WHAT’S
INSIDE
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Healthy is ___________. campaign
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Bloomington Hospital used guerrilla marketing tactics to raise awareness about stroke risk factors and signs and symptoms. 12
Lexington Medical Center launched an extensive advertising campaign to showcase the hospital’s Women’s Services. 24
St. Vincent set out to remove the fear of the unknown and replace it with an understanding of what makes them different: compassionate, competent and confident care. 26
and much more… VOLUME 8 - Issue 4
MARKETING HEALTHCARE TODAY
INSIDE A detailed look at healthcare marketing... What works? What was involved?
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E D I T O R I A L S T A FF EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Melinda Lucas
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mlucas@MHTmagazine.com
GRAPHICS: Karla Pritchard kpritchard@MHTmagazine.com
Melinda Lucas
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mlucas@MHTmagazine.com
Randy Lucas rlucas@MHTmagazine.com
BUSINESS ANALYST: John Sandifer jsandifer@MHTmagazine.com
PROJECT SPECIALIST: Allyce Jeanes info@MHTmagazine.com
PUBLISHER & EDITOR: Randy Lucas rlucas@MHTmagazine.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Jane Donohue, Ph.D. Anthony Passeri ADVERTISING SALES: sales@MHTmagazine.com
to s u b s cri b e $175.00 per year for USA Seven (7) % tax will be added where applicable. Canada delivery - add $20
12 20 24 26
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cardiac services
60 years of innovation
Roper St. Francis Heart & Vascular Center created a multi-media campaign communicating to potential patients that they are one of a select few locations in the world offering minimally invasive valve surgery. interactive
Healthy is ____________.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center launched an interactive consumer campaign to drive traffic to their web site by getting consumers thinking and talking about what they do day-to-day to stay healthy. women’s services
for all the women you are
Lexington Medical Center launched an extensive advertising campaign showcasing the hospital’s Women’s Services, emphasizing that they offer comprehensive care for women in all stages of life. foundation fundraiser
A day with the docs
Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital created an event thanking their physicians for their service and gave their spouses a perspective on where the doctors work. stroke
crime scene
Bloomington Hospital used guerrilla marketing tactics to raise awareness about stroke risk factors and signs and symptoms. BRANDING campaign
What it’s like…
St. Vincent set out to remove the fear of the unknown and replace it with an understanding of what makes them different: compassionate, competent and confident care.
Overseas delivery - add $45
© 2010 Creative Images, Inc.,SM All rights reserved Marketing Healthcare Today (ISSN #1545-3219) is published bimonthly by Creative Images, Inc.SM - 141 Willets Road • Sylva, NC 28779 • Phone: 828-586-6789. © Entire contents copyright 2010 by Creative Images, Inc.. No part of this publication may be reproduced, digitized or transmitted without the publisher’s written permission. Send all address changes to: Circulation Department; Marketing Healthcare Today; 141 Willets Road; Sylva, NC 28779. Printed in the USA.
Turning shock To exhilaraTion since 1987.
To be perfectly honest, our clients are often surprised at the advertising campaigns we give them. Not exactly what they expected, they say. But everything we do is based on all the knowledge we can get from research and decades of combined experience in health care marketing communications. So, when the results start rolling in, any discomfort our clients might have felt is forgotten in a wave of euphoria. Perhaps that’s why our clients stay with us for years. And years. And years. Holmes & Co. is ready to startle (and delight) you in the years to come. Contact Lisa Holmes at 801.355.2211 and find out how.
strategic planning advertising media planning research and analysis consulting public relations
801-355-2211
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34 s 600 e slc, uTah 84102-1107
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WWW.holMesco.coM
Get everYtHinG HCAHPS ASkS for. And leArn A lot more in tHe bArgAin. Strategic Health’s telephone surveys give you what you need to comply with HCAHPS requirements. And we give you the information in a hurry. And we give it to you at a price that’s hard to beat. But, best of all, we offer customized reports that give you more information in more ways—helpful, valuable information that allows more ways to improve performance. Call Scott Holmes at 801.521.5080 for more information. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll learn.
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60 years
of innovation
In 1948, history was made when the first successful valve surgery was performed at Roper Hospital. Sixty years later, Roper St. Francis Heart & Vascular Center continues to be an innovator in care as one of a few in the world offering minimally invasive valve surgery. This new procedure has many benefits including smaller scars, less pain and a shorter recovery. A multi-media campaign was created to deliver this message to potential patients. STRATEGY As the only hospital in the region offering this state-of-the-art procedure, Roper Hospital wanted to capitalize on this opportunity through their marketing efforts. Their campaign strategy included developing a print, television and online campaign in both their local and secondary markets. Roper Hospital was fortunate to have several unique indicators to draw upon. 1. Their history as innovators and reputation as the leader in adult cardiovascular procedures. 2. The exclusivity of being one of only a select few in the world to offer the procedure.
The goal of this campaign was to let as many potential patients as possible know about this lifesaving procedure.
O R G A N I Z AT I O N I N F O R M AT I O N Roper St. Francis Healthcare (healthcare system) CONTACT: Angela Poindexter 84-A Halsey Blvd. Charleston, SC 29401 Phone: (843) 789-1755
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3. One of their own employees, Suzanne Frizelle, had received the procedure and agreed to be featured.
TA R G E T A U D I E N C E
M E D I A US E D
D U R AT I O N
Patients with a leaking (regurgitant) or blocked (stenotic) aortic, mitral or tricuspid valve; Patients with severely calcified aorta or adhesion inside the right chest, with age not being a factor.
Brochures, Direct Mail, Magazine Ads, Newspaper Ads, TV / Video and Website / Banner Ads
February - October 2009
MHT Vol.8 Issue 4 • 2010 www.MHTmagazine.com
To tie in with heart month, Roper Hospital launched their campaign in February. Locally, they ran television spots that covered a minimum of three surrounding counties, print ads, an online campaign, and developed a brochure. Printed material, including brochure and direct mail to physicians, reaching 3,200. They also devoted the cover story of the winter issue of House Calls magazine (circulation 164,000) to the procedure and ran a segment on Roper St. Francis’ weekly TV program, House Calls TV. They pushed television and online ads into the secondary markets of Florence, SC, Myrtle Beach, SC, and Savannah, GA.
INSPIRATION Suzanne Frizelle was an active, working mother who often loved to go dancing with her husband. When she started to experience episodes of extreme fatigue, she knew something was wrong. Her doctor informed her that she had a life-threatening heart valve condition. Her valve was repaired at Roper Hospital using a revolutionary, minimally invasive technique that meant her breast bone did not have to be cracked open, allowing her to be back on the dance floor faster.
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METRICS Metrics used to evaluate results from February 1, 2009 – August 31, 2009. • CALL CENTER INQUIRIES The campaign generated 680 inquiries into the Roper St. Francis Call Center. • NUMBER OF ACTUAL PATIENTS 44 of the 680 inquiries actually qualified and received the surgery. • GOOGLE ANALYTICS - The AdWords campaign received 3,839,670 impressions and generated 3,449 clicks with a click through rate of .09%. - The campaign generated 2,384 visits to the website with 97.65% as new visitors. • ONLINE ADVERTISING • Banner ads - Total Impressions: 805,301 Total Clicks: 653 CTR: .08% • Video Pre-roll views 106,685 • Email Blast impressions: 210,100 (clicks not available) 6
MHT Vol.8 Issue 4 • 2010 www.MHTmagazine.com
TV
VIDEO...
:30 TV - “60 Years of Innovation”
In 1948, Roper Hospital made national news when
the first successful valve surgery
still an innovator in care. Today, we are the only
hospital in the region, and one of a select
does not have to be opened, the scar is minimal,
was performed right here.
60 years later, Roper Heart and Vascular Center is
group in the world to offer minimally invasive
valve surgery. With this procedure, the chest
and the results effective. But the best part of this innovation is getting
your life back quicker.
WISDOM AND LESSONS LEARNED Forty-four new patients from a healthcare campaign is extraordinary. At any given time there is a finite number of people who need valve surgery, and to have these people call and learn more about a new procedure from an advertising campaign is truly amazing. They have learned that potential patients are willing to connect with the hospital, if the messaging is right and delivered in optimal venues. Roper Hospital is thrilled with the results of the campaign, but most of all they are pleased that 44 patients’ lives have been bettered.
MHT Vol.8 Issue 4 • 2010 www.MHTmagazine.com
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Healthy is
(fill in the blank)
In June of 2009, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) launched an interactive consumer campaigned titled HEALTHY IS _________ (blank). The goal was to drive traffic to their new hospital web site, www.bidmc.org, by getting consumers thinking (and talking) about what they do day-to-day to stay healthy.
O R G A N I Z AT I O N I N F O R M AT I O N Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (hospital 300 - 499 beds) CONTACT: Rhonda Mann 330 Brookline Avenue BR 02100 Boston, MA 02215 Phone: (617) 667-7309
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target a u di E nce
D U R AT I O N
M E D I A US E D
General Consumers and Employees
Four months
Bumper Stickers, Magazine Ads, Newspaper Ads, Bus Shelter Posters, Radio, T-shirts, TV/Video, Web Site / Banner Ads
MHT Vol.8 Issue 4 • 2010 www.MHTmagazine.com
These print ads feature patients who have filled in their “blanks.”
The target audience of this campaign was general consumers, ie., potential patients. But the campaign was actually rolled out with BIDMC’s employees. If the hospital could get employees engaged by wearing t-shirts and putting bumper stickers on their cars, there would be, in a sense, thousands of moving billboards. The employees loved it. They used sharpies to fill in their own “blanks” on T-shirts and bumper stickers. They sent in photos of themselves wearing their shirts. A calendar was produced for internal use with the photos and slide shows on internal and external websites. About a month after rolling out the campaign with employees, the media push began with print ads, online banners, TV and radio. T-shirts were handed out in subways and outside of Fenway Park. The idea worked because anyone (regardless of age, educational background etc.) could think about what was healthy in their own lives.
T-shirts and Bumper Stickers were given out to BIDMC’s 8,000 employees.
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A web tool was designed to allow visitors to choose font style and color to type out their “blank” in the Health Is __________ equation. The tool also allowed consumers to upload photos of themselves doing healthy activities. Pictured below are some of the employees’ home pages.
CAMPAIGN RESULTS: Over the 4-month campaign, the number of visits to the web site increased by 10.7%. The clinical areas focused on in the print ads also had increased web traffic (Digestive Disease - up 18.2%; prostate cancer - up 14.3%). More than 1,700 people took a healthy is quiz. And 446 people posted their healthy is statement or photo to the website.
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Once on the web site, web banners drove people to fill in their “blanks,” take a healthy is quiz or email experts a health-related question.
TV
VIDEO...
:30 TV
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women’s services
for women in all Stages of Life
Lexington Medical Center has launched an extensive advertising campaign to showcase the hospital’s Women’s Services. The campaign emphasizes that Lexington Medical Center offers comprehensive care for women in all stages of life. Elements include television, print, radio, outdoor and Internet components. The basis for the campaign is that women are recognized as the key decision makers in their households when it comes to health care. And when they finish taking care of their families, they make decisions about their own health care, too.
“In what is one of our largest advertising campaigns in recent years, we’re appealing to women by appealing to their many roles,” said Mark Shelley, Lexington Medical Center’s director of Marketing. “We’re providing them with basic information regarding health care and encouraging them to participate in the process.”
In addition, the campaign emphasizes that Lexington Medical Center provides unsurpassed care and compassion when it comes to women’s wellness.
O R G A N I Z AT I O N I N F O R M AT I O N Lexington Medical Center (384-bed hospital) CONTACT: Jennifer Wilson 2720 Sunset Blvd. West Columbia, SC 29169 Phone: (803) 939-4512
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TA R G E T A U D I E N C E
M E D I A US E D
D U R AT I O N
The people in our service area, the Midlands of South Carolina
Outdoor, Print Ads, Radio, and TV / Video
One year
MHT Vol.8 Issue 4 • 2010 www.MHTmagazine.com
The print campaign features women of all ages who live in Lexington Medical Center’s service area and have been patients of Lexington Medical Center. They are business owners, mothers, teachers, wives and students. In an innovative component, people can view video interviews with the women featured in the print ads by visiting Lexington Medical Center’s Women’s Services Web page, www.lmcwomensservices.com. In the videos, the women introduce themselves, talk about what they look for in health care and share their experiences with Lexington Medical Center.
“We hope that women will be inspired by the stories and see the vast array of services Lexington Medical Center has to offer them,” said Shelley.
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Above is a billboard that was used as well. Additional photos from the campaign can be viewed on Lexington Medical Center’s Web site at www.lexmed.com. And campaign commercials can be seen at the hospital’s blog, www.lexmed.tv.
TV
VIDEO...
:30 TV - “hammock”
There are few things you can really count on in life.
But if you’re a woman, one of them is the
care you’ll receive from Lexington Medical Center.
Our Women’s Services program focuses on the
health and wellness of women of all ages.
You’ll have our heartfelt commitment,
guaranteed for life. So go ahead…
relax.
We promise to be with you
from dimples to wrinkles.
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Women’s Services at Lexington Medical Center.
For all the women you are.
Virtual Tours for Healthcare Facilities By Anthony Passeri
If you’ve ever looked at real estate online, or even for a hotel, you have seen a Virtual Tour. A Virtual Tour is an interactive, panoramic, 360-degree interactive tool on a website that gives the website user control over where to look, from top to bottom and left to right. Many Administrators and Marketing Directors of Long-Term Living Facilities, Hospitals, Assisted Living Communities, SNFs, and more, continually seeking to improve the profile of their facility on the internet, have been incorporating Virtual Tours of their facilities into their website. How is a Virtual Tour made? First, a Virtual Tour producer will meet with you to view your facility and help you to decide what scenes or rooms to include in your Virtual Tour. He or she will also discuss various extras such as voice over, bilingual versions, best practices, and more. Then a Virtual Graphics Photographer will arrive at your site on an agreed upon date, and the photography will begin. The photographer usually lasts about 4 hours for a ten scene shoot. A Virtual Tour is NOT a video – it’s a series of high resolution still photos ‘stitched’ together to create one large, interactive image. Finally, the Virtual Tour producer will create a draft of the Virtual Tour for you to view, and you will work together to perfect the text, look, and feel on the Virtual Tour. In most cases, adding the actual Virtual Tour to your website is as simple as adding a hyperlink, and most Virtual Tour Producers will assist your web designer in that process. Today’s top Virtual Tour producers have the process down to a science and make it as easy as possible for busy healthcare professionals. Why for Healthcare Facilities? 1) EXPOSURE & RETENTION: Virtual Tours are a great, captivating tool to add to a facility’s website to keep users on the site longer. Anyone in Internet marketing knows that the key to a good website is getting people to visit your site, and keeping them there. Virtual Tours can drive people to your site by becoming a marketing centerpiece (“visit us online for a Virtual Tour”). Also, a Virtual Tour offers the highest level of interaction, and the longer someone stays on your site, the more likely those they are to become a customer, plain and simple. Anyone who spends even a few seconds navigating themselves online through your facility will, without question, remember you. 2) DISTANT LOVED ONES: Virtual Tours allow family members that live far away to see in stunning detail (and ‘walk through’) a facility being considered. Children, Grandchildren, other caregivers, and friends are intimately invested in making sure that their loved one receives the very best in care; however,
in today’s world, relatives and friends can live anywhere. As much as they would want to be part of the decision making process in Healthcare Living, distance may prevent that. However, a high quality Virtual Tour can literally eliminate the need for a costly flight, long car ride, or other roadblock to traveling to the location of their loved one for a tour. A Virtual Tour will put family members right in the middle of the Healthcare facility, thus, right in the middle of the decision making process, where they belong. 3) HOSPITAL DISCHARGE PLANNERS & CARE COORDINATORS: Virtual Tours allow Hospital Discharge Planners to give much better visual ideas to patients, future residents, and caregivers regarding their choices for Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Communities, and even Adult Day Care Centers. The more information that can be presented about your facility, the higher it will rise on the selection list. Many times when a patient is discharged from a Hospital, but needs additional care, they or their family members insist on a tour of their future home or temporarily living arrangement. That is simply not possible on weekends, or due to other circumstances. However, Hospitals love the idea of Virtual Tours, as they greatly assist in the decision making process when it comes to leaving the Hospital for another place to stay. Care Coordinators as well love the idea of having a version of the Virtual Tour on a laptop to show, for example, a Long Term Living facility to anyone who needs to see the facility but cannot visit directly. And yes, today’s quality of Virtual Tours are stunning, high resolution, and technically advanced enough to that it really doe s feel like the user is on site looking around. 4) TIME AND MONEY SAVER: Virtual Tours save facilities time and money in conducting “tours” online 24/7 instead of some on site tours. How much time and energy is used in touring individuals around your facility, giving the same speech over and over with variable results? When a person calls request a Virtual Tour, some facilities direct the caller to the Virtual Tour, even offering to stay on the phone with the caller as they “walk through” the facility from their own home. This saves everyone time and money, and allows Admissions Directors and other staff to focus on other things. When an individual is genuinely interested in learning more, and has seen your Virtual Tour, their site visit will be much more productive and positive. Healthcare Marketing is done in a variety of ways, but the Internet is one of those ways that is growing exponentially. The problem lies in the fact that there are so many ways to Market online, with varying degrees of effectiveness. Having a Virtual Tour created may just be the Marketing Approach that you are looking for. Anthony Passeri is the CEO of Virtual Healthcare Tours (www. VirtualHealthcareTours.com), the top producer of 360-degree panoramic Virtual Tours for the Healthcare Industry in North America. Anthony has been a website developer for over 10 years, with a special focus on the Healthcare Industry. He lives in New York City with his wife, Christina, also a healthcare professional. MHT Vol.8 Issue 4 • 2010 www.MHTmagazine.com
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Media Focus Emergency & Urgent Care Services
Ochsner Real-time Emergency Room Wait Times LED Billboard Organization: Ochsner Health System -- Jefferson, LA
PPH ExpressCare Transit Ad Organization: Palomar Pomerado Health -- San Diego, CA Agency: Lorenz Advertising -- La Mesa, CA
Can be a bear Organization: Logansport Memorial Hospital -- Logansport, IN Agency: Keller Crescent Advertising -- Evansville, IN 16
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Silver Cross Free Standing Emergency Care - “OOPS!” campaign Organization: Silver Cross Hospital -- Joliet, IL Agency: Gammon Group, Inc -- Joliet, IL Urgent Care - Sticky Situation Organization: Northeast Georgia Medical Center -- Gainesville, GA
Aventura ER Campaign Organization: Mount Sinai Medical Center -- Miami Beach, FL Agency: Knight Marketing -- Venice, FL MHT Vol.8 Issue 4 • 2010 www.MHTmagazine.com
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For Good Measure
Hospital Practices in Community Perception Research By Jane Donohue, Ph.D.
Among hospitals, image marketing is on the upswing. But do hospitals sufficiently track consumer perceptions in order to devise and monitor their marketing efforts? YouGov® Healthcare conducted a survey of hospitals on their current practices in, and future intentions for, measuring community perceptions. The results, reported here, indicate that hospitals, duking it out for market share, are eager to have a more dynamic view of how they are perceived by consumers. Hospitals and health systems have long recognized that brands are assets worth building, preserving, and exploiting. After all, a positive hospital image can increase patient volume, attract and retain staff and board members, and encourage philanthropy. Consequently, healthcare marketing departments have grown quite sophisticated, and many have entered the “big league,” using the services of high-powered advertising agencies and public relations firms. Even so, healthcare organizations have not yet adopted a practice that is standard in other consumeroriented industries: monitoring their brand image regularly. If hospitals are to differentiate themselves with a brand that resonates with consumers, manage their image as the market changes, and ensure that they are spending their marketing dollars wisely, they must have current data on the perceptions within the communities they serve. (Note that we are addressing public perceptions within a hospital’s market, not feedback from discharged patients on their hospital experience, which is captured through surveys such as the “HCAHPS” survey, the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems.)
• News spreads at warp speed. Brands, carefully built over years, can be destroyed within hours, thanks to viral communications. Recall the public relations disaster that Domino’s Pizza® faced last year after two employees posted an unsavory video on YouTube as a prank. • The U.S. insured population will expand by 35 million. With the passage of the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care” act, an estimated 35 million additional Americans will have health insurance starting in 2014. Thus, we can expect competition among providers to intensify. • Hospital advertising is likely to grow. Hospital spending on advertising, as a percent of margin, is still quite low compared to other comparable industries. In 2009, U.S. hospitals spent just 1.6 percent of their margin on advertising, compared to 9 percent in the hospitality industry, and 23 percent in educational services —both of which face similar marketing challenges to the hospital industry. To understand the industry’s current research practices, YouGov Healthcare® conducted a survey among U.S.-based hospitals, gathering responses from representatives in Marketing, Public Relations, Communications, Strategic Planning, and Development. We wanted to learn the extent to which hospitals research what is on consumers’ minds, how they use such intelligence, and what they foresee needing in the future. The results of that study are presented here.
The need for ongoing measures of consumer perception is greater now than ever because:
The Value of Community Perception Research Almost universally, the survey respondents saw value in their hospital achieving and maintaining a positive reputation, acknowledging that an organization’s brand can help recruit and retain staff (98 percent), encourage philanthropy (98 percent), and increase patient volume (94 percent).
• Consumers rule. Consumers are well educated about their healthcare options and increasingly exercise their purchasing prowess in choosing healthcare services. Consider the power of the CMS service, www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov where, for the first time, consumers can compare hospitals on measures of patient satisfaction.
Not surprisingly, then, nearly all (96 percent) of the respondents also said that assessing perceptions and opinions of the community they served is “extremely important.” Poet Robert Burns believed that to see ourselves as others see us is a gift. In hospital marketing, one could say that it is an imperative.
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If hospitals are to differentiate themselves with a brand that resonates with consumers, manage their image as the market changes, and ensure that they are spending their marketing dollars wisely, they must have current data on the perceptions within the communities they serve. The vast majority of respondents (88 percent) believed that consumerdirected healthcare would increase over the next three years, a sense that is undoubtedly fueling interest in understanding what the public thinks. The first rule of marketing is, of course, to “know your audience,” and arguably the second is to measure the impact of your effort so that you can understand what works and what doesn’t. Respondents report putting the findings of community perception research to use in Strategic Planning, Marketing, Advertising, Public relations, Communications, Development, Annual Reports, and Event Planning. (See Figure 1: Uses of Perception Research) Frequency of Community Perception Research Nearly two-thirds (59 percent) of the participating hospitals conducts community perception research at least once a year. A third of the participants conduct it less than once a year, and 11 percent don’t conduct it at all. (See Figure 2: Frequency of Community Perception Research.) The majority of respondents, however, recognize that annual surveys are insufficient given the rate of change in the market and the fierceness of competition. Eighty-three percent said that their need for information on public perceptions would increase in the future—a view that was particularly strong among those who currently acquire such research once a year and among representatives from hospitals with under 300 beds. The dominant reason that participants gave for needing information more frequently was the fact that consumers have a growing role in decisions about their care (67 percent), followed by the intensity of the competitive environment(46 percent), and pressure to measure the return they are receiving for their marketing investments (46 percent). So, what is preventing hospitals from accessing attitudinal research more often? The most common response was budget (68 percent), followed by time (26 percent) and staff resources (21). The latter two, of course, could be argued to be a reflection of budget issues. It is expensive to commission ad hoc primary research surveys because designing the study, recruiting respondents, and collecting the data is labor intensive. Considering hospitals’ margin pressure, the answer is more likely to come from a more efficient and cost-effective research
method than from any dramatic increases in the budget hospitals allocate to perception research. Fortunately, new, creative methods of monitoring consumer perceptions are becoming available. The budget restraints that have prevented hospitals from tracking public opinions are fading as new research technologies present themselves. Marketers who seize the opportunity to monitor their brand image and market events more closely will not only make sounder decisions, but will elevate the role of marketing within their organization. Conclusion Given the investment that hospitals are making in communicating their brands and the pace of change in the market, hospitals need access to current information on the attitudes and perceptions of the communities they serve. If it is to inform their business decisions—from program development to competitive positioning and advertising spending—hospitals must make conducting consumer perception research a habit rather than a static, one-time exercise. Four-fifths of the hospitals we surveyed recognized this fact. Yet, many have been unable to survey consumers more than once a year because of budget limitations—which is really a reflection of the high-cost of primary research. As alternative research methodologies become available, hospitals will be able to pursue their goal of making consumer perception research a regular part of doing business. Ad Hoc Research vs. Tracking Studies How often should hospitals conduct attitudinal research? Are annual measures sufficient, or should public perceptions be tracked regularly? There’s a strong case to be made for tracking public perceptions consistently and at least quarterly. Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney has remarked that “A brand is a living entity—and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures.” A brand is thus mutable, and the marketplace is dynamic. New or expanded services are launched, advertising and PR campaigns begin, crises occur. Story continued on page 30
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come spend...
a day with the docs!
Three years ago, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis launched a $100 million capital campaign. This campaign was the largest capital campaign ever undertaken by a non-profit in the city or its surrounding area. Because it was the first capital campaign since the hospital opened in 1952, many of the hospital’s constituency groups had not previously been solicited for major gifts. One group that was a top priority for solicitation was area physicians. To reach this target audience, a Physicians’ Campaign was developed to target this segment. By the close of the campaign, nearly 100 physicians had contributed a total of $1.1 million. During the campaign they learned that many of the hospital’s physicians’ wives and families felt disconnected with Le Bonheur. Several had never met Le Bonheur’s president, who had arrived in 2007. Many had never toured the hospital, were unfamiliar with the services provided by the hospital and/or had never visited their husband’s workplace environment. Additionally, many of the individual physicians were feeling underappreciated by the hospital.
O R G A N I Z AT I O N I N F O R M AT I O N Le bonheur foundation CONTACT: Ethel Gilmore PO Box 41817 Memphis, TN 38174 Phone: (901) 287-5535
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TA R G E T A U D I E N C E
M E D I A US E D
D U R AT I O N
Physicians, their spouses and families
Fliers, Invitations, Posters and Programs
November 4, 2009
MHT Vol.8 Issue 4 • 2010 www.MHTmagazine.com
Thus, A Day With the Docs was created and marketed: 1. to formally and publicly thank the physicians for their service to the hospital; 2. to give the physicians’ spouses a perspective on where the doctors work; 3. to inform the spouses of the new hospital (then under construction, opened June 15, 2010); 4. to show appreciation to those physicians who had contributed to the capital campaign; 5. to introduce spouses to volunteer opportunities at the hospital; 6. to provide an opportunity for physicians/ spouses to make additional or new gifts to the hospital.
Ethel Gilmore, Director of Development, greeted each attendee at their table.
A Day with the Docs was held November 4th, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. As a special treat, Kicker, the hospital’s pet therapy dog, greeted spouses upon their arrival.
Recent studies have concluded that more and more women are taking an increasingly prominent role in determining their household’s charitable giving. With this understanding, it was decided that a committee of physician spouses would be most effective in getting this program off the ground. A committee was organized to include spouses of Le Bonheur’s physician leaders and the hospital’s medical directors. Over several months, the group devised a plan for inviting physician spouses to the hospital to accomplish the goals.
During breakfast, Le Bonheur President, Meri Armour, addressed the spouses from the podium and revealed the plans for the new hospital.
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Spouses were given a VIP tour of the current hospital (including presentations in the intensive care unit and the neonatal intensive care unit), and a presentation by Dr. James Wheless, director of Le Bonheur’s Neuroscience Institute.
With help from Child Life specialists, children made signs to welcome the spouses.
Following the tour and presentations, a shuttle bus took the spouses to the nearby Memphis University Club where they were treated to a formal lunch. The room was decorated with balloons, posters and hospital materials which represented the true purpose for the day - to help children and their families. The tables at the luncheon were decorated for the fall event (pictured at right). On the tables were printed programs and a large mug, which displayed the logo designed specifically for the event. Each physician’s spouse received a mug, a Le Bonheur history book and a goody bag. Before the guest speaker’s motivational talk, Bernard (the Le Bonheur puppet) greeted guests. The guest speaker was a physician who is also a physician’s spouse and a director in the Neonatology unit. An appeal was made to the spouses, asking for their support of the capital campaign.
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The spouses toured several areas of the hospital. Above, one group visited the intensive care unit.
RESULTS: The event was deemed extremely successful. Because it was heavily marketed to the spouses, via invitations, phone calls, and publications, A Day with the Docs generated many new gifts and pledge upgrades. Since the event, the Physicians’ Campaign funds have increased by 12%. Additionally, physicians have volunteered to become advocates for the hospital, with one physician stepping up to lead a minicampaign to secure matching gifts for a challenge grant kick off later this year. This event brought many of the hospital’s internal publics together, such as Marketing, Le Bonheur Foundation, Physician’s & Referral Services, Child Life, etc. Additionally, it brought the physicians and their families closer to the hospital- allowing the foundation to steward them publicly for their contributions.
The spouses were presented with many opportunities to volunteer at the hospital.
A Day with the Docs was unique. As word spread about the event, we received support from healthcare corporations and others, including an airline company which donated airline tickets for a door prize. The tickets were awarded to the winning physician family (who had given over $10,000 to the campaign). Plans are underway to make next year even bigger.
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stroke crime scene
An Innovative education approach
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., and the number one cause of adult long-term disability. Each year in Indiana, more then 3,400 people die of stroke. Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke.
symptoms of stroke and getting treatment quickly (within an hour or two of the onset of symptoms) at a hospital certified as a Primary Stroke Center are crucial in increasing the chances of a positive outcome.
Just as a heart attack interrupts blood flow to the heart, the most common type of stroke stops blood flow to a portion of the brain. The longer the brain is without the supply of blood, the more damage that results. Knowing signs and
Bloomington Hospital is a certified Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission, and during June they focused on raising awareness about stroke risk factors and signs and symptoms in their community.
O R G A N I Z AT I O N I N F O R M AT I O N Bloomington hospital (Healthcare System) CONTACT: Amanda Roach 405 N. Rogers Street Bloomington, IN 47402 Phone: (812) 353-9691
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Their goals were to: • increase awareness about stroke in the Bloomington community; • get people in the community talking about stroke; • teach the community stroke signs and symptoms; • raise awareness about the importance of recognizing stroke signs and symptoms; • and help the community understand that stroke is a medical emergency.
TA R G E T A U D I E N C E
M E D I A US E D
D U R AT I O N
Bloomington community
Evidence Markers
June 2009
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Strategies were to use guerrilla marketing tactics to draw attention to stroke. Guerrilla marketing is “achieving conventional goals with unconventional methods.” In the spirit of guerrilla marketing, the evidence markers did not have Bloomington Hospital’s full logo; just the molecule. They wanted the community to talk about the chalk outline displays and the subject of stroke first and foremost. Working with local government and businesses to raise awareness about stroke, chalk outlines, surrounded by police tape, were placed at strategic locations throughout Bloomington. The chalk outlines had one or two ”evidence markers” nearby that included a fact about stroke.
RESULTS: The hospital campaign was featured as a case study in the Great Lakes Stroke Network’s newsletter as an innovative education approach. The local Farmers’ Market sees more than 50,000 visitors each season. Anecdotal evidence revealed that several people stopped and spent time at that display location. An organized walk of a couple hundred people took place by the display located near the Mall, giving them the opportunity to see that display up close. The public library has more than 1.2 million visits each year, and the Courthouse is in the heart of downtown, receiving a lot of foot traffic, especially in the spring and summer months. In evaluating this program, it was also important to find lessons learned and discover how to make improvements. The biggest difficulty was in maintaining the integrity and look of the displays when creating them in outdoor public spaces. There were not only challenges due to the weather, but also by restrictions in place by the City narrowing where and how large the displays could be. The next campaign will look into partnering with local businesses to create longer term displays inside their buildings or waiting areas, in hopes to increase the number of people who spend a meaningful amount of time at the displays. MHT Vol.8 Issue 4 • 2010 www.MHTmagazine.com
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what it’s like…
Learning from REal experience St. Vincent Health System, under new leadership and with a massive building project under way (the first major construction on the flagship hospital’s campus since the 1970s), determined that the time was right to reinvigorate its image. The challenge – like the one all marketers face – was to determine the best way to most effectively differentiate St. Vincent from its two fierce competitors. To identify the most relevant approach and effective messaging, they conducted consumer focus groups to gain insight into emotional and rational motivators when choosing a hospital. Four groups were conducted, comprising men and women 25-44 and 50+ representative of the population in St. Vincent’s primary service area. One universal truth emerged: nobody really wants to be hospitalized. It’s a frightening prospect – especially if one is not a medical professional and doesn’t work in a clinical environment – and if one does (even in marketing), it can become so routine that they lose perspective on how intimidating it can be from a patient’s viewpoint. They set out to remove the fear of the unknown and replace it with an understanding of what makes St. Vincent different: compassionate, competent and confident care.
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O R G A N I Z AT I O N I N F O R M AT I O N
AG E N C Y I N F O R M AT I O N
st. vincent health system (healthcare system) CONTACT: Jon Timmis 2 St. Vincent Circle Little Rock, AR 72205 Phone: (501) 552-3928
mangan holcomb partners CONTACT: Sharon Vogelpohl 2300 Cottondale Lane, Suite 300 Little Rock, AR 72202 Phone: (501) 376-0321
MHT Vol.8 Issue 4 • 2010 www.MHTmagazine.com
TA R G E T A U D I E N C E
M E D I A US E D
Adults 25-44 in the Central Arkansas community
Billboards, Print Ads and TV / Video
D U R AT I O N February 2008 – February 2010
Mangan Holcomb’s solution: show and tell people, step by step, that St. Vincent doctors and health professionals understand what it’s like to (a) have chronic pain, (b) undergo a heart procedure, and (c) be hospitalized. Real surgeons, nurses and other health professionals tell it like it is, and real patients punctuate the message by reinforcing that what was said, indeed, was what it was like for them.
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In an attempt to strengthen top-of-mind awareness and brand image with a younger audience, specifically adults age 25-44, the campaign focuses the majority of media weight in broadcast and cable television. Research shows that this age group is best reached using broadcast and cable television as the primary media vehicles. This group is important to St. Vincent’s future success, as it represents people who are currently developing healthcare patterns and preferences for themselves and their families.
Preference ratings among consumers in key service areas of the promotional focus also improved: • Cardiac: Increased from 12% to 18% • Emergency services: Increased from 20% to 23% • Women’s and children’s: Increased from 16% to 22% • Orthopedics: Increased from 16% to 26% • Spine: Increased from 14% to 19% • Urology: Increased from 14% to 21%
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MHT Vol.8 Issue 4 • 2010 www.MHTmagazine.com
TV
VIDEO...
:30 TV - “What It’s Like”
This is what it feels like to be treated in a hospital.
You’re afraid.
You discover St. Vincent is different.
You feel the living spirit of the sisters who came before.
Your nurse knew what to do.
You’re comforted.
You want to go home.
You have a private room.
This is what it’s like to be treated at St. Vincent.
Your doctor answered every question.
Compassionate care for 120 years. St. Vincent. Inspired.
RESULTS “What It’s Like” launched in the central Arkansas market in February 2008. Recent research shows that the campaign now boasts the highest advertising recall in the market – increasing from 26 to 40 percent since 2008 – making it the most recognized healthcare campaign in St. Vincent’s primary service area. Research findings also conclude that consumer top of mind awareness for St. Vincent increased from a low point of 74 percent to 83 percent.
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For Good Measure Continued from page 19.
Taking the pulse of the community on a regular basis not only highlights changes in your market, but sheds light on the drivers of that change. With each event, it is important to know what impact it is having on your—and your competitor’s--brands. Being so informed is critical to making the best decisions in: • Preserving the health of your brand - What do consumers really think of your service? - What are the potential opportunities and threats to your position in the market? • Differentiating your brand from the competition - What impact is the competition having on public perceptions? - How well do your services compare to competitive offerings? - How are you performing on key metrics? • Developing messages that will resonate with your audience - Are your marketing efforts conveying the intended impression? - Are your campaigns appealing to potential customers and staff?
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• Allocating promotional resources - How well are your media outlets reaching target consumers? - How can your reach be improved? Hospitals that continue to invest in a brand strategy without evaluating the effectiveness of their efforts risk throwing “good money after bad.” About the Survey The survey was conducted in April 2010 by telephone with 66 respondents representing 57 hospitals across the United States. Slightly over half of the responding hospitals had over 300 beds, a third had 100 -300 beds, and eight percent had less than 100 beds, mirroring the distribution of hospitals by size in the country. Participants held functions in Marketing, Public Relations, Communications, Strategic Planning, and Development. Dr. Donohue, a leading authority on healthcare market research with over 25 years of experience in the hospital and pharmaceutical marketplace, is senior vice president and managing director of YouGov Healthcare. YouGov Healthcare is a full-service market research firm specializing in the hospital marketplace. The company has introduced the Community Perception Monitor, a hybrid of multi-client research studies and of proprietary survey instruments that provides quarterly insights to subscribers.
It all starts with a question. In answering your question, we’ll ask one or two of our own. Are you interacting with fans and followers on Facebook? Will Twitter help you meet your business goals? Social media doesn’t have to be intimidating. Let us help you determine the most appropriate channels and content, while tying everything back to your marketing strategy. The result? Customized tactics—with measurable goals—for social media success. Have a question? Get it answered. Call Paul Pomeroy at (800) 848-1552 or email him at ppomeroy@a-b-c.com. We’re here to help.
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