miraculous the thingamajig turns out to be — all rumors point to some kind of tabletlike device — it can’t be more remarkable than the control that Apple and Mr. Jobs have over their audience. Click here to read more.

Pre-Paid Gift Cards for Urgent Care

2010-01-23T07:53:00.003-05:00

Solantic walk-in urgent care, the Jacksonville-based company that introduced the three-day feel better guarantee and a transparent menu board with up-front pricing, recently announced the launch of online ordering for the Solantic Card.

The cash-value card works similarly to a retail gift card, providing consumers a unique and convenient way to pay for services provided at Solantic’s 30 urgent care centers throughout Florida. Cards may be purchased in increments of $25 up to $500, and redeemed for urgent care and wellness services provided at Solantic locations. Cards also are available for purchase in Solantic centers.

The Solantic Card was created as a solution for those seeking to supplement high-deductible health insurance plans, to cover co-pays, for the self-employed, and for wellness services. It also provides an attractive option for employers who don’t provide traditional health benefits, but are looking for alternatives ways to provide medical coverage.

Just like Starbucks, card balances can be checked online and additional value can be added to the card at any time. Solantic’s prices are also posted online and in the clinic. A basic visit (defined as a minimally complicated medical condition requiring minor treatment) is $89.

Since its founding in 2001, Solantic has been a leader in applying retail concepts to the practice of urgent care medicine. The company displays wait times on queue monitors, offers online registration, and a guarantee on its services—if you don’t feel better, return to Solantic and be treated for free. They currently operate 30 centers across the state of Florida.

AOL Offers Free Study and Webinar on On-line Marketing to Hispanics

2010-01-22T08:45:00.000-05:00

If your health system is targeting Hispanic consumers, you may want to check into this offer from AOL Advertising. AOL partnered with the consulting group Cheskin to conduct research about how Hispanics use the internet in their daily lives and what that means for businesses and agencies charged with marketing to this segment. The published results – 2010 Hispanic Cyberstudy – are free, as is a webinar scheduled for 2:00 EST on February 2, 2010.

Click here for more information.

Marketing Oncology Services

2010-01-17T07:31:00.012-05:00

HealthLeaders Media Webcast
January 25, 2010; 1 pm to 2:30 pm

On January 25, 2010, HealthLeaders Media will host a webcast titled Marketing Oncology: Service Line Strategies for Marketers. The session will feature the business development and marketing successes of Baystate Health's Cancer Care Center (Massachusetts), and explore ways that marketers can identify and pursue growth opportunities for oncology service lines.

Participants will learn how Baystate health launched a free-standing all inclusive cancer center, brought physicians and staff together to improve the patient experience at all touch points, and employed segmentation, physician referral development, promotions and other marketing strategies to grow the business.

I am pleased to be joining the webcast with HealthLeaders editor Gienna Shaw and Suzanne Hendery, vice president for marketing and communications at Baystate Health, an integrated delivery system of three hospitals, including Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA.

The program is scheduled for Monday, January 25, 2010 from 1 pm to 2:30 pm EST. Click here for more information.

Missing: The Average American Consumer

2010-01-16T06:43:00.002-05:00

In just a few months, the "biggest market research project of the decade" will be conducted by the US Census Bureau when it begins to count heads and amass information on the American population. And although data won't begin to be released until 2011, demographic expert Peter Francese has some projections as to what it might reveal:

309 million people live in the United States, but one person will be missing: the average American. "The concept of an 'average American' is gone, probably forever," Francese writes in 2010 America, a new Advertising Age white paper, "and replaced by a complex, multidimensional society that defies simplistic labeling."

US households are growing more complex and varied. The iconic American family of two parents with kids is just 22% of the population.
Minorities are the new majority. In the two largest states, as well as New Mexico and Hawaii, the nation's traditional majority group - white non-Hispanics - is in the minority. And in the nation's 10 largest cities, he says, "no racial or ethnic category describes a majority of the population." He also notes how diversity varies greatly by age, "with the younger population substantially more diverse than the old."

Peter Francese is a demographic trends analyst at WPP's Ogilvy & Mather and founder of American Demographics magazine. His 32-page report, available at AdAge.com/2010America, will give marketers a window on what the census will show and how to adapt those findings in a marketing world reliant on broadscale demographics that no longer exist. The cost of the white paper is $249.00.

Read the article: New US Census to Reveal Major Shift: No More Joe Consumer.

Micro-Targeting Increases Marketing ROI

2010-01-15T12:15:00.003-05:00

Chief Marketing Officers' Innovator's Studio Webcast
January 21, 2010; 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EST

Increased scrutiny of marketing expenditures and rising expectations for ROI have marketing executives scrambling to create a much more effective, laser-focused approach to reaching and influencing consumers and physicians.

Customized, micro-targeting to individuals is fast becoming the standard to optimize marketing performance. In this first virtual work session of 2010, Innovator's Studio CMOs will learn how one health system:

Developed an automated marketing system to reach key customer audiences
Developed interest-specific messaging
Tied processes and data together between intertwined systems (web, call center, etc.
Identified and responded to qualified leads
Achieved and measured business impact.

Halifax Health (Daytona Beach, Florida) refocused its marketing investments by integrating online and offline marketing, and employing a combination of CRM, eMarketing automation, analytics and reporting systems. This was achieved by its marketing and finance teams working together to integrate marketing data with procedures to track revenue and marketing attribution.

Ann Martorano, hospital administrator and chief marketing officer for Halifax Health, will be joined by Tanya Andreadis, Halifax director of marketing and eBusiness, and by Bill Moschella, principal and CEO of eVariant to share their case study. Navvis & Company vice president Carla Bryant will facilitate the meeting.

Innovator's Studio clients can contact Jody Corrigan (jcorrigan@navvisandcompany.com) to register for the work session. To learn more about the Innovator's Studio, please contact me at 757.640.8515 or kcorrigan@navvisandcompany.com.

Words of Wisdom on Getting Advice from Outside Industries

2010-01-14T08:36:00.003-05:00

From HealthLeaders Media Editor Gienna Shaw

What's the best investment an innovative healthcare organization can make? The CEO of a mid-sized hospital gave me a great answer to that question in an interview this week: "Plane tickets." Preparing for a big change at his organization, he flew as far as Rome to gather information from organizations that had undertaken a similar venture. Read more -- Words of Wisdom on Getting Advice from Outside Industries.

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Brand Powerhouse Buys MDVIP

2010-01-12T17:49:00.001-05:00

What happens when a CPG brand master enters the physician services business? That's yet to be seen but it does set the marketing imagination in motion when Proctor & Gamble announces that it will assume full ownership of MDVIP, a concierge network of 350 physicians in 28 states and the District of Columbia.

A December 18, 2009 Modern Healthcare article reports that this move will increase P&G's initial investment to 100% from the 48% made in January 2007. A release issued when P&G made the original investment stated that MDVIP "works with the nation's finest physicians to give them the tools they need to practice preventive and personalized healthcare for patients who consider their health a priority. The MDVIP model is based on three pillars: exceptional doctors, exceptional care, and exceptional results."

The purchase, is "consistent with P&G's mission to improve the lives of consumers in the important areas of health and wellness." (Advertising Age) P&G's Web site indicates it sold some $80.3 billion worth of products in 2009 with “health and well-being” items (“personal health care” included) accounting for $16.7 billion.

The deal was cleared by the FTC on December 11.

Read more: P&G buying remaining stake in concierge doc network MDVIP - Modern Healthcare

Creating a Facebook Fan Page for Your Women's Heart Marketing Program

2010-01-11T10:44:00.004-05:00

Women's HeartAdvantage Webcast
Rescheduled for February 23, 2010; 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

Want to learn how a Facebook Fan Page can attract, engage and build loyalty among women at risk for or with heart disease? Women’s HeartAdvantage is hosting a webcast on Tuesday, February 23 at 1:00 pm eastern to discuss the strategy behind the social media application as well as step by step instructions for setting up and managing a Facebook Fan Page. Navvis & Company vice president Carla Bryant is the featured speaker for the one hour webinar.

Registration is complementary for Chief Marketing Officer readers. To sign up for the event, just call (540.545.8260) or email Jody Corrigan (jcorrigan@navvisandcompany.com). She'll send you the log-in instructions for the webcast.

Nonprofit Hospitals Showing Financial Improvement, says Moody’s

2009-12-02T11:24:00.011-05:00

Despite challenging economic and credit conditions, bond ratings at 20 nonprofit hospitals and health systems have been upgraded since late 2008, Moody's Investors Service said in a new report that identifies common factors that have contributed to their success.

"While downgrades will likely continue to outnumber upgrades in coming months, we expect some upgrades will continue to occur as some hospitals continue to navigate through these times better than others," said Moody's Associate Analyst Jae Choi, author of the report: Diagnosing Not-for-Profit Hospital Upgrades: Rating Upgrades Continue Despite Challenging Industry Credit Conditions.

Read more at HealthLeaders Media.

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Providence St. Vincent's Breast Cancer Awareness Video Goes Viral

2009-12-02T06:42:00.004-05:00

The employees and physicians at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center became YouTube stars when they donned pink gloves and danced to promote breast cancer awareness. Just goes to show you that even serious topics can be approached from a positive and creative point of view.

Using Traditional Media to Drive Web Traffic? Remember a Few Simple Rules.

2009-11-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

Healthcare marketers increasingly use traditional print, billboard, broadcast and direct mail to drive consumers to on-line resources. This integrated approach is quite effective in engaging audiences to learn more about services and act on ‘calls to action.’ It also provides the marketing professional with data to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

Christopher Boyer offers a few simple guidelines to make your integrated campaign more effective and create a much more satisfying consumer experience as they move from one marketing medium to the next:

Offer a short URL
Send them to the right page
Get to the point

Learn more about this and other on-line marketing strategies on Chris Boyer’s blog.

Market Research Study Focuses on eHealth Trends for Consumers and Health Professionals

2009-11-28T07:29:00.003-05:00

Healthcare market research firm Manhattan Research recently released Taking the Pulse® Hospitals, a research study that focuses on the behaviors, attitudes, and future interests of consumers, physicians and nurses as relates to their use of technology for health. The market data comes from over 10,000 in-depth interviews, and is tailored for use by hospital and health system marketing teams.

A few eHealth trends as a preview of Taking the Pulse Hospitals:

Almost 160 million U.S. adults go online for health information
About 35% of the U.S. adults use social media for health and medical purposes
64% of U.S. physicians use smartphones.
Approximately three out of four U.S. nurses recommend health websites to patients.

The research study was designed to support hospitals and health systems that are re-evaluating strategies for communicating with patients and stakeholders. It includes topics such as the health resource media mix, physician-patient relationship and connectivity, social media, electronic health records, mobile phones and applications, email newsletters, practice technology profile, and patient education.

You can download a complimentary white paper discussing the latest trends in how consumers and healthcare professionals use the Internet for health at www.manhattanresearch.com/hospitals.