Part of the job of every healthcare provider is to be an effective educator—informing, teaching and sometimes persuading patients about getting healthy and staying healthy. We’re talking about what you do, or can do, that's above and beyond the traditional “informed consent” and elementary “patient education.” Take this instructional idea a step further: Hold classes […]
This little exercise in healthcare marketing and branding is harder than it seems. Try this: In one word, and only one word, what is your competitive edge? What is your practice, hospital or healthcare organization all about, and what makes you different and better than the competition? Your unique value proposition is about what you […]
Wait! Don’t change that channel. Advertising’s long-form—the 30-minute video format—is not always about home exercise equipment, kitchen knives or Chia Pets. In fact the sometimes-misunderstood “infomercial” can be a highly professional (reputation enhancing) communications tool, and an excellent healthcare marketing, advertising and public relations workhorse. What’s more, advances in technology have pushed down the cost […]
So…there I was chatting with a physician-client who had budgeted a five-figure allowance for a piece of new equipment. He was rather excited about the sophisticated medical gear, much like some people look forward to the next-gen iPad or next year’s flashy sports car. He was equally excited about the new Marketing Plan that I […]
Two different practitioners called us recently. Let’s just describe them as smart and experienced dentists, in different parts of the country, and on different ends of the promotional spectrum. They both were experiencing “aha moments” of personal insight and needed help pronto. They didn't know how to get started with budget planning. Both are real situations, […]
The medical marketing environment is constantly changing but the core reasons are the same for most. Priorities and situations will vary widely as healthcare reform reshapes the competitive environment, but providers—including hospitals, medical groups, and others—market for only a few reasons. Nearly everyone can relate to one or more of this short list. You'd think […]
by Steve Smith, Healthcare Success Senior Consultant Recently, I told you about the negative impact of five cents worth of coffee. That story was really about how a missed opportunity can be costly. Today, I am pleased to tell you about the opposite, about how a few cents worth of product and labor can make […]
A physician called us last week for advice. It was urgent. His concern was about a slump in new patient appointments. After talking things through, it turns out that this large group practice was answering tough competition in the marketplace with a solid marketing plan. (A good thing.) In fact, the phone was ringing. (Also […]
Providing patients with online appointment scheduling appears to be growing in some healthcare sectors, but it’s not an option for most patients. People want it. They use online scheduling in other areas of their daily living. There are business advantages for the provider. BUT—online appointments are a convenience that not many providers offer to patients. […]
Here’s a marketing-smart little idea to wring greater value from your Twitter messages. Since micro-blogging in 140 characters or less is precious little space to get acquainted with your followers, consider thanking a new follower and providing a link to a short “getting to know you” online survey. We haven’t seen this often, but it’s […]
Every day we see a sign for “Oral Surgery” or read a healthcare advertising headline that is mainly the physician’s or hospital’s name. Unfortunately for the marketing budget, it’s not advertising…it’s a failure to communicate. Whatever the intent, the medical marketing message missed its mark. The fundamental truth here is that no one goes shopping […]
How to get comfortable with the process of helping people benefit from what you do. Case acceptance is a process of identifying and solving people's problems -- helping someone discover value in what you can provide for them. By another name, that's sales.
What's important to patients and three easy ways to measure approval. Sometimes the flow of patients seems...well, over-flowing. But if you're continually running behind schedule, this could be a danger signal that your quality of care and patient satisfaction are not where you want them to be. Professional and personal fulfillment, for both doctor and […]
It appears that the chaps over at King’s College London’s Dental Institute—the largest academic dental center in Europe—think they have something that will appeal to both dentists and dental phobic patients alike. It seems that Professor Brian Millar and associates have developed an “adaptive filtering” technology that erases the universally disliked sound of the dentist’s […]
Prompt service is the essence of urgent care, and “faster is better” has become a marketing linchpin. In fact, some providers are willing to guarantee it. It’s practically old-school these days as many hospitals, urgent care centers and other healthcare providers have been racing to post their Emergency Room waiting times on their website, digital […]
Perhaps you’ve followed the Taco Bell ("Of Course We Use Real Beef") PR brouhaha, or you recall the PR catastrophe for BP regarding last year’s gulf oil spill. Admittedly these are big business issues at the tip of the PR disaster sword. The media has a field day, and it’s a spectator sport for the […]
Healthcare practices and hospitals have been slow to adopt email as a standard communications tool with patients-most of whom would welcome the connectivity. Bringing email into the mainstream of your office, even for non-clinical matters, is a powerful way to differentiate your business from the competition, increase satisfaction and patient retention...and boost office efficiency. Recently, […]
These two little questions, which seem perilously close to being disrespectful, can save you from wasting precious healthcare advertising dollars. In fact, they can help lead you to a higher Return-on-Investment (ROI). Let’s say you or your staff is planning a new advertisement. Use these questions as the first challenge to the prospective advertising message. […]
Follow the Principles of Evidence-Based Marketing™ to Grow your Practice Profits with Virtually No Risk As in clinical care, once-in-a-lifetime anecdotes about marketing success are useless. You must learn from the outcomes of thousands of healthcare marketing campaigns. Based upon our combined 30 years of real-world experience, we recommend the following evidence-based methodology: Learn from […]
Just recently we were reading an online article, authored by a doctor, titled: “You Should See My Doctor”: Cost-Effective Marketing Ideas for Your Practice. There were several remarkable things about the content. First, this was advice about healthcare marketing from a doctor to other doctors. Medical schools provide scant training in business, marketing or advertising, […]
There's no such thing as a “set-and-forget” Web site. We have yet to find a successful practice Web site that performs well on neglect. We've written several articles that challenge the “If-I-build-it-they-will-come” fantasy of early practice Web sites — and provided practical direction about what to do instead. But if your practice Web site is […]
Keeping your patients connected and your schedule full automatically. Using computer and mobile technology to communicate with busy patients, give back time to the busy office staff, keep the appointment calendar filled, and boost productivity is a win-win-win proposition. Here's a new way to automate a time-intensive task-using a "patient's choice" that keeps them connected […]
Be honest...does your boss think that “marketing” is an evil word? Or maybe it’s just a “necessary evil” that has to be tolerated because they still need the business. From time to time we discover a negative undercurrent about marketing in all sorts of healthcare organizations. We work with physician groups, hospitals and individual practices […]
Although healthcare marketing is actively embracing social media, we’re looking for examples of genuine, beyond-the-basics innovation. If you’re using online and social media tools in ways that are truly new and different, we want to hear from you. We’ll help tell your story. Here’s a bit of background and some inspiring examples… Someday, with the […]
To the surprise of hardly anyone, the number of non-surgical facial procedures spiked dramatically last year. The data, according to the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), says that 75 percent of the procedures performed by Academy surgeons in 2010 were non-surgical. Moreover, the number of nonsurgical procedures has grown by 16 […]
How to succeed at public speaking, enhance your reputation and produce new revenue Successful public speaking can be easier than you think. Natural anxiety aside, speaking is a useful and effective marketing tool for a meaningful connection with professional peers and prospective patients in the community. Attracting new patients and professional referrals is more about […]
Take a quiet two minutes for a demographic reality check. Trust me, this isn’t an academic exercise. Private practices, physician groups, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and virtually all healthcare organizations should take note. Census data reveals some disruptive trends at work in the US population, researchers say. And, we would observe, if your healthcare marketing plan […]
We see in the news that Dr. Gregory Smith is making “house calls” via Skype. What’s more, he has between 350-500 appointments each year. A lone report may not signal an explosive trend, but the lesson for healthcare and doctor/physician marketing is that the enabling technology is now mainstream, and medical provider innovators and early […]
by Steve Smith, Healthcare Success Senior Consultant Scholarly articles about retail customer service tell you that continuing success in business is not about making an individual sale, it’s about creating a relationship that wins a customer. It’s a principle that applies in healthcare delivery, and with every patient (the customer) interaction. And these winning […]
Existing treatment options and marketing approaches for obstructive sleep apnea and loud snoring may be changing with a new, pacemaker-like medical device. Sleep centers, hospitals, otolaryngologists and other providers will want to follow the introduction of an airway stimulation therapy approach. The new medical device has been approved for sale in Europe and for clinical […]
The New Normal for Medical Marketing, Healthcare Marketing, and Hospital Marketing in Challenging Socioeconomic Times Healthcare Marketing and advertising can appear to be complex, confusing and daunting. But the first steps on the road to success are grounded in only six fundamental building blocks. We think of it as an "ah-ha moment." It's that highly […]
Professional referrals—typically from generalist to specialist or to hospital admitting—are the financial lifeblood of many specialty practices, hospitals and other medical and dental providers. However, once rock-solid referral sources have eroded or evaporated with the dynamics that are reshaping healthcare delivery systems. It’s an increasingly urgent problem for hospital and healthcare marketing in general, and […]
Editor’s Note: This is an informal round up of iPad healthcare deployment applications that we’ve seen since the product was introduced less than a year ago. Many of the uses listed can be adapted to various professions, specialties and healthcare delivery situations. Most importantly, please help us expand this list. Comment below or send us […]
An oral surgeon called us not long ago. He had been referred to us by a friend, another oral maxillofacial surgeon who knows us well. The caller (now a client) told us that he had just fired his in-house marketing person. He was calling for guidance about not making another wrong hire for his oral […]
Everyone in healthcare marketing has something to learn from the pages of the Urgent Care Marketing Handbook. Even if your point on the spectrum is as a physician provider, hospital, medical center or other healthcare entity, there’s much to be learned from walk-in clinics and ambulatory care facilities. Consider this: You don’t have to wander […]
Healthcare providers and marketing professionals who deal with wrinkle removal, and skin care in general, will want to watch the promotional roll-out of a new home skin treatment. It’s already a crowded marketplace, but there are a couple “firsts” here that make this device a bit of a breakthrough. This month, device manufacturer Palomar Medical […]
The AMA’s American Medical News carried an excellent article recently titled: Hospitals' new specialist: Social media manager. It told the tale of how various hospitals—such as Swedish Medical Center (Seattle) and Mayo Clinic—are hiring staff members dedicated exclusively to social and interactive media. What's more, other hospitals, health systems, and medical practices either have someone […]
Tips for provider and staff who talk with reluctant patients scared by economic tough times. Effective physician-patient communication skills are increasingly critical in the clinical setting. Here's why the "new normal" in healthcare now demands a team approach that applies these basic ingredients. It's a page from every successful sales executive's playbook. Some physician stories […]
Does this sound familiar? A prominent doctor with tons of experience picks up a magazine and sees an ad for a competitive practice. The other practice has significantly less experience, but they do have a half page, full color ad. And to the public they look like the biggest game in town.
The numbers are an eye-opener: Two-thirds of primary care physicians say they regularly send patient referral information to specialists, but only one-third of specialists report receiving it. Clearly there’s a communications disconnect, according to a national study published this month in Archives of Internal Medicine. The study did not directly address the marketing implications of […]
How to practice your "empathetic listening" for better patient communications Professionals need to be effective communicators, particularly when offering elective care options. Exceptional patient communications begin with careful listening skills that can be cultivated with daily practice.
by Steve Smith, Healthcare Success Senior Consultant Those of us in healthcare often suffer from diminished peripheral vision. We tend to believe that we work in a vacuum, and that despite whatever else is happening in other professions or businesses, healthcare is governed by a separate, special set of rules. In many ways, of […]
[EDITOR'S NOTE: In honor of Groundhog Day, we are re-posting this item from last year just for fun. The advice applies to all referral-reliant provider practices. Enjoy...and hope for an early Spring this year.] It doesn’t seem like 18 19 years since the release of the movie Groundhog Day. There’s an important lesson here for any […]
Twitter is one of the four best known social media tools—YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. And if you look at Ed Bennett’s accounting of 890 US hospitals using social networking tools, almost 75 percent have Twitter accounts. (That’s a close second to hospitals with Facebook pages at nearly 80 percent.) But name recognition isn’t as […]
If you’re a member of the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) you got the same email that we did about their new Principles and Practices for Marketing Communications in Hospitals and Health Systems. It’s another example of the SHSMD and American Hospital Association’s thought leadership, and we recommend downloading their advisory. It’s […]
We’re hopeful about the promise of positive things to come, but we’re also realistic. Orthopedic Surgery gives us clues about healthcare marketing, and it’s a perspective that, we predict, will apply to many others as well. There’s no doubt that things are changing in marketing, advertising and public relations for hospitals, medical groups, pharmaceutical companies, […]
Like so many of the healthcare provider channels in medicine today, occupational medicine is changing. And there are marketing lessons in occupational medicine marketing for many other professions, medical practices, hospitals, clinics and healthcare organizations. The key to success in occupational medicine is good sales acumen. The clinic, urgent care center or medical facility that […]
by Kathy Roy Gaughran, Senior Marketing Strategist My travel schedule takes me to the offices of healthcare providers throughout the nation. Each initial visit is a great “first impression” opportunity for me to take the role of a new patient who is seeing the practice with fresh eyes. The “experience” (seeing and feeling what impacts […]
When was the last time you walked into your office through the front door? Take a stroll. Does it look like Marcia Brady is about to walk through at any moment? Most doctors/physicians want to be perceived as progressive and leading edge. They express this in the way they practice medicine and in their doctor/physician […]
You’re probably familiar with Sermo, the physicians-only online community with about 116,000 doctor members. We see Sermo—and their Pulse Survey—as an attractive physician relations listening post for hospitals, specialty groups or other healthcare organizations that rely on referrals from physicians.
