Healthcare Success

LinkedIn professional group participation is often underutilized, so as a boost for readers and colleagues, here’s our list of top LinkedIn groups for fellow professionals to join. In our book, LinkedIn is the top business-serious social media for physicians and hospital execs. And the LinkedIn Groups feature just might be the best online professional forum […]

Just when you thought all of the competitive forces around you were done exploding, you just might have missed what’s been happening down the street and around the corner. The retail world continues to bite into traditional provider turf with clinics and kiosks in non-traditional locations. Here are some competitive forces in healthcare marketing that […]

We might be singing to the choir here, but you’ll definitely like the chorus anyway. Most hospitals and physician providers recognize the importance of Internet marketing. (Better than eight out of 10 patients use both online and offline sources for health research before making an appointment.) But what you may not appreciate is that a […]

By Gil Zeimer, HSS Account Manager/Senior Copywriter Ordinarily, we don’t do much chest thumping, but we can’t help a little “pointing-with-pride” in this success story. Many readers will relate to the familiar back-story, so other medical practices will likely find useful insight and marketing lessons. Our story begins about a year ago… In Greenville, South […]

Social media hashtags have become ubiquitous and a language-art of their own. You know them when you #seethem, but the cryptic, compressed (and sometimes insider) meanings are not always clearly understood…and their value is lost. “The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically […]

[Podcast Series] In our continuing hospital leadership series, Healthcare Success Co-Founder Lonnie Hirsch talks with Lisa Ryan, Executive Director of National Advertising for Kaiser Permanente. The Kaiser Permanente organization has some distinct advantages. In their words, “The way we deliver health care is different. We are the caregiver, the hospital, the laboratory, and the pharmacy. […]

Editor’s Note: Communications, such as appointment reminders, are often guided by HIPAA privacy rules, organizational policies and other regulations. Ideas presented in our Guest Post may vary in application according to the professional situation and circumstances. More information about Health Information Privacy under HIPAA is available at the US Department of Health & Human Services […]

All too often, we’re just too busy…and we confuse activity with productivity. I’m guilty of this. I know doctors and hospital executives who admit to the problem. Likely, you can also relate. Non-stop multi-tasking blurs our perception of what’s important and what’s actually getting done. And that’s the moment when we need Indiana Jones. I […]

The concept of shared medical appointments (one doc seeing several patients) isn’t well known or widely available…yet. That seems to be changing. The pressures of “more patients” and “fewer doctors” (among other things) are straining the nation’s healthcare delivery system, but it’s fueling innovative approaches that save time, reduce cost, and improve access, outcomes and […]

[Podcast Series] In our continuing hospital leadership series, Lonnie Hirsch talks with Laurie Labishak, VP Marketing, PR and Community Relations, Ohio Valley Health Services and Education, Wheeling WV. Recorded at the SHSMD Connections meeting in Chicago, Laurie describes the community hospitals’ recovery strategy, successful turnaround and public relations strategy.  The public relations situation could hardly have […]

Healthcare is on a countdown to the New Year, and the only thing certain about 2014 is that it will be different from its predecessor. Plan accordingly. More than ever, your marketing plan—for a medical practice, hospital, service line or health systems—should be written in pencil. You’ll need a nimble plan to keep ahead of […]

If you’ve been neglecting Google Plus (or G+) as a “Johnny-come-lately,” you should rethink your social media priorities. Surprise, Google+ is now Number Two and gaining ground. In the digital world, Facebook (launched February, 2004), and Twitter (launched March, 2006) were well-established “old timers” when Google+ came along a couple years ago, in the summer […]

Here are four useful—and survey based—reports that your healthcare marketing radar might have missed. Each offers an insightful read on ways to fine-tune your plan and operation for smarter and more successful results.

If you ask a thousand US hospitals about their top priorities, nearly everyone would Patient Experience/Satisfaction at the head of the list. But surprisingly, upwards of half of those organizations do not have a formal mandate or mission to achieve that objective. Those two data points come from a recently released and insightful survey by […]

When it comes to healthcare reform, a big chunk of the community that you serve—and audiences you want to reach with hospital and medical marketing—simply may not know what you’re talking about (or care). Our caution here is to deliver meaningful marketing and advertising messages to the right level of consumer awareness. Ongoing polls suggest […]

Inbound Marketing is flying so high and so loud these days that it seems to dominate the marketing landscape like a super storm. Some folks might be dazzled by all the ballyhoo and think that Inbound (also called Content Marketing) is the one and only—virtually compulsory—basis for a contemporary marketing plan. And worse, it’s troubling […]

Experienced doctors tell us that, sooner or later in their career, every physician will face the prospect of legal action. Between 75 and 99 percent of practicing doctors, depending on their specialty, will be threatened by a lawsuit according to a NEJM study. Although “patient-sues-doctor” rarely makes the news, the reverse situation—doctor-sues-patient—seems to make the headlines […]

Without giving it much thought, many--if not most--doctors will simply assume that they need a brochure to promote their medical practice. Often, this is true. But surprisingly often, it's a premature assumption where the "treatment gets ahead of the diagnosis." A healthcare brochure is not always the first or most important component in a comprehensive […]

Individually and collectively, communications professionals—in healthcare and every other enterprise for that matter—produce tons of materials everyday. Here’s how to stretch your budget and get extra marketing impact from nearly all of it. We (ourselves included) routinely create bales of “communications stuff” in all the classic formats…brochures, web pages, speeches, patient education info, PowerPoint lectures, […]

Unsolicited electronic messages (the spam variety) are about as welcome as an earth-bound asteroid. Nobody likes receiving them, and professionally, you definitely don’t want to inadvertently send legitimate email to be caught-up in one of the many “spam filters.” Being familiar with filters and other rules of road can keep your valid email marketing messages […]

For years, doctors and hospitals throughout the US have talked to us about a familiar and reoccurring theme in healthcare. That is, there is a common perception that people leave home and head off to the big city for medical services that are available in their own local community. Prospective patients are either unaware that […]

We’re not about to jump aboard the “traditional-is-dead” bandwagon. But it's no surprise which direction the parade is headed. Print, broadcast and other media belong in your marketing and advertising plan when they match your target audience and objectives. True, about 170 newspapers have disappeared in the past five years. TV viewership among young adults […]

[Part of a continuing series.] In the world of Search Engine Optimization, the cute- and cuddly-sounding critters—Panda and Penguin—are decidedly frightening beasts. They are code names for Google algorithm updates with a digital “license to kill” the black-hat bad guys and to praise and reward high quality content. White-hat Internet marketers need not fear, but […]

[SHSMD13 Podcast Series] In our continuing hospital leadership interviews hosted by Lonnie Hirsch, Advocate Health Care’s Kelly Jo Golson previews her SHSMD Connections 2013 presentation titled Breakthrough Brand Strategy. This case study presents the transition from a fragmented and unrecognized collection of hospital brands to a master brand for Advocate. The task of creating a […]

Permission-based email is one of the most engaging, useful and effective tools available in your marketing toolbox. For starters, the cost is low and, being opt-in, recipients are prequalified and lists can often be segmented for precision targeting. The folks who keep track of such things say there are 3.6 billion email accounts as of […]

Is your business model like playing solitaire? There's a brief back-story to my question. Sometimes, late at night after a long day, I still feel wound up, even though my family has long been asleep. So I grab my iPhone (in the dark) and play a little solitaire just to slow down. The fact that […]

Social proof is a principle of influence and persuasion that can be highly effective in healthcare marketing. People want validation that they are making the right choice or proper decision and the actions of others like themselves is compelling guidance. Here's how it works and ways to use it. There was an interesting item about […]

There are times when hospital and health system publicity or public relations can leverage current news or events to a positive advantage. Healthcare reform and the many faces (and continuing implementation steps) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) for example, is an ever-timely springboard to being part of the news. There can […]

[SHSMD13 Podcast Series] Awhile back, the world-renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center recognized that it had a patient experience problem at their front door. Associate Vice President of Marketing Alicia Jansen explains it this way: “One of the things that we noticed early on was that the biggest sticking point that our patients had in interacting with […]

Success often arrives wrapped in a compelling story. And “storyselling” is a highly effective path to achieving your medical marketing or advertising goals...from winning case acceptance to bumping up the price of a service or product. Here’s a quick look at how this idea applies to the business side of healthcare. A Las Vegas pawnshop […]

The Healthcare Success blog is open to guest posts. We welcome the opportunity to have others write for us and share high-quality ideas to our 16,000+ subscribers. We are most interested in guest posts from healthcare professionals, especially doctors and marketing people who work for hospitals and practices. We appreciate the "client side" perspective. But you […]

[SHSMD13 Podcast Series] David Marlowe is the founder of Strategic Marketing Concepts and a past president and board member of SHSMD, the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development of the American Hospital Association. And in our podcast conversation with Lonnie Hirsch, David provides expert insight about tracking and metrics for effective and profitable hospital marketing. […]

Healthcare marketing is more involved than simply hiring someone to write an ad or create a brochure for you. (After all, your practice is not a simple box of detergent or a used car lot.) To be successful, you will need a well-considered marketing plan and budget, complete with ethical, appropriate and proven strategies. While […]

Our Senior Consultant and Training Specialist Lori Ann Waltz just sent over another marketing success story, and you may be able to relate. This time Lori was off to Kentucky (birthplace of Abraham Lincoln). She went there at the request of a specialty practice that may have been one of “the best kept secrets” in the […]

We had a call the other day from the lead doctor in a group practice. She wasn’t exactly in a panic, but it was obvious that a festering marketing problem was close to bursting. It was a familiar story, and many readers can probably relate to the red-flag warnings she described. The problem for this […]

[Healthcare Success Podcast] Hospital marketing professionals are not immune to a form of “white coat syndrome.” It’s the somewhat common phenomenon where patients exhibit elevated blood pressure in a clinical visit—but not in other settings—due to anxiety of being face-to-face with the doctor. Similarly in healthcare marketing, communications professionals can be nervous talking with physicians […]

[What Stewart’s Reading Series] I was reminded recently that FEAR is one of the most powerful emotions at play in marketing and advertising. On one hand, fear can encourage a purchase decision. Consider the amusing television advertisement where a klutzy neighbor saws off a giant tree limb and it crushes the adjoining homeowner’s car. It’s […]

Everyone likes to think that his or her marketing and advertising efforts are creative, fresh and energized. (Let’s hope that’s always so.) But what we rarely notice is their rapid decay. Familiarity can lead to benign neglect, and even the best of marketing efforts often become stale long before we’re aware of it. Unless we’re […]

Chances are you’ve seen the occasional Tweet that’s larger, longer and more impactful than the standard 140-character, text-only allowance. Among several types, Twitter Cards create breaks in the Twitter stream that grab attention with photos, video, summary notes, songs or other expansive content and inspire a click-through connection. Twitter says it delivers “a beautiful consumption […]

[Podcast Series] Our interview guest today is Eula McKinney, Director of Ancillary Clinical Services Outreach Development at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco. In this installment in our series about healthcare industry and marketing topics is hosted by Healthcare Success Co-Founder Lonnie Hirsch. “Vertical integration” is the healthcare industry term that includes assuring excellence in […]

In our work with clients across the United States, we often help medical providers understand what their primary constituencies need and want. A starting point for a provider group for instance, would be an exercise in discovering what patients, referring physicians and payors want to know. And when you recognize the questions of these groups—what […]

Editor’s Note: Although he’s on a much-deserved vacation, Healthcare Success CEO Stewart Gandolf unintentionally bumped into an article idea. So, 2,347 miles away from home, Stewart shares these healthcare marketing insights that apply to anyone in healthcare marketing. Stewart begins with a little story about a chance encounter…

[SHSMD13 Podcast Series] There are dozens of ways that hospital marketing and advertising can benefit from a readily available feedback channel. For some facilities, an online patient insight community taps into their customer base for a valuable “voice of the patient” resource. In our continuing series of podcasts, Healthcare Success Co-Founder Lonnie Hirsch talked with […]

[Another in our series of posts about free, low-cost, affordable and effective tactics to make your medical marketing sizzle without breaking the bank.] Genuine business growth is the product of a well-designed marketing plan and budget. But there are serious ways to drive more “umphff” to your efforts without adding serious bucks to the budget.

It’s amazing how often we encounter real life examples of opportunity lost, simply because someone was afraid to ask. More about that in a minute. Here’s a personal note that brought this to mind for me again recently. At the time of this writing, my mother, 95, is gravely disabled and in a skilled nursing […]

There’s nothing trivial about website analytics. And it’s not our intent to oversimplify an important (if sometimes confusing) subject. But, among the pages-and-pages-and-pages of available site performance metrics, there are four indicators should always be top-of-mind. Some tech-minded and numbers-driven people in marketing immerse themselves deeply in website performance statistics. These are the potentially daunting […]

Healthcare reform hit a bit of speed bump a few weeks ago when enforcement of the employer mandate requirement was delayed for a year under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Businesses with 50 employees now have until 2015 to provide insurance coverage for workers instead of 2014. In our view, this delay in the business […]

Physician Relations resides at the intensely active intersection of doctors and hospitals. Sometimes a battlefield, sometimes a love fest, hospital-physician collaboration has never been more critical than during today's healthcare reform evolution. In this dynamic playing field, both the facility and the provider have a bigger-than-ever stake (with incentives and penalties) for clinical quality, cost […]

For every hospital, health system or facility, your online presence goes well beyond the primary website. As a starting point, it is a bewildering challenge to manage the tens of thousands of online directories, each with scores of entries and a ton of data points for each entry. But, in this installment of our continuing […]

Eight out of ten times (probably more), the Internet is where the first encounter between a doctor and a prospective patient occurs. But it doesn’t stop there. Long before an individual selects a healthcare provider, hospital or facility for their medical needs, they often begin their decision journey with online due diligence. And when providers […]