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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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, […]
Physicians are extremely well trained in their profession, with years of education and more years in practice. And at some point in their career, it becomes apparent that medicine is a profession, but healthcare is a business. Often, the doctor is the business…the product…the service provider. He or she is the CEO (Chief Executive Officer), […]
[Healthcare Content Marketing Series] Anyone who grew up in a small town will tell you that it seemed like everyone knew everyone. Often, they conducted their everyday business with folks they knew…and merchants who knew them. Individuals engaged in conversation, got acquainted, and people did business with the people they knew and liked. We were […]
[Second of a two-part article for healthcare leaders about mastering presentation skills. See also, Part One 10 Trade Secrets: How Exceptional Public Speakers Make It Look Easy] Public speaking is something that everyone does, most people dread, and some speakers are world-class champs. The occasion can be as a keynote speaker for a major medical […]
[First of a two-part article for healthcare leaders about mastering presentation skills.] Presentations. Speeches. Talks. Everyone does them. Most people dread giving them. But only a few presenters know the magic behind delivering an exceptional, memorable and impactful public presentation. From a Kiwanis Club luncheon to a staff lecture…from a major medical society presentation to […]
In an ordinary game of five-card poker there are 2,598,960 possible hands with a 52-card deck. Winning is always a gamble; it's a mix of luck in what you’ve been dealt and how the cards are played. Healthcare marketing and advertising has many more moving parts than poker; it's a lot more complex, and usually […]
We often make the point that LinkedIn has a business and professional flare that is a “natural” for showcasing the expertise of doctors and hospital executives. LinkedIn’s newly expanded publishing feature presents even greater opportunity for content creation and reputation management. LinkedIn began as an online executive resume/job board just over a decade ago. An […]
“You nailed it,” one doctor wrote. “Healthcare is changing and CONVENIENCE is just one of the operative concepts for future consumers of healthcare.” In our recent post about what’s really behind the CVS tobacco announcement, we raised a flag about increasing competition as CVS/Caremark and other national retailers are clearly committed to reinventing themselves as […]
[Series Article] Studies reveal hard science data behind why the sometimes fanciful, sometimes fictional art of storytelling is highly effective as a communications tool. In healthcare marketing, storytelling is growing in popularity from doctor-patient conversations to branding messages. Of all the stories in the world, there’s one—The Story of Storytelling—where “Once upon a time…” doesn’t […]
Roughly 100 percent of all physician offices are busy places. But you only have to look at the monthly statement to know that activity isn’t the same as productivity…or profitability. Regardless of the size or type of the healthcare entity—from practitioner to medical group—a revealing characteristic of success is a reflection of leadership in the […]
The popularity of social media in its various forms—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blog, etc.—is a fairly recent phenomenon. And for a large segment of society, it is social media that stitches together the blanket of connectivity that we can’t seem to do without. At last count, about 73 percent of online adults used social media sites […]
You heard the news...nearly couldn't miss it. Retail drug store giant CVS will phase out the sale of tobacco products before yearend. That's the headline, but it's the rest of the story that you may have missed, and it isn’t all good news for doctors, medical practices and healthcare marketers. It’s likely to hit you […]
The Internet has injected contemporary culture with a sense of immediacy. We’ve been spoiled—or at least trained to expect—instant online answers. Search for “dentist” and Google coughs up over 37-million results in less than half a second. The online search for healthcare—be it a hospital, dental office, medical group, or specialty care—must, for most individuals, […]
We’ve had the great good fortune and pleasure to team-up with many successful doctors, medical group practices, hospitals and others. To a person, their medical/clinical capabilities are first class, but their business acumen—in particular their marketing savvy—is a model for others. The fact is, successful doctors do things differently. They recognize that medicine is a […]
What happens when a 15-year-old patient speaks up about her doctors? Morgan Gleason declared, “I am the patient, and I need to be heard,” and she voiced her complaints publicly. Even for a hospitalized teen, it wasn’t difficult to make a digital splash about how doctors should care for patients...and not just treat them. First, […]
Most medical groups and doctor-owner practices respect the fact that the business environment—particularly the competitive landscape—has changed dramatically. It’s tough and getting tougher as the nation’s healthcare system reinvents itself almost daily. But being aware of the competition falls far short of understanding how truly vulnerable most practices are…whether they know it or not. As […]
[Series Installment: The Worst Mistakes Healthcare Organizations Make When Trying to Attract Patients from the Internet, Mistake Three: Ignoring Your Website; from the Healthcare Success Educational Library.] All too often, it is “benign neglect” that causes websites to wither into near non-existence. Instead of attracting and retaining new patients, many well-intended sites—for doctors, hospitals, group […]
More than ever, medical practices throughout the US are motivated to look (again) at ancillary services to bolster shrinking income and to further differentiate their marketing message. As we enter the “rollout year” for healthcare reform, few practices are operating the same way they did last year…and the coming months only promise further change. Many […]
If you thought that online patient review sites were important, you’d be right. But new survey data reveals their muscle has tons of potential to grow. Unlike a few years ago, the research power of the Internet has transformed many patients into informed and empowered consumers. Looking for online information is often the first step […]
Any quiet “thinking time” in late December is likely to find a physician reflecting on the year-end...and the year ahead. For many providers, the only constant—past or future—has been, and will likely be, change…and New Year resolutions can often be distilled to a wish for “a better year.” Reward yourself this holiday season with a […]
[Series Installment: How to Avoid the 7 Deadly Sins of Healthcare Marketing -- Deadly Sins #3 and #4: From the Healthcare Success Educational library] There’s a dream-killer, of sorts, on the loose in some corners of healthcare marketing. Success and opportunity more often meet their demise from indecision and inaction than from doing the wrong […]
