The playful adage is painfully true: The best place to hide a dead body is on page two of Google’s search results. Here’s why doctors need to be concerned about local search and their ability to attract new patients. The front door of your medical practice moved online some time ago. The “traditional” paths for […]
What Separates Powerful Doctor Marketing Materials From Everything Else? As present-day healthcare delivery has reinvented itself, nearly every doctor and medical practice has—in one form or another—a stash of marketing materials. There’s too much competition among providers and institutions to be without “something” that (hopefully) gets results. Clarity of Purpose… Physician groups, imaging centers, and […]
It’s a pop culture mash-up between a "double-dog dare" and a selfie with a cause. Throughout the US, healthcare marketing professionals (and their supervisors) are marveling at this summer’s continuing success of the ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge (IBC). Hospital foundations, medical research associations and the like are amazed and envious of the social media […]
“Almost every culture has its own metaphor about what happens to people who are judged by their peers to be overreaching,” according to an article in the Harvard Business Review. “In Australia, it’s tall poppies—the tallest one gets its head whacked off. In Japan, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” There’s a delicate […]
It seems like some people consult their smartphone almost constantly. For young adults, stats says that would be 60 times a day. Although research tells us that consumers spend more than 23 percent of their daily media consumption time with mobile, marketers allocate less than 1 percent of their overall budgets to mobile. This is one […]
True story. This sort of road hazard doesn’t happen too often anymore, but it illustrates when outsourcing doctor marketing services would have been the much wiser course. A few years ago a physician friend arrived at his normally efficient office to find a first class mess. With a goal of attracting new patients, two part-timers […]
A Healthcare Success Special Report: A rugged survival guide for medical specialists who want to remain independent. Nobody likes to be the messenger of bad news, but here it is… Independent medical practices in the United States that want to remain independent have only two choices. They must—repeat, must—become an indispensable medical resource in […]
If Healthcare Success has an “Action Central” news desk, it’s my office. Client success stories pop-up regularly from around the country, and each narrative that comes our way makes a valuable contribution to our 20-plus year experience in marketing to patients. We like that. The “good-news stories” are wonderful insight. We keep on top of […]
There’s a troublesome disconnect between how the nation’s medical system defines the quality of healthcare providers and how patients and prospective patients judge a “good doctor.” “Doctors who listen are important, but ‘some of the nicest doctors are the least competent,’ cautioned Dr. Elliott Fisher of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice” […]
You can probably guess from this Facebook picture, our daughter Natalie couldn’t be more excited about “jumping up” to the Junior High ministry at our church. Her enthusiasm is genuine, but I admire the highly effective ways the church uses social media to interact with students and their parents. Right up front I want you […]
The American public has been conditioned to think that they get medical appointments “quickly,” but, more often than not, it’s not true. In many areas the average wait time for new patients is a matter of weeks and sometimes months. It’s an uncomfortable healthcare trend. For some people, a long wait for a doctor appointment […]
Only five years ago, what doctors recognized as the business of “being in practice,” is quite different from how things are today. For nearly everyone in the spectrum of care, healthcare delivery is, and will continue to change. Marketing decisions will be shaped in a new way. Patients are informed and empowered; wearable technology is […]
Cute puppies, zany cats and sensational sunsets are universally appealing on social media because they touch viewers’ emotions. Posting something that’s factual (on Twitter, for example) may be interesting, but include a photo (on Facebook), or a video clip (on YouTube), and you’re more likely to make a more memorable—and shareable—impact with the audience. […]
I’d like to tell you a story about two insightful, and mirror opposite, conversations that I had with doctors. These two informal chats revealed how basic attitudes can quickly define success or failure in healthcare marketing. In the first of my true stories, a mutual friend asked me to provide some "pro bono" advice to […]
Some observers predict that Verizon’s new platform for virtual doctor visits will be a game-changer. Like it or not, with the global communications giant jumping into interactive telehealth, the big splash will advance the evolution of healthcare delivery...and impact your future marketing plans. Recently, the company unveiled Verizon Virtual Visits, aimed at adoption by […]
As inspirational fuel for your medical marketing idea book, here’s a brief roundup of interesting items that popped up on our radar recently. Each has a “take-away” concept that a professional practice, hospital or medical group might adapt for local use. And please tell us about the creative ideas or success stories from your marketing, […]
Barbershops for health screenings? An unlikely venue for hypertension testing? Surprisingly, medical practices and hospitals around the country have discovered an effective marketing gateway for reaching African-American men, a demographic group that is particularly at risk for high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. It’s no secret that, in medical marketing, women are a prime demographic […]
For most medical doctors, the typical workweek is somewhere north of 50 hours. And that doesn’t include the time thinking about the marketing part of the business. Professionally trained, experienced and licensed in the healing arts, a practitioner spends a day mostly applying clinical skills. It hardly seems like there is any time to spare, […]
The words “social media” and “engagement” seem to be joined at the hip. In healthcare marketing—including outreach from a medical practice, or a hospital—social media (SM) is broadly understood to simply mean your choice of tools. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google Plus are most popular and important. That part is easy. But curiously, the […]
A few years ago, the giant Pittsburgh-based health care system, UPMC, reinvented their public face, unveiling the logo, tag and color, UPMC: Life Changing Medicine. It’s the branding centerpiece to unify “its clinical, insurance and international and commercial services activities with one consistent message.” The healthcare branding challenge was considerable…and so was the budget. The […]
The other day, while waiting in the office of a physician, I realized that his program for internal marketing to his patients was nearly invisible…yet it was highly effective in reaching and retaining patients. Invisible isn't quite the right word. Effortless is a better description. This doctor—"my doctor," an Internist in a multi-disciplinary group—is someone […]
Before you roll your eyes skyward and dismiss the idea of patient email access, there are a couple new ideas that innovative doctors should consider objectively. Please humor me for about two minutes reading time while we touch on new compensation/reimbursement, enhancing patient satisfaction and improving compliance and clinical outcomes. First, both doctors and patients […]
An interesting thing about marketing for healthcare is that useful lessons can be found in unlikely places and unrelated enterprises. With a little imagination and creative thinking, good stories—business success stories—reveal ideas that transfer to a practitioner, group practice or even a hospital. Here’s one such story from the managing editor of Healthcare Success publications. […]
I’ve found that marketing for medical practices and hospitals works best when everyone in the organization is “all in” on the effort. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Within any healthcare organization, regardless of the size, some people can (and often do) have competing attitudes about marketing. Nevertheless, the role of marketing is increasingly vital […]
The primary doorway to health care in the United States is digital. A new patient’s first encounter with a provider almost always begins via the Internet. Perhaps it's not obvious, but your practice website—the cornerstone of an Internet presence—is the essential medical marketing gateway for prospective patients to locate and select doctors and hospitals. Given […]
As I was reviewing some advertising tracking data with a client recently, our client (a physician in a large medical group) observed how the “Internet shopper” category accounted for a high percentage of no-shows and cancellations. His first impression was that Internet shoppers are more fickle or impatient by nature. Could it be that the […]
Keeping up with the “big stories” in the news is fairly easy. Dozens of media outlets jump on what’s hot and fuel the torrent of information overload. But, scratching a bit deeper, there are some timely and instructive news items about hospital advertising...with marketing lessons for administrators and marketing executives. Here’s a quick roundup of […]
I have the good fortune to travel the country (quite often) and to meet and work with some of the nation’s top doctors. As a group, these physicians and surgeons have much in common. Individually and collectively, they are highly intelligent men and women who excel as healthcare providers. Although the marketing areas they serve […]
It turns out that there’s a huge and nearly-untapped marketing opportunity among men: “men who, studies show, avoid doctors for virtually anything short of a bullet wound,” as The New York Times describes them. Hospitals in New York have been operating health centers in Midtown Manhattan that cater specifically to what just might be healthcare’s most reluctant—and […]
With over 31,000 health and wellness mobile applications already available, you might think the marketplace is saturated. But wait. Apple—you know, the iPhone folks—just arrived at the techno party. And we’ll bet bagels to bytes that an Error Code will be flashing on your healthcare marketing plan. This week the consumer products icon revealed part […]
When a patient chooses a doctor or a hospital, the decision process is often driven, not by quality factors, but by simple geography. Check out these surprising and insightful numbers... Three recent surveys seem to agree; “location” is a highly significant consideration. What’s more, according to Healthgrades data, “convenient location” is more than twice as […]
Strictly speaking, Dr. Eric Topol is not a marketing person, but—in addition to being an eminent American cardiologist—we have to regard him as a futurist. His view of what’s ahead in medicine and healthcare delivery will impact how doctors, hospital administrators and communications professionals will be doing their job in the near future. Beyond his […]
OK…let’s be frank about this. If they had a magic wand to change their world, perhaps eight out of 10 doctors would rather not be concerned about marketing. Their inner being wants to devote all their professional time and attention to doing what they trained to do… being doctors, practicing medicine, and helping people. But, […]
[Part of a continuing series.] There’s a long-standing attitude throughout much of the corporate world that avoids “transparency." In the face of fierce competition and market rivalry, public- and privately-held businesses are understandably guarded about trade secrets, strategy information and business plans. It was a cultural attitude that, for many years, dominated the public relations […]
In the time it takes to read this post, every doctor, administrator and healthcare communications pro will have a mental list of a dozen ways to "explain things" using Adobe’s innovative new iPad app, Voice. It’s an easy to use, “storytelling” tool for creating engaging and informative “explainers” --animated multimedia videos--in minutes. And it just […]
I'd like to share a real-world illustration of social media networking that came to me recently. The cornerstone concept is: Make it easy for people. Strictly speaking, the subject matter isn’t about medical or hospital marketing. Nevertheless, it’s a good model for effective connectivity. In this case the engagement tool was a survey...collecting anonymous data […]
[Conclusion of an article in two parts.] Our previous post, 10 Commandments of Online Reputation Management for Physicians, (Part one of two) emphasized the importance and value of creating and maintaining your online presence. Moreover, reputation is an ever-present ingredient in health care marketing. And who you are online is who you are to most […]
Editor Note: It seems as if physician stress, discouragement and professional burnout are common. For validation, there’s a fresh research paper or national survey is in the news every few months. Many doctors don’t want to be doctors any longer. But far less frequently—if you look carefully—you can find a spirit-lifting story on the positive […]
The confusion is common…and somewhat understandable. Just as patients cannot easily evaluate and compare surgeons, it can be difficult for provider management to understand the differences among marketing companies. From a distance, a health care marketing consultant, a medical marketing company, a healthcare advertising agency (and a bunch of similar labels) can all appear to […]
[2014 Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience Podcast] In our continuing series of leadership interviews, Lonnie Hirsch of Healthcare Success talks with Dr. Joseph Bianco, family medicine physician practicing in Ely, Minnesota. Dr. Bianco will be speaking at the Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience Summit on the topic of: Patient & Family Advisory Councils: Harvesting the Collective Patient […]
Discussion: How would you handle an “unfriendly” social media snipe? Or is there a much larger picture to consider? Not long ago we spotted a comment on Facebook that got us to thinking again about medical marketing, online comments and physician reputation management. Unfortunately, we don’t know the back-story here, or what, if anything, […]
[2014 Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience Speaker Podcast Series] Stewart Gandolf of Healthcare Success talks with Leah Binder, President and CEO of The LeapFrog Group. “It’s a new voice that is starting to emerge for the healthcare consumer,” according to Leah Binder, President and CEO of The LeapFrog Group. In Stewart Gandolf’s conversation today, Leah talks […]
[First of an article in two parts.] Across the board, medical reputation management is an ever-present ingredient in healthcare marketing. Informed and empowered consumer/patients do their homework, researching symptoms, medical conditions and hospitals. From branding to public relations (and everything in between), a physician’s reputation is a key component and influence factor. And as many […]
[2014 Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience Speaker Podcast] In our continuing series of leadership interviews, Lonnie Hirsch of Healthcare Success talks with Shannon Morris, Service Excellence Manager, Children's National Health System, Washington, DC. Shannon will be speaking at the Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience Summit on the topic of: The Power of Peer Coaches: Leveraging the Grassroots […]
[Second of two parts.] If you missed the first of this two-part article, click through here to: Creating an Unstoppable YouTube Channel. The good news is that the cost for creating a branded YouTube Channel is next to free. For the most part, all that's required is an investment of time to build and maintain […]
[2014 Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience Speaker Podcast] In our continuing series of leadership interviews, Stewart Gandolf, CEO of Healthcare Success talks with Dr. James Merlino, Chief Experience Officer and Associate Chief of Staff for the Cleveland Clinic. A fundamental success factor for improving patient experience in any organization is a “from-the-top” mandate, Dr. James Merlino […]
by Senior Consultant Lori Waltz I’d like share a brief marketing story that’s straight from the real-life medical world. It’s a little scary to think that this just might be happening in your own practice, but even worse, you might not know it. See if you can relate… The setting is a metropolitan suburb in […]
[2014 Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience Podcasts] In our continuing series of leadership discussions, our guests today are Julie Moretz, Associate Vice Chancellor, Patient- and Family-Centered Care, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; and Kathy Vermoch, Patient Experience Leader and Project Manager, UHC (formerly University HealthSystem Consortium). This upcoming Summit presentation is titled, Successfully Partnering with Patients and […]
[2014 Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience Speaker Series] In today’s interview, we spoke with Chaplain Linda S. Golding of New York-Presbyterian Hospital as a preview of her upcoming presentation at the 5th Annual Patient Experience Summit in May. Her talk is titled, Reducing Compassion Fatigue and Building Cultural Competence Using Texts. Following a 30-year career in […]
If, as the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” what’s the marketing “worth” of four pictures? Twitter has introduced another new tool that can multiply the impact of your communications. The social media giant unveiled its "photo collage feature that delivers even more message-mileage. Now you can share up to four […]
