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CONTENTS Volume 3, Issue 1 - SPRING EQUINOX EDITION 2017
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Welcome
Big Impacts
Industry News
All About Marketing
Payer Profiles
Mega Mergers Blocked But is it the end?
Spring is in the air and with it a renewed sense of purpose. In this issue, we bring you tips, tools and guides to get your marketing mojo moving!
Did you know that Payers are routinely grading you? What you don't know can hurt you - this is a must-read to ensure you can compete in the era of big data.
We talked about mega-mergers in previous issues and late last year they were blocked. But is it the end? The new administration means that it isn't over yet.
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Art of . . .
Pro Tips
Marketing Matters
Spin
How To Market Your Practice (in 2017)
Social Media for Medical Practices
We expect a certain amount of public relations 'spin'. But has it gone too far? There's a balance between story-telling and truth-telling to be found.
We asked one of the most passionate pediatric practice consultants in the industry, Chip Hart, for practice marketing advice. Watch this video to learn how!
Noreen Quadir & Heidi Hallett take you through the most popular social media platforms: which ones to use and how to market your practice effectively there.
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Tools & Tips
Payer News
Working Web
Online Tools for Digital Marketing
Payers Make Strides Into Digital Marketing
Tested tools for creating professional videos & photo captions, user-friendly sites for creating websites & email campaigns, online printing deals and more!
Today's tech-savvy consumers are demanding more digital tools and access from insurers. Heidi Hallett takes a look at how Payers are responding to demand.
Turn Your Website Visitors into Subscribers Don't waste an opportunity to capture valuable followers! Noreen Quadir takes you through the steps & tools to turn website visitors into loyal followers.
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THIS ISSUE'S CONTRIBUTORS
Spotlight Brand Identity Heidi Hallett talks to Scott Hodgson, the creative brain behind the branding for our companies and many of our clients, about what brand identity means to him.
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Susanne Madden
Heidi Hallett
Chip Hart
Connect Connect with us online. Here you'll find details on the key events and conferences that we'll be attending this Spring. You'll also find handy links to connect with us on all of our media streams.
Scott Hodgson
David Magbee
Noreen Quadir
ViewPoint is a digital publication that looks at perspectives on the business of healthcare. Produced by The Verden Group, ViewPoint is available by free subscription and is distributed seasonally. Print copies are available by request. Please contact us for pricing.
Contact Us: The Verden Group 48 Burd Street, Suite 104 Nyack, NY 10960 phone: 877-884-7770 email: inquiry@theverdengroup.com
About The Verden Group: we are an innovative consulting firm focused on shaping the landscape of advocacy by empowering medical practices to navigate through the increasingly complex business of healthcare, and to advocate on their behalf with insurers and regulators. We deliver expert services and advice to meet needs across your practice. We work with individuals and groups of any size from start-ups to super groups. From contract negotiations and management, to social media set-up and administration, to NCQA PCSP and PCMH transitions ? we are your Partner In Practice. To learn more about our services visit www.theverdengroup.com
Subscribe to ViewPoint to stay on top of all our news and views on the business of health care.
Read past issues of the magazine and additional content at: verdenviewpoint.com
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Supporting Independent Practices For your pract ice t o st ay independent , you need access t o: - Medical supply pricing that larger practices & organizations demand - Vaccine purchases with the lowest prices & highest rebate program - A suite of expert services & products to best support your practice - Contract Management, HR, Compliance, Grant Sourcing and more
Wemanageyour costsand services. You manageyour patients. Find out how you can join here: www.IPMSO.org
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? W ELCOME ? Welcome to the 8th issue of Verden ViewPoint! It's hard to believe that we are nearly 2 years 'old' already and we hope that you are enjoying the content as much as we enjoying bringing it to you. With a readership 2,000 strong, we are greatly encouraged to continue this endeavor! This season we are focused on all things marketing. We spend quite a bit of time helping our clients to build their brands, put together successful marketing plans and work with social platforms to help build community and awareness. We thought we'd share some of that advice in this issue and encourage you all to take advantage of the coming spring to dust off your brand, re-focus on your message, and reach new audiences with social media and website plans. Sometimes you just need a little motivation, right? Not to be left behind, we have some big changes coming too. The e-magazine will get a fresh look and you will have the ability to order and purchase paper copies soon (a much requested feature). The website is getting an overhaul too and will include search capabilities, easier navigation and the ability to 'press' any articles to PDF format for easier printing or sharing. We are also quite delighted to feature the oh-so-fun doodle art of Heidi Hallett, our multi-talented editorial and production manager, in this issue too. Happy Marketing!
SUSANNE MADDEN | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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? BIG IMPACTS ?
Susanne Madden | CEO & Founder
PAYER PROFI LES How Your Payer Direct ory Prof il e May Harm Your Pract ice This article was published on March 15, 2017, in Physicians Practice. Link to the original article here
Are you aware that insurance companies are 'grading' you? Do you know what your grade is? Do you understand how your profile can impact your patients, particularly if your score is not enough to make 'top tier'? If you don't, now is the time to pay attention to this issue.
Grading Frankly, payers grading physicians is nothing new. For at least the last decade or so large national payers have been keeping score. What is different now is that your score may impact which patients access you and ultimately, this may have an effect on your payment schedule soon too. So while you may be aware that you are in, say, United Healthcare's Premium Tier 1, where physicians are rated by quality and cost efficiency, or Aetna's Aexcel Blue Star, which rates physicians based on patient volume, clinical performance, and efficiency (cost) for select specialties, do you understand what means to you? Primarily, these scores affect benefit design. Some employers design their benefits so that if a patient seeks services from, say, United Healthcare Premium Tier 1 physicians, they may have only a small copay to make or none at all. But if they access a 6
physician outside of that tier, they may have a substantial copay or cost-sharing responsibility that they would not have if receiving care from a Tier 1 physician. This creates an access issue for you and your practice.
companies as HealthGrades and Wellness.com. If you have not scored well, you will want to If a Payer mails you something, read it! Those companies only go to the expense of mailing you paper if they have to do so for regulatory compliance and / or if it is
Group vs. Individual
something very important.
Further complicating the issue is the fact that most physicians are graded individually. That means that if you are Tier 1 but your partner is not, when you are out and your patient sees your partner, that patient is likely to subjected to that higher cost-sharing amount than when they see you. Obviously this creates a less-than-ideal experience for your patients. So what do you do about it?
Get advice if the information sent is unclear.
find out the reasons contributing to your lower overall score. Contact the plan and ask them to send you the data upon which you have been rated. Annually, the payers typically mail out this information to you and you typically have 30 days to respond to any inaccurate data. MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW THESE PACKETS!
Obtain Your Score
In 100 percent of the cases where our clients have asked us to perform a review of that data, we have found errors ? patients that should not be attributed to that physician, services that are not provided under that specialty, and so on. Therefore, look over the data carefully and compare it to your own records.
First, go to the payers' online directories and look yourself up to see where you stand. In addition to seeing your grade, you will also see other information such as patient reviews and patient satisfaction scores and how your 'costs' compare to your peers in the same specialty and region. We are in the era of 'big data' now and payers are taking full advantage of pulling together various pieces of information to present a content-rich profile of providers in their networks. Sources of patient review data come from such
Factors Contributing to Low Scores Once you receive the data you will want to have a complete understanding of the metrics used to arrive at your score. Higher costs are
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often not just a function of the care that you provide directly, but may be a result of referring to a highly paid specialist or admitting patients to the most expensive hospital in the region. Therefore, improving your score may require a change in to whom you refer and where you refer. Note that once your grade is issued, if the payer does not receive any indication from you that that data is erroneous, that will be your score for the year and will not be modified until the next grading period. We have seen clients lose dozens of patients in these cases, so don't let this happen to you too!
Be Proactive To maintain or improve your score, take proactive steps to ensure that your next grade will be good. Identify the specialists to whom you refer and look them up in the payers' directories too. Are some noted as high cost? Then you may want to refer to another who is within the average cost range and who is rated in the top tier. Also look up the hospitals with which you are associated ? if they are not in the top tier, you may need to consider whether or not your score is going to be affected by the cases you refer there.
Be Visible Patients are utilizing online directories more than ever before as their benefits become directly tied to the quality tiers from which they access care. When patients are searching for a provider by area or specialty, if you are not highly rated, you may not even show up in the offered list of providers resulting from that search. For example, in United Healthcare's directory, searching for a specialty or facility within a region automatically defaults to a list of Premium Tier 1 providers and Tier 1 hospitals. So in order to remain visible, you must improve your score in order to be found. While this does not seem like good news for physicians, the upside is that you can change your score and improve your position so that patients can continue to have access to you. But it requires that you do your research and that you carefully review any mailed data that comes your way from a payer and that you take the steps necessary to protect your profile. (Published in Physicians Practice, March 15, 2017) 8
Exam ples of t h e in f or m at ion displayed at Un it edh ealt h car eon lin e.com
Listing Average Cost of visits for the area
Premium Designated physicians are listed first
Patient Reviews are incorporated and are highly visible - patients can click on 5-star reviewed providers to select much like they review products online . . .
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Exam ples of t h e in f or m at ion displayed at Un it edh ealt h car eon lin e.com
Providers identified as being 'Above Average Cost' - this creates a cascade effect of the patient not wanting to pay more out-of-pocket (e.g. large amount under deductible), and it means that the provider could face being tiered out of certain plans as well as potentially face pay cuts over time.
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Look you r self on lin e. You 'll
- ROLL CALL-
f in d Payer dir ect or ies h er e: Un it edh ealt h car e: w w w.u h c.com / f in d-a-ph ysician
At The Verden Group, we assist many practices in achieving National Committee for Quality Assurance's Patient Centered Medical Home and Specialty Practice Recognition programs through our subsidiary Patient Centered Solutions. Congratulations to our clients that have recently achieved NCQA PCMH Recognition!
Aet n a: w w w.aet n a.com / docf in d/
Pediat ric Heal t hcare Associat es (CT) Level 3 Beauf ort Pediat rics (SC)
Level 3
Cign a:
Sandhil l s Pediat rics (SC)
Level 3
w w w.cign a.com / h cpdir ect or y/
Wat chung Pediat rics (NJ)
Level 3
Tiger Pediat rics (MO)
Level 3
Chil dren's First Pediat rics (MD)
Level 3
An t h em : w w w.an t h em .com / Sh op/ Fin d-A-Doct or
Hu m an a: h t t ps:/ / w w w.h u m an a.com / f in der / m edical/
Healt h Net : w w w.h ealt h n et .com / por t al/ pr ovider Sear ch .act ion
Wellcar e: h t t ps:/ / w w w.w ellcar e.com / Fin d-a-Pr ovider
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? INDUSTRY NEW S ?
Susanne Madden| CEO & Founder
AETNA-HUMANA & ANTHEM-CIGNA MERGERS BLOCKED: But Is It The End?
Federal district courts recently blocked both the Aetna-Humana and Anthem-Cigna mega-mergers. Representing Obama administration policies, Attorney General Lynch rejected the argument of merge-planning insurers that competition is not harmed by consolidation. It?s not just the AG that thinks this way - physician practices have a huge stake in preserving private payer competition. These payers are essential to physicians?revenue streams and large monopolies put downward pressure on rates. According to an American Medical Association (AMA) study in 2015, there were already 14 states with solely one private insurer dominating the market at that point in time. Across the country we see clients experiencing a ?take it or leave it?attitude from the largest payers in their regions; many are forced to participate or else they risk losing patient volume altogether. But why such interest in mergers?
.Want th i s arti cl e 'to-go'? Dow nl oad a PDF v ersi on of i t f rom th e V i ew Poi nt si te h ere.
Ten million private insurance marketplace enrollees were estimated for 2016 (Milliman Research Report) Most of these were linked to employer-sponsored health plans. However, Medicare private plan (Medicare Advantage plans, run by the commercial payers) enrollment in 2016 totaled 17.6% (according to Kaiser Family Foundation), with continuous growth each year since 2008, indicating that Medicare is an expanding business. The expansion of covered preventive services mandated by the ACA has provided a further potential reimbursement stream for physicians in group practices and/or solo practices. 12
product area, particularly in light of the Aetna-Humana merger.
Aetna-Humana Proposed Merger ? Rationale Aetna proposed spending $35 B in 2015 to acquire Humana, due in large measure to Humana?s large Medicare Advantage (MA) market position. The anticipated financial benefit of this huge investment was that the acquisition would enable the merged company to quickly attain the rank of second-largest private health payer in the nation. It would also catapult the merged company to the top of the MA market. Additionally recognized was that this combined company? encompassing 33 million members? would be positioned to have far greater leverage over the following players: -
On the other hand, as a member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), the enlarged Anthem company would have sold health plans under brands potentially in direct competition with BCBSA. This was because BCBSA regulations precluded using the Blue Cross name to offer health plans in states where Anthem did not already have a Blue Cross license. Consequently, BCBSA was not demonstrably supportive of this proposed merger with Cigna. On March 13th, in contrast to the opposition of the AMA and American Hospital Association (AHA), Anthem expressed its support of the AHCA that was publically-introduced as the ACA replacement plan on March 6, 2017. Why?
Employers offering an insurance benefit to employees; Patients (as health consumers); State regulators in all 50 states; Healthcare providers (e.g., physicians and nurse practitioners)
With some consumer and provider push-back to the proposed merger, one month prior to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives? plan for repealing and replacing the ACA? termed the American Health Care Act (AHCA)? Aetna announced its intention to withdraw from the ACA health exchange in 2018, thereby limiting insurer choice for non-Medicare-eligible employees who were not covered by employer-sponsored insurance. This move appears to have been in retaliation for blocks against the mega-merger.
The DOJ Lawsuits ? Definitions of Terms Two Department of Justice (DOJ) legal definitions impacted the judges?rulings in the Aetna-Humana and the Anthem-Cigna merger cases. These were the definitions for product market and geographic market. In defining these markets differently from the insurers?lawyers, the DOJ argued that the insurer descriptions were misleading; they tried to portray more free market competition following the mergers than would actually exist.
Anthem and Cigna Merger Goals The objective of Anthem?s offer in 2015 of $54 B to acquire Cigna ? its larger competitor? was aimed at becoming the nation?s largest private insurer. Along with covering 53 million people, the calculated base profit to the new company was estimated at $115 B. As Aetna?s marketplace rival, Anthem viewed this acquisition as a crucial strategy to increase their market share in the MA
In particular, the insurers?claim of traditional Medicare and MA as one single market? and, 13
comparison to the remaining large-scale insurers. Similar to other DOJ anti-monopoly suits guided by Obama administration policy, the DOJ?s litigation was undertaken to prevent these large insurers from eliminating their competitors, and, thereby, severely restricting healthcare consumer options.
therefore, able to provide the new mega-company with sufficient competition for its products? was not accepted by the DOJ. Instead, the DOJ?s viewpoint was that MA enrollees specifically chose an MA plan instead of traditional Medicare, so traditional Medicare could not be construed as a competitive entity. In other words, the merger would hugely curtail consumer MA choice by the offered products? including MA product lines? all being controlled in some geographic areas by one company.
United States v. Aetna and Humana Arguments by the DOJ in the Aetna-Humana merger case targeted Aetna?s and Humana?s two distinct product line offerings. In contrast to the insurers?perspective that cost-controls would be exerted by competitive market forces, the DOJ viewpoint was that consumer options in both markets would be severely curtailed if the merger occurred.
Two Separate Anti-Trust Cases and their Rulings The DOJ filed antitrust lawsuits to block the two mergers in July of 2016; these were titled United States v. Anthem and Cigna and United States v. Aetna and Humana, respectively. A decision was rendered on January 23, 2017 in the Aetna-Humana merger case by Judge John Bates, followed by a similar decision on February 8, 2017 in the Anthem-Cigna case by Judge Amy Berman.
The DOJ also argued that the insurers?claim of traditional Medicare and MA representing one single market was misleading. In contrast, traditional Medicare and MA were not in direct consumer-based competition that could otherwise exert downward market pressure on the cost of insurance premiums and required deductibles. The insurers?argument was that traditional Medicare could effect market-based price curtailment, but the judge assigned to this case sided with the DOJ.
Although the national health insurance trade association? America?s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)? represents around 1,300 member companies, there are currently only five large-sized health insurance companies still existent in the U.S. Aetna-Humana and Anthem-Cigna mergers would have reduced that number to only three. Likewise, smaller insurers would be at high risk of acquisition or bankruptcy, due to their poor economic status in
Since the ruling, the CEOs of Aetna and Humana have been feuding publically. It has revolved around their binding obligations vis-Ă -vis their prearranged break-up agreement? which neither company expected to honor within such a short 14
time period. According to Forbes Magazine, a $1 B ?break-up?payment will be paid by Aetna to Humana to dissolve the merger. Furthermore, no federal appeal will be launched against the District of Columbia court?s decision disallowing these two insurers to merge into one entity.
companies specific tax incentives that favor large companies, but does not likewise address their capacity to merge and limit consumer options for insurance. Even without their resistance to healthcare system government controls, larger insurers are oriented toward acquiring smaller companies in order to increase their profit potential. One reason is the rising cost of prescription drugs, which is reducing their profit capacity. However, the increased survival rate of enrollees with formerly terminal diseases is also creating a financial strain on insurers.
United States v. Anthem The DOJ argued in the Anthem-Cigna case that this merger would not only result in rising prices, but in poor services for enrollees. In addition, the legal animosity between Anthem and Cigna? that was evident early in federal district court proceedings? was offered by the DOJ as evidence that the merger also would not organizationally succeed.
Nevertheless, the loss of a governmental bulwark against insurance company mergers will likely foster instability across the health system, and particularly impact independent physician practices. Akin to Amazon deciding to acquire all remaining department stores and determining the price of goods without any consumer resort due to lack of purchasing options, oversized insurance companies wield power over patients, who may no longer be able to afford insurer-determined co-pays for medical services, and physicians, who may be paid much lower fee-for-service rates. It may take physician and consumer outrage at continuously rising premiums, deductibles, and co-pays to influence government action to limit insurance company power.
But unlike Aetna and Humana, Anthem is planning to appeal the anti-merger ruling. This case may well reach the Supreme Court in a year or two, or be heard by a lower court, and thereby affect the merger decisions of other large insurers. Which goes back to the question of ?why?Anthem would support the AHCA (released March 6th - by the time we print this article, the AHCA may be something entirely different). It is because the appeal is likely to be heard by more merger-friendly ears under the current administration. Impact of Trump-Era Policies It has been stated that ?Antitrust enforcement under Obama was uniquely robust,?according to an article in FierceHealthcare. Since Tom Price? who has expressed a commitment to repeal the ACA and reduce government regulatory control on the healthcare system ? was confirmed as the next secretary of DHHS (as well as Jeff Sessions for Attorney General), it is likely that federal anti-trust lawsuits against insurance companies will not be undertaken under their tenure. Composed of two budget reconciliation bills, the AHCA introduced by House Speaker Paul Ryan, grants insurance
Conclusion ? It Ain?t Over Yet The governing philosophy of most Trump appointees has been toward reducing government oversight. Supported by President Trump, the proposed replacement for the ACA eliminates the ACA mandate that all Americans have health insurance. Foundational to insurer capacity to avoid economic losses from participating in the health exchange was that younger and healthier people would enroll in equal measure to older and sicker adults. 15
Meanwhile, there is opposition to the currently-configured AHCA from both congressional Democrats and conservative Republicans. Its passage is not guaranteed, especially since release of the CBO?s cost estimate on March 9, 2017 that predicted shrinkage in the non-group enrolled market as a result of the AHCA. On the other hand, the Republican-controlled House and Senate are committed to repealing the ACA. This has fostered a sense of instability across the healthcare delivery system, while likewise fostering increased lobbying by the insurance industry to advance its economic interests. Although the AHCA currently maintains the ACA?s mandate that health insurance include Essential Health Benefits (EHBs), private insurance prior to the ACA varied greatly in terms of covered benefits. For example, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan prior to the ACA offered a plan to small businesses that excluded coverage for blood products, which are recognized as a high-cost medical item. As healthcare costs continue to rise for insurers, it is likely that insurer pressure will be exerted to eliminate the federal mandate for EHBs. Since millennials are recognized as averaging a high level of student loan debt as compared to the previous generation, these younger individuals may prefer health plans with lower premiums and reduced coverage, and thereby burden healthcare facilities with unpaid invoices following provision of required but uncovered services. In this manner, insurers may pass on this type of financial risk to physicians and hospitals. Meanwhile, 118 federal judicial vacancies can be filled by Trump appointees, and who are expected to reflect his administration?s opposition to government intervention in most business activities. The confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court may also lead to an overturn of federal decisions related to mergers and required insurer coverage, due to his philosophical leanings toward less federal regulatory power. Indeed, the perspective of the authors of a recent Health Affairs article is that private insurer mergers are likely to accelerate? and that Trump?s appointees will probably embolden mega-insurers to attempt further mergers. Therefore, the precedent that would probably have been set by these anti-trust decisions in accordance with Attorney General Lynch?s decisions as a member of the Obama administration is likely to have little long-term legal effect. While the movement toward an increased number of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) may slow in future, insurance company mergers will likely continue in an effort to adjust to impending health system instability as ACA-related regulations are overturned. Physicians and consumers are likely to bear the economic brunt of these changes, in which the largest and most powerful insurers control healthcare provider reimbursement rates along with health consumer options, and in tandem with decreased governmental involvement. 16
? The Ar t of Spin ? Susanne Madden | Founder & CEO The Verden Group 'Spin' is a term with which most of us have some familiarity. It is a term used to convey that a story is being 'spun' in a certain way to present the person or business or idea in a better light. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it does not.
But spin can only do so much. Imperative to belief is a good foundation story. Once the CBO was able to actually quantify the impact of the AHCA, well, there is no spin artful enough to stand up to those important facts. Which is kind of refreshing, as this year we have seen spin performed in the basest of ways, one in which a new term term has had to be developed: 'alternative facts'.
In its finest form, spin is an art - it takes a master story teller to pull it off, one that can convince you of just about anything simply by the way the story is told. When it works, it works well, but some stories just can't be spun.
Seeing actual facts trump the spin restores some faith that there still exists the checks and balances necessary to restore spin to its proper place - back to infotainment and the realm of celebrity misbehavior, rather than coming from the highest levels of governmental power.
Let's take the recent attempt to repeal and replace 'Obamacare' (the ACA) with 'Trumpcare' (the American Health Care Act, or AHCA). There was plenty of spin around what the new Trumpcare bill would do, at first. That it was a tax break, that it made it easier to sell insurance across state lines, that it was "great", in fact "the best", and would do away with all the things we hate in the ACA.
Healthcare is about fact-driven, quantifiable clinical evidence, not spin. Last week we got to see those same principles applied to understanding an outcome-based reality, despite every effort to 'spin'.
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? PRO TIPS ?
Chip Hart | Senior Associate
MARKETING YOUR PRACTICE (IN 2017) You Too Can Market Your Practice in 30 Minutes a Week!
When we decided to do an issue about marketing we knew in an instant that we wanted Chip Hart to share his great ideas. As Director of Pediatric Solutions at PCC, Chip is one of the most forward thinking pediatric practice consultants working in the industry today. Chip brings a couple of decades of experience in practice management to the table and he is passionate about learning new and better ways to do things. With his infectious enthusiasm for sharing that knowledge with others, we knew Chip would be the perfect person to walk us through how to effectively - and efficiently! - market any practice today. Chip reminds physicians and practice managers of a fact that is all too often overlooked, ?Remember that you are a service business. Your patients are customers.?During the course of this video, Chip makes the case that it?s the responsibility of the practice to constantly remind patients that what you do for them is incredibly important. Your patients, and consumers in general, have a steady stream of demands for their attention and it?s up to you to remind them that you are their trusted medical source.
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Click or go here if you are having difficulty playing this video directly http://www.vimeo.com/206483220
Chip?s presentation covers all of the bases, from why old ways of advertising no longer work (just say ?no!?to Yellow Pages) and why you shouldn?t try to tackle practice marketing on your own. If you are a physician, your first and primary job is taking care of patients and preventing illness and disease and not worrying about web design and social media ? that?s where your team comes in. Every single person who works for your practice should be sharing in the on-going marketing efforts. From handing out branded business cards, to ending every phone call with a reminder about your extended hours, or asking for patient feedback, your team should take advantage of every opportunity to promote the practice and your website. Chip talks about the importance of effective frequency in your messaging to make sure your practice is top of mind for your patients. From having a mobile-friendly website, to managing social media accounts, and crowd-sourced reviews on Yelp and Healthgrades, Chip explains it all. A natural born storyteller himself, Chip explains why you should write down your own stories and how that can help you to market what you are good at.
Ch eck ou t t w o of ou r f avor it e sit es f or social m edia bu sin ess car d t em plat es an d design s: Vist apr in t .com
Take 20 minutes out of your day to watch and learn from this master marketer. You won't be sorry that you did. 19
Zazzle.com
? MARKETING MATTERS ?
Noreen Quadir Social Media & Communications
Heidi Hallett Communications Director
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING for Medical Practices There?s no denying that social media is a key component of effective marketing for your practice and its influence in the medical community continues to grow. The digital landscape of today offers many opportunities to spread awareness of your practice and services to a wide audience. And with the advent of online reviews, patients can be your best promoters about your services and care on social media, allowing you to grow your reputation online. According to this article from Response Mine Interactive, 77% of patients said that a doctor?s social media reputation has an influence in their decision on which provider they choose. Patients will research a doctor on social media and pay attention to ratings and reviews written by other patients, much like they do when shopping for goods on, say, Amazon.com. When patients leave positive feedback about the quality of the care and the types of services they received and give you high ratings, that leaves a positive impression that potential patients will see, making it more likely they?ll choose you as their provider. In addition to the promotional value, you will also gain valuable insights into what your patients think about your services and how they felt about their experience at your office. This can also be a useful barometer in determining what services you may need to improve and any new ones you might consider adding. But it doesn?t stop at individual patient experiences. Promote your services and gain new prospects by letting your local community know about your practice too. Being part of a network or group and contributing to the conversation can get you recognized as the ?expert?,and ensuring that you have on-going promotional activities can make sure that you are known throughout the local community. The best outcomes through social media engagement is the development that you are the ?go to?office in town. To be successful, it?s important that you learn some effective social media marketing strategies to grow your practice. Let?s take a look at your options. 20
Choosing Social Media Platforms
Your first step is determining which social platforms will work best for your practice. Each of the following four platforms offer unique opportunities, audiences and methods for sharing content.
If you?re looking to engage with the medical community or 'media influencers', Twitter is a great tool to discover those users and create relationships with them. With 67 million users in the U.S., Twitter has a large audience with whom to connect.
On Twitter it?s all about keeping it short and sweet. With a limit of 140 characters (that?s letters, punctuation and spaces) you need to be succinct and part of that is using hashtags effectively. Think of hashtags ? words or phrases prefaced with the # symbol ? like an index in the back of a book. When you search for a topic by hashtag, all the tweets with that tag will be gathered in a list. With 66% of Twitter users saying they discover new businesses that way, the right hashtag can make your tweet be the one that gets noticed.
With 1.71 billion monthly active users and 1.13 billion daily active users, Facebook is one of the strongest platforms to connect with patients and prospects. One of Facebook?s advantages is the extent of its reach into key demographics. Of internet users in the U.S., 82% of 18-29 year olds and 79% of 30-49 year olds use Facebook ? that?s over three-quarters of Americans online! An easy to use platform, Facebook offers the ability to make specific business 'Pages' (rather than using your personal Facebook account). Once set up, making status updates, sharing photos and links to your site and others is a snap - just click on the type of post you?d like to make and follow the steps to publish your post.
You can get used to twitter by searching keywords and hashtags on topics like medical, health, wellness, doctor, and healthcare to see the top or latest tweets and conversations containing these words. Join the conversation by replying and re-tweeting to help establish online connections and increase the chance of gaining new followers.
Your Facebook Page is like a window into your practice. Let the personality of your practice and your team shine through with authenticity and people will want to engage. Practitioners like Dr. Tanya Altmann know the value of a strong social media presence and her Facebook page is a great example of doing it right. With almost 3,600 followers and a 4.9 star review rating, Dr. Tanya?s page is a go-to source for information on parenting and nutrition advice.
Note: When sharing a blog post or an article, it?s important to always tag the author?s Twitter handle so they see you sharing their content. Continue engaging with users that you connect with to maintain follower loyalty. Twitter also allows you to create lists where you can add users to specific groups making it very easy to 21
target a group of users with one tweet or to find their tweets on specific topics. For example, if you are following a parenting blog, you might want to add them to a blogger list. That way, you can easily find their latest posts by going to that particular list. Instagram At only 7 years old, Instagram may be one of the newer platforms on the market. As of December 2016, Instagram had 600 million monthly active users, and that?s up from 500 million in the six months prior, so you can see how quickly this is becoming the place to, literally, be seen. It has gone from a niche photo sharing app to an essential marketing platform for many businesses. Instagram is all about photographs and visuals and can be used to show the ?behind-the-scenes? aspects of your practice. Further, being called the ?happiest place on the internet' by Psychology Today, Instagram is a great platform for infusing your marketing with creativity, happiness and smiling faces. Pictures of your office and staff are a great way to build personal connections with your patients and to show potential prospects the welcoming feeling they will get when they visit. It also gives you the opportunity to share personal tidbits about your team such as their hobbies and interests outside of work. And their pets. (Instagram users love a good animal pic!) So if you like to take photos, Instagram may be the place for you.
Pinterest Even larger than Instagram, Pinterest commands 70 million domestic users and calls itself the ?the world?s catalogue of ideas?. That is a good tagline, as it is considered by many to be the platform for inspiration through its easy topical searches and visual approach. Much like a virtual bulletin board, its primary use is often for finding recipes, parenting hacks, style inspiration and creative pursuits. Posts on Pinterest are known as 'pins' and they always include images that then links back to the source website.
Like Twitter, Instagram?s reach is more effective when your post includes those hashtags. You can target your state, city, or community easily and effectively with the use of hashtags too. Take the Instagram post from PM Pediatrics, for example. With this one image, a short message and a couple of hashtags PM Pediatrics is sending the message ?We?re fun, friendly people".
Showcase the personality of your practice by choosing content that represents your practice?s brand and create boards (pins) for topics that will be of interest to your patients. A family practice, for example, may want to create boards for topics like food & nutrition, family fun for events in your community, crafts & 22
activities for kids, stress management, and inspirational quotes. Users can search by interest, so when someone keys in ?food for picky toddlers?the content you have pinned on that topic will appear in their results. Consider this: Pinterest is heavily invested in building out its platform with the latest in 'machine learning' which allows it to better understand content and the people using Pinterest. With that in mind, now you can see how new parents may be matched quickly to your practice for pediatric content that matches their interests. Essentially, you can post and just let Pinterest do the rest of the work for you! Key Tips Whichever social platforms you decide to use, you?ll want to showcase your brand by including your logo or a picture that best represents your business and images that convey the personality of your practice. Be thoughtful in your photo selection and if you don?t have a great one that represents your practice it is worth the small investment to have a professional photo taken. Always be sure to add information about your practice, including services, location, hours of operation, website link, and contact information. Keep in mind that you don?t need to be active on all social platforms. You may want to start out with one or two so you don?t feel overwhelmed. Choose the platforms that would work best for your practice. Ask your patients which networks they use by handing them a quick survey at the check-in desk that lists the main networks and asks them to check off the sites they use. Even better, ask them to rank which sites they use from least to most. If the majority of them use Facebook, then that is the best network for you to set up a profile. Finding Your Voice Once you have your social pages set up, you can start posting content and start growing your audience. Posting engaging and interesting content is vital if you want to engage followers and have them share your content further afield. There are two important things to keep in mind before you start posting; know your target audience and stick to your brand. Think about what interests your patients and your local community most. Ask yourself what they care about most when it comes to healthcare and their families? ?Sticking to your brand?means focusing on what sets you apart and makes your practice unique, the feeling or qualities that make your practice different from the one down the block. Your ?voice?is an extension of that brand; it is the style and personality that comes across in your messaging.
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Be consistent in your voice ? for an example, if you run a pediatrics office, your brand?s voice may be friendly, fun, and family-focused, whereas a multi-specialty practice may use a more serious tone that reflects the experience and expertise of their practitioners. Developing Engaging Content In addition to sharing pictures and info about your team and facilities, you also need to include posts about the services your practice offers, such as same day sick visits, flu shots, breastfeeding consultations, nutritional counseling, etc. Find new and creative ways to share information about these services often as a consistent reminder to new and existing patients. Humor is a great tool for engaging on social media ? instead of just posting a text-based notice about same day sick visits, include that funny comic you saw online about colds and flu (attributing it to the source, of course). In addition to posts about your practice, it?s essential that you also share content that is not directly about your business but is of interest to your audience. Social media gives you the opportunity to be a resource of information for your specific audience. To keep patients and followers consistently engaged with your pages, it is always good to post content that provides them with helpful information or content that can enrich their lives. Examples include such topics as general healthcare tips, diet and nutritional advice, safety tips for sports and other activities, how to treat a rash, or how to get a good night?s sleep. Share posts from other pages and accounts that would be relevant to your audience and be sure to tag the account from which you are sharing. The same should be done when sharing an article from a website. For example, if you post something from The Wall Street Journal, tag their account. Tagging is expected and appreciated in social media as you?re providing more exposure for others and thus, those pages become more likely to follow and share your content as well. Make your content as visually interesting as possible as studies have shown that people respond better to visual content. Infographics are a great way to do this and are visual representations of information designed to present the material quickly and clearly, which in turn makes them ideal for use on social media. You can search online for infographics on topics of interest to your patient base, or consider creating your own using one of the many online tools available such as infogr.am. To keep your pages fresh and interesting to a large audience, be sure to share helpful info about a wide range of interests including local activities and events in your community, parenting and family articles, and inspirational quotes. 24
Having a good mix of content encourages your audience to keep coming back and interacting with your pages.
Make sure to post a disclaimer on your social media accounts stating that patients should never post personal, health-related information there.
Another effective strategy in social media marketing is to ask survey type questions. Your surveys can be just for fun or to get useful feedback from your patients. Your question could range from, ?Brussels sprouts to spinach - which foods do your kids refuse to eat??to ?Do you know if you are overdue for a well visit??with responses to check off. It?s a great way to get people to respond to your posts and engage with your practice, and a useful tool for determining which services your practice can improve.
Make it clear that the content posted should not be considered medical advice, and request that patients call your office to discuss any clinical matters privately. You can also set up an automatic message reply on Facebook for those that try to engage you there via messaging ? a simple ?we prefer that you call our office directly for any inquiries. We cannot answer messages here? is an easy way to re-direct patients to more appropriate channels.
Managing Your Social Streams Understand that what makes social media marketing compelling is listening. By asking questions and responding to people?s comments, you are showing that you have a genuine interest in them and what they care about. It shows how much your practice values them as patients. So make sure that you can keep up with the comments and messages on all of your social accounts and respond in a timely fashion and it will further that view. But don?t worry if your practice can?t promise same day replies; just make sure to clearly state what the turnaround time is somewhere prominently on your profile (such as pinned to the top of the feed on Facbook). It makes good business sense to have a dedicated staff member to manage your social pages and keep up with the comments and messages you receive so that you don?t have to worry about spending too much time on social media yourself.
Here is an example of a very robust social media policy by the Northport VA Medical Center. You may not want to post information to this extent on your page but it serves as a nice example of a comprehensive disclaimer. month, instead of logging in everyday to post at specific times. The paid versions of these tools also offer deeper analytics than what the social platforms offer. It may even be worthwhile for you to contract an outside Social Media Manager to manage your accounts, develop marketing strategies, create and manage ads, grow your community, and track your metrics. A Social Media Manager can spend a few hours a week keeping your online presence active, so you have time to focus on running your practice. You can send a batch of photos and important updates to the manager to curate. The Social Media Manager can then schedule content for postings, monitor the engagement, discover people to connect with, and engage with others. Social Media Managers also keep up to date with the latest tools, social advancements, and campaign trends to implement in your social activities, all highly beneficial for your practice.
Efficiently Manage Social Media There are many tools to make social media management easier, such as Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, and Rignite. These tools allow you to schedule posts to all your accounts in advance, so you can do it all once a week or even once a 25
Budget-Friendly Advertising
makes it very easy to target these ads to your specific audience, including by age groups, location, interests and so on. By targeting a specific geographic area, for example, your ad will appear in the newsfeeds of people in your community. Add in Facebook users interested in 'parenting" and 'baby' posts in that region and now your ad will show up in the newsfeeds of new parents, further improving your targeted reach.
One of the most wonderful things about social media is that it is free and there are no upfront costs for using these essential communication tools. But should you wish to get the most out of these platforms, they also offer effective and affordable paid advertising options. Advertising on social media is a budget-friendly addition to your marketing strategy and Facebook is one of the best platforms for this. On average, Facebook likes cost in the $0.80 to $1.10 range per like. So spending $10 in advertising can lead you to 10 new followers, which can lead new patients to you.
Always add a visual component (photo, illustration, or video) to the ad and include a call to action, i.e. ?visit our website to learn more.? Advertising is particularly useful when you have a promotional offer, a new service, or an important update such as a change of location.
Example: Facebook Advertising You can create and run ad campaigns on Facebook to promote your services, gain new followers, increase reach and engagement, or drive more traffic to your website. Facebook
It?s beneficial to run specific campaigns throughout the year and a great way to manage that is to create a content calendar. Taking some time at the beginning of each year or season to plan out your content topics will save time in the long run and helps to create a consistent online presence for your practice and your brand. For example, during flu season, you can develop a campaign about how your patients can take care of themselves and let them know about your vaccination services. Creating and using relevant hashtags in posts on Twitter and Instagram will bring more visibility to your campaign, extend its reach, and make the post more memorable. Use Analytics to Understand Your Audience To generate ideas for content marketing on social media, it?s necessary to pay attention to the analytics of your accounts and track the metrics. If you?re fairly new to social media marketing, understanding and interpreting this data may seem daunting at first but investing a bit of time to learn more is well worth the effort.
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To get started, -
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Facebook makes posting updates, sharing photos, creating ads & event invitations easy with these handy options and more right in the status box.
The internet offers a wealth of ?how to?information and video tutorials on getting the most out of this data. Here?s one YouTube video that explains how to use analytics for improving ad campaigns. Facebook?s ?Insights?section shares information about your audience such as demographics, the ratio between men and women, age groups, which posts they liked best, and which posts received the most feedback. With this data, you?ll know what types of content are best suited for your audience, allowing you to fine tune your strategy even more. Social media brings visibility to your practice and gives you a platform for patient engagement, allowing you to continue building your relationship beyond your practice walls. By creating a presence on social media you are also giving your patients a voice by creating a space for them to share feedback, and ask questions at their convenience and outside of office hours. In Summary By posting interesting and helpful content, discovering relevant users to connect with, and creating engaging campaigns, social media marketing can play a significant role in your practice?s marketing and new patient recruitment efforts. 27
Begin curating content, including all visual assets, (i.e. photos, videos, humorous memes, and infographics). Set a budget for paid advertising to grow your followers. Consider having a dedicated team member or hiring a social media expert to manage your accounts, keep up with comments and respond to messages, develop campaigns, monitor all activities, grow your online community, and follow the analytics.
Remember that social media is an open invitation for patients to bolster or harm your practice?s reputation through reviews and ratings. To ensure the best ratings, ask patients at check-out how their visit went today: if they are unhappy, that is the time that you can do something to help offset the negative event. If they are happy, ask if they would please leave a review on your social media site(s). Keeping a business card listing your Facebook, Twitter, and/or other sites and
Meet Na ncy,our newRN!
handing it to patients when you request a review can ensure that plenty of positive feedback is received.
? Tools & Tip s ?
Other potential prospects that come across these reviews during their research for a provider are more likely to choose your practice for their healthcare when they see positive feedback. And the more ratings and reviews you have, the more it helps your practice to be found online. Read Susanne's article on Payer Ratings (pg.6) for more information about how reviews and ratings can also help your standing with insurance companies and their members.
We've gathered some of favorite social media and marketing tools here in this handy reference guide.
Using social media allows you to reach your patients where they are, re-enforce existing relationships and gain new patients through social media marketing campaigns, reviews and patient shares.
Free, Easy to Use Image Tools: Canva ? For the non-designer. Lets you easily create simple graphics, put images and texts together, and create infographics using a "drag and drop" function. Giphy ? The best way to search, share, and discover GIFs online. Great for adding humor to your posts. Recite ? Create beautiful & professional visual quotes ready to download and share on social media or your website. Imgflip Meme Generator ? Site for adding custom resizable text to images to make memes. PostCreator ? Allows you to add messages and logos to images for creating branded visuals.
Free, Easy to Use Video Tools: Adobe Spark ? A free online tool for creating animated videos, web stories and social graphics. Quick and easy to use! Magisto ? For creating easy to make professional videos to promote your practice. Add music, themes and effects with ease. This visual quote was created in under 30 seconds on Recite.
Dow n load a f r ee copy of ou r h an dy M ar k et in g Tools & Tips r ef er en ce gu ide h er e.
GoAnimate ? Allows you to make animated videos for promotional & educational purposes. Wideo ? For creating videos with animation, voice-over & music. Lots of templates to choose from & design experience necessary. Powtoons ? Another tool for creating engaging animated business videos with very little prior design experience. 28
? Tools & Tip s ? EMAIL MARKETING TOOLS
WEBSITE PLATFORMS
Mailchimp ? Free to use for a list of 2,000 subscribers or 1,200 emails per month. The platform has a simple dashboard where you can import and manage lists of subscribers, create an email campaign, choose between various templates or import your own, integrate your social channels and get reports on your email campaigns.
Wordpress ? One of the more popular content management systems, Wordpress lets you create a website for free. For premium services, plans begin at just $8.95 per month, for access to advanced design tools, CSS editing, and more space for audio and video. You can also add a domain name, remove Wordpress ads, and get quality email and live chat support. Wordpress offers a wide selection of designs, many of them free.
Constant Contract ? Starting at just $20 per month, you can choose from hundreds of design templates, add various features including videos, images, links, polls, etc., integrate with social media and get comprehensive reports on all of your campaigns. There is also a marketing coach available to advise you. Aweber ? This platform starts at just $19 per month for 500 subscribers, unlimited emails, and a 30-day refund guarantee if you are unsatisfied with the services. You can choose from over a 100 design templates, set up an autoresponder, integrate with social media, and get statistics on your email campaigns. Vertical Response ? Subscription is free for 4,000 emails per month and 1,000 contacts. You can choose between designing a template yourself through html or using the email wizard to help you build one easily. You can also connect your email marketing campaigns to your social channels for further reach. Flashissue ? Starting at only $5 per month, this platform lets you sign in through your Google or Facebook account and will automatically sync your contacts. You can add content from various sites, including blogs and articles, and Flashissue will summarize the content for you. You can then make edits for personalization and your newsletter is created and delivered in a matter of minutes.
GoDaddy ? With this web hosting platform, you can easily and quickly build your website and buy and register your domain. Plans start at only $5.99 per month and you get a one-month free trial and 24/7 support. Upgrades include SEO, email marketing, and PayPal integration. Wix ? This website builder lets you create a site for free using a variety of templates and themes. Using the ?drag and drop? feature you can easily add and customize photos, videos, links, blogs and more. Premium plans start at $5 per month.
Design and Prints Vistaprint ? Create, customize, and order business cards, postcards, flyers, posters, brochures and more. Pick from their large selection of designs or create your own. Get 100 business cards is only $16. Designers available through the site to create materials for you. 99Designs ? This online graphic design tool creates designs for logos, websites, business cards, posters, newsletters, and more. A great place to shop for your logo design, packages start at $299 for 30 designs. 100% money back guarantee. Fiverr ? If you?re on a budget and you?re seeking simple services, Fiverr is great. Search through a database of freelancers from different fields to provide services such as graphic, logo, and website design, copywriting, video producing and editing, voiceover, press releases, etc. All for as little as $5. 29
? PAYER NEW S ?
Heidi Hallett | Communications Director
PAYERS MAKE STRIDES INTO DIGITAL MARKETING
Physician and insurance network marketing has changed markedly over the past two decades with overall advertising expenditures by healthcare providers increasing by 33% between 2011 and 2014. In just the last few years, we?ve seen a huge increase in spending for digital marketing. MM& M?s Healthcare Marketers Trend Report reveals that websites, digital sales materials, social media, digital ads, and mobile/tablet apps are all essential marketing tools and marketing budgets are reflecting this. Consumers Demand More From Payers Today?s consumers place a high value on digital access to information and are accustomed to a certain level of convenience when it comes to managing their lives using online tools. A study by Strategy & PWC reports that consumers want the healthcare industry to step up and deliver more functionality, transparency, and simpler online tools as the most important feature they looked for from a health plan provider. When asked to rank health plan features by importance, respondents top 5 preferred features are all digital:
.Want th i s arti cl e 'to-go'? Dow nl oad a PDF v ersi on of i t f rom th e V i ew Poi nt si te h ere.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Out-of-pocket cost estimator Simple access to health records (online and mobile) Mobile post-care instructions and follow-up notifications Online appointment scheduling with in-network provider Central payment portal to both the health plan and providers
Recent statistics reveal that 72% of healthcare consumers surveyed went online to make their choices for insurance coverage and Payers 30
are taking notice. Insurance companies like Oscar Health are leading the pack in terms of innovative marketing and delivering on transparency and easy mobile access to services and care. From seamless mobile appointment scheduling to fast call-back service from providers, and even a mobile concierge service that helps with everything from provider selection, questions to ask the doctor, and explaining exactly what is covered in the plan, Oscar is really delivering on service and convenience. In the fall of 2015 we reported on the success of Aetna?s iTriage app. With features that help consumers find a doctor, check in to select ERs, instant access to personal health records, and a huge healthcare database with information on thousands of symptoms, diseases, conditions, and medications, all reviewed by Harvard Medical School it was very well received by consumers. Now in its 5th version and boasting an even easier user experience, the reviews just keep getting better: "iTriage: A Must-Have Mommy App"- iVillage? "I'm amazed how often I use this app. For a senior, this is a godsend." - iTriage User
audience where they are. Finally, tracking and measuring performance of digital marketing means the value and ROI (return on investment) is tangible and can be optimized to drive the desired outcomes.
Other Payers are recognizing not just the value in digital marketing but the essential need to change in that direction too. The appeal of digital marketing to the healthcare industry stems from three main advantages: flexibility, targeting, and tracking. Digital marketing offers flexibility in terms of budget and content like no other form of media. Where previous forms of media such as television and print work on set budgets and ?locked-in?content, digital campaigns and tools can be monitored for performance and consumer response, and then adjusted accordingly. With demographic and consumer data marketers can target the audience with precision and meet their intended
The Evolution of Digital Marketing In the mid to late 1990?s marketers jumped on the email trend and soon inboxes everywhere were bloated with promotional offers and unwanted spam. Despite that, email remained at the top of the marketing toolbox until about 8 years ago. The flood of email messages had resulted in resentment and consumers demanded tighter spam laws and protection against unwanted emails. Email marketing today is much more targeted and on a permission basis 31
making it a smaller, yet ultimately more targeted and effective, piece of the overall marketing plans. Today?s digital marketers are using text messaging, social media posts, podcasts, and consumer friendly apps.
well-positioned to leverage technology and customer data to redefine the customer experience in access to health services. Think of best-in-class examples of experience in travel, hospitality, banking or other financial services, and envision how will healthcare transform in similar ways.?
It?s hard to understate the importance of having a good digital presence in today?s market. These statistics from the PMC US National Library of Medicine help to illustrate the level of importance that consumers place on a hospital or provider?s online presence: -
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More Collaboration Needed It?s interesting to note that the majority of companies developing apps for healthcare (mHealth) have no medical background. The push towards digitization is coming from the app designers and the tech industry, not health care professionals. Research 2 Guidance, a UK app developer, hopes that changes and recently published a wishlist for improved collaboration. While they said there is a good deal of collaboration going on between mHealth app developers and healthcare professionals they feel that the partnership models have been underdeveloped so far ? and that spells opportunity.
81% of surveyed healthcare consumers responded that a hospital or healthcare entity?s social media presence increased their perception that the facility or entity utilized cutting-edge technology in patient care. 57% percent stated that a hospital?s social media presence would strongly influence their choice of where to seek services.
Three years later and it?s safe to assume these numbers have risen/will rise as more and more consumers have an increasing level of internet connectivity and even dependency.
Adapt or Follow the Leaders As healthcare consumers press for more convenience and on-demand services, Payers need to continue to adapt and evolve the digital tools and online experience they deliver. More and more insurers are accelerating their efforts in order to catch up to other service industries and while modeling their plans after the hospitality and tourism industry (considered the gold standard for service), may seem like a lofty goal to some, it isn?t. The business of healthcare is, after all, a service industry and Payers are waking up to the reality that their customers know what they want and if their insurer doesn?t offer it, they will get it somewhere else. The progression forward will always continue and what works today may not work tomorrow ? the marketers who keep on top of emerging technologies will surely be leading the pack.
Healthcare Industry Narrows The Gap Consumers have become accustomed to managing their lives online, and increasingly that experience is happening on smart phones and other mobile tech. From booking a haircut, to buying movie tickets, even filing income taxes, people are choosing to do it online. It?s little wonder that they demand the same from one of the most, if not the most, important aspects of their lives ? healthcare. As more and more Payers and providers recognize the need to bridge the gap in terms of service expectations we?ll be seeing a lot more movement in the digital direction. As a recent job posting for a Digital Marketing Director with Blue Cross says, ?health insurers are 32
VIEWPOINT MAGAZINE ONLINE At www.VerdenViewpoint.com you'll find expanded content, video, images, tips, interviews and more. Watch for links throughout the magazine or simply click on the link above to explore.
W HA T CA N YOU FIND ONLINE? -
Engaging audio podcasts Video interviews and industry commentary Our Graphic ViewPoint image gallery Popular articles from the Group's blog Susanne's 'Pearls' articles from Physicians Practice magazine Frontlines: Stories from our clients, colleagues and consultants Back issues of ViewPoint
K TO C I L C D REA K BA C ES I SSU
PODCA STS Want to see more photos and illustrations from The Verden Group's team & colleagues?
YOU' RE ONLY A CLICK A W A Y FROM GREA T A UDIO CONTENT.
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? W EB W ORK ?
Noreen Quadir| Social Media & Communications
TURN YOUR WEBSI TE VI SI TORS I NTO CONTI NUOUS CONTACTS Having a strong online presence is no longer optional. For medical practices to gain visibility and grow business, digital marketing is essential. The old adage, ?If you build it, they will come,?doesn?t apply to the internet ? you need to be able to drive traffic to your website to have consistent engagement with your online community. The goal is to give patients more reasons to visit your website than just checking out your services and booking appointments. Make your website their ?go-to?resource for healthcare information and they will revisit often. Starting a blog section on your site for sharing helpful healthcare information and tips is a great way to connect. If you haven?t created a website yet, don?t worry, there are several great platforms for building one inexpensively and without lots of know-how: Wordpress, Wix and Webs all make it easy to set up a visually appealing website and publish blog posts too. Call to Action: Get Your Visitors to Sign Up and Stay Connected Turning website visitors into subscribers is an effective way to build an audience. Most website platforms give you an option to create a ?call to action?in the form of a sign-up box or button ? when visitors subscribe, they?ll receive an email every time you make a new post to your blog or make updates or changes to your site. It will also populate your mailing list so that you can send them notifications from time to time about your practice and other useful information that they may be interested in hearing about. Make sure the sign-up button is highly visible and easy to use. All you need to ask for are names and email addresses and the fewer fields you ask subscribers to fill in, the better. The design of your signup box needs to attract attention and be visually engaging ? you want it to invite users in. The use of color and graphics can be simple but effective in driving readers to click and subscribe. Use colors that are action oriented such as red or yellow and directional graphics like arrows, triangles, or pointing fingers. Keep in mind that while bright colors can make your sign-up box eye-catching, studies have shown that you should only use white for the fields where users input their information as users recognize a white field as somewhere they are expected to enter information. 34
Location, Location, Location Of course, where you position the sign-up box is as important as how it looks. Always make sure to position your sign-up box ?above the fold?, which means it should be positioned in a spot that does not require the user to scroll down the page. It?s always a good idea to reinforce the invitation to subscribe at the end of any blog post or newsletter and that can easily be done in the text of your piece with a hyperlink back to the sign-up box at the top. In addition to these static sign-up opportunities, you can also choose to have a ?subscribe now? pop-up appear whenever a user visits your website or blog, and you can link an action from your Facebook Page to accomplish the same. Added Value
Social Media and Peak Posting Times
Give your visitors an incentive for signing up. If, for example, your latest blog post provides tips on best sleeping habits, tell readers that by subscribing they will receive a free guide with more health and wellness tips for promoting better sleep (then make sure to email that to them!). By offering something extra you are adding value and incentivizing the subscription offer. The free guide can be something as simple as a digital handout developed from your existing educational materials or an infographic they can print and hang on the fridge. And if they print it out and use it, then you?ve created another opportunity to put your brand and practice details in front of them continuously.
One of the most effective tools for attracting visitors and subscribers is social media. Posting updates that link back to your blog or site can really drive traffic but it?s important to be strategic in your posting.
Privacy Matters As privacy is a concern for many online users, always ensure subscribers that their contact details won?t be shared with any third parties. Provide a link to your privacy policy page and offer your assurance that you take the privacy of their information very seriously. That makes sure that visitors will feel more inclined to sign up, knowing that their submission and private contact information will be secure.
To understand the best times to post on Facebook, go to the ?Insights?section at the top of your page and click on ?Posts?(on the left hand side) to see a weekly chart that details when your audience is online. Hover your cursor over each day to see the peak times that your fans are online to determine your best times for posting. For most pages, the average peak times are between 3:00pm-5:00pm. However, every page is different so it?s important to know when your audience is active. Twitter and Instagram users are the most active between 12:00pm and 2:00pm and between 5:00pm and 6:00pm. Once you have determined your peak times for each social network, stick to a consistent schedule and aim for 3-5 posts per week to maintain an active presence. A post can be as simple as a short sentence or two and an invitation to click on a link to your
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latest blog post or an informative article you found online. For example, if you wrote a blog piece on how to take care of your child when they have a fever, include a tip or two in the social post and ask people to click on the link for more tips. Asking a question is also a great way to get people to engage with your page. When sharing an article on how to get kids to eat their vegetables, ask followers to share their tips and recipe ideas in the comments. Always be sure to go back and react to followers?comments with a quick ?like?or a reply.
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adjustments if needed. Adjustments can include increasing the budget if the ad is not reaching the anticipated number of users, changing the targeted age groups if you see a high peak among a specific range, or perhaps updating the visual content. Facebook?s Ads Manager section includes graphs and breakdowns for each day to show you how many people you?re reaching (impressions) and the number of clicks on your ad.
Small Investment, Big ROI
Making Connections
Purchasing Google and Facebook ads is another effective way to get more website visitors and subscribers. Your ads should include a visual component that best represents your practice, a brief description about your practice and services, followed by a call to action to ?like?or follow your page. The types of online ads that are most effective often present a special offer or service. The offer can be something as simple as a downloadable nutrition chart, or something fun like a chance to win a gift card to the local cinemas. A small investment of time and/or money can have a powerful return on investment by driving engagement up.
Connecting with online influencers is a great way to promote your website and your practice. Influencers can be local institutions, health and wellness sites, or lifestyle and parenting sites. Create relationships with these influencers, especially ones that are part of your community, by engaging with them and sharing their content. You might come across a mom blogger on Twitter who has some great tips to share ? send her a tweet applauding her post and share your insights with her to keep a conversation going. Remember, sharing begets sharing. When you share posts from other users they are more likely to reciprocate by sharing yours and introducing their followers to your practice.
Facebook ads are exceptionally inexpensive and provide a great return on your investment. Here?s how you can purchase ads: -
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When it comes to making connections, don?t forget the ?old fashioned way?of a face-to-face encounter. The next time you meet a savvy colleague at a convention, or community leader at a potluck, share your social media details and ask for theirs. Be sure to follow up with a message saying it was nice to connect in real life (IRL).
You?ll create and purchase your ads in the Ads Manager section in Facebook and Google Adwords for Google. After creating your ad, you can then target the people you want to reach within your local area. Both Facebook and Google offer options to narrow down your target audience to specific age groups or interests. Once your ad is up and running, you can monitor its progress and make
As you start to develop a list of influencers and resources, it might be useful to create a list or spreadsheet with their name, area of expertise, social media ?handle?or user name, and any 36
other contact details. The next time you post something in their area of interest, tag them and ask for their opinion or reaction. Driving Traffic Aside from social media, email updates and newsletters to your subscribers can drive traffic to your website. Creating attractive and inviting email updates and managing their distribution is easy with one of the many email marketing tools available: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Mailchimp Constant Contact AWeber Mailjet iContact GetResponse
The difference between impressions and reach. Impressions are the number of times a post from your Page is displayed. People may see multiple impressions of the same post. For example, if someone sees a Page update in News Feed and then sees that same update when a friend shares it that would count as 2 impressions. Reach is the number of people who received impressions of a Page post. Reach might be less than impressions since one person can see multiple impressions. For example, if a person sees a Page update in News Feed and then sees that same update when a friend shares it that would represent a reach count of one.
Most email marketing platforms have user-friendly source: www.facebook.com guides to help you get started. Your newsletter should be a combination of text, images, and links. Always be sure to offer recipients the option to view the newsletter in their browser if that is their preference or they are having trouble viewing it. Igniting Curiosity and Holding Interest Crafting attention-grabbing subject headlines can seem challenging if you?ve never done it before. Pay attention to the subject lines that grab your interest and the ones that don?t to get a feel for what works. In a nutshell, you want to create subject headlines that ignite readers?curiosity and make them feel you have quality answers to their questions. A few tips to keep in mind for increasing the chances of your email getting opened and read are: -
Keep it short and sweet, no more than one line of text for the headline. Be concise. Most email subject lines get only a cursory glance so make it clear and simple. Hint that they can benefit from the contents or that it can improve their health and wellbeing. If you?re offering something, tell them what to expect, i.e.: ?Your free guide is here!? Don?t make empty promises. Make sure the content backups the headline. When the content doesn?t include what?s promised in the headline, subscribers will view the email as spam. Make people feel that they are getting exclusive or ?insider?information with words like, ?for our patients only?or ?your invitation to join.? Ask a question that piques the reader?s curiosity and makes them want to open the email to find the answer. ?Is it better to exercise in the morning or in the evening after work?? Avoid capitalizing all of your words or adding exclamation marks as the email will look like unprofessional and could be mistaken for spam. Add some urgency in the headline so that the reader will be more inclined to open the email immediately. 37
In order for email newsletters to be effective, the content you offer must be relevant to the readers?lives. It?s best to pick a certain day of the week or month to send out the email newsletter for consistency and so your readers will know when to expect them. Once you start to build a large subscriber list you have to work to maintain them.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRIVACY
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Saying that people receive a lot of emails daily is an understatement. Subscribers will be quick to unsubscribe from newsletters and blogs that they feel they don?t need. Take time and effort to create updates that are worthy of your subscribers?loyalty. Consider keeping a log about the content of your posts so you can keep content fresh and ensure your subscribers continue opening and reading. Keep the newsletter short. If a topic requires more than a paragraph or two, just present the key points with a link to the full content on your website or blog. Bulleted lists can be a great way to quickly preview what readers will find after they click the link.
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Tried and True We?d be remiss if we didn?t mention one of the best and lowest-cost methods for promoting your site and your practice: word of mouth. When patients come to your practice, hand them an educational guide similar to ones they can find on your website. Let them know that you have more resourceful guides on a variety of subjects on your website.
Make sure the privacy policy spells out what data is being collected how it?s being collected (i.e. cookies, log files, etc.) and how the information the subscribers provide will be used. Let them know that you will not sell or share any of their contact details to any third party. However, state that if compelled by law to disclose their information, you will comply with legal orders. Also inform them that they can unsubscribe and opt-out of all future communications or modify their details at any given time if they wish to do so. Your privacy policy should have the effective date listed and details about how you will notify subscribers of any changes made to your policy, should they occur.
A strong online presence and interesting content on your website are essential to successfully marketing your practice to today?s tech-minded consumers. By using effective methods such as social media marketing, online advertising, email newsletters, and word of mouth you will grow your subscribers?list and drive traffic to your website and your practice.
In addition to your office team verbally promoting the website, a few tasteful signs or posters in the waiting room is a great way to increase the visibility of your website. Always have business cards that includes your website address and social media streams on hand at reception, in the waiting rooms, and exam rooms.
For more ideas on How to Market Your Practice, watch this Pro Tips video from our colleague Chip Hart of PCC.
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? SPOTLIGHT ?
Heidi Hallett | Communications Director
BRAND IDENTITY A conversation with Scott Hodgson, Graphic Design & Marketing Expert at The Verden Group
Self described "design addict", Scott Hodgson has been the creative brain behind countless branding, identity, advertising and packaging projects. Responsible for our own branding and identity, as well as those of many of our clients, we knew there was no one better to talk to about brand identity: what it means, the importance of differentiation, commitment, and using an authentic voice.
Heidi: Thanks for taking the time to chat with me and share some of your thoughts on brand identity and the part it plays in marketing. The word brand gets used heavily today but how do you define it? Scott: I have to say that the word ?brand?does get thrown around a lot. Heidi: I actually Googled ?brand identity?in preparation for our talk and every article voiced a different opinion. Scott: Yeah, it is a bit of a catch-all phrase. And it is useful in that everyone sort of gets it. So it's a useful general term. Heidi: Is there a more useful and specific term, or terms, that you use? Scott: Honestly, for the most part, what we're doing is corporate identity. Back in the day, that's what it would have been called. The whole identity thing has evolved, and there are certainly more branding aspects in an identity than there were in the past. For some companies, branding is really about the visual component and that?s all they need, but for others it requires a much more in-depth branding exercise. 39
Heidi: Do you see a difference between brand, identity, and logo, or are they all different sides of the same coin? I read an article today where the author was saying that they are three separate things, with ?brand?being the perceived emotional corporate image as a whole, ?identity? being the visual aspects that form the overall brand, and the ?logo?is simply an identifier, a mark or icon. Do you agree with that?
to a large degree. In those cases, the direction is often quite clear. When a practice is led by one individual, often they are the brand. Heidi: Sure, that makes a lot of sense. Scott: You kind of need to define the scope of the business. If it's large institutional organization, a big corporation, it's a different exercise than if it's something that is individually driven. Part of what they are going to do is to start with figuring out who they are as a company, what their personality, their values and core beliefs are. We need to establish that and we need to know who the audience is, who they're talking to. Then we need to figure out who the competition is.
Scott: Actually, that's not far off. I mean, it's very, very simplified but yes, the brand is really an emotional connection to the audience, to the consumer, so that does make sense. If you're going to differentiate it from identity, on the very simplest terms, then yes, it's the intangible parts if you want to look at the highest level of what the brand is ? the beliefs, the mind share, all that kind of thing. The identity is the visual manifestation of all that. The tactile part.
Heidi: OK, so you?ve determined the ?who?in terms of the company, the audience, and the competition ? what comes next? Scott: Then you need to decide ... and this is in very simple terms... you need to decide what you want to say to the audience. Is your vision aligning with what you are now?
Heidi: So let's say you are working with a new client and they've got absolutely nothing in terms of branding. They come to you and say, "We need to come up with a brand for our practice?? What sort of process would you go through?
That's really where outside consultants and the branding exercise can really be helpful because maybe what you are now is not what you want to be.
Scott: First of all, a lot of the practices we work with are small groups, so it's personality driven
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Heidi: That?s a really good point. I?m sure a lot of clients have a brand that just isn?t the right fit, that?s not working for them. They're saying, "Okay, here's our identity. Here's our personality. These are our values." And then your job is to say, "Sorry, your brand does not express that. If these are the traits you believe in moving forward then we can help you get there."
doesn't matter what market you're in or what niche within that market. It's about being the best in that market and differentiating your practice from the others. Heidi: So if you have a client who's resistant to change, or who has a hard time seeing the value in changing and establishing their brand, how would you explain to them why this is so important? How do you explain why they need to do this for their practice?
Scott: We have to ask, ?Does what they have now align with who they are and where they want to go? If it doesn't, then we help them to figure out who they are and what they need to do to make that happen. It's really that simple ...well, not simple but that?s a pared down explanation of the approach. Of course they have to buy in to it too. The client really has to believe in it because again, it all comes down to authenticity. They might say, ?We want to be this kind of company, but? it's not really in our DNA.?So then they have to make the choice. They need to ask themselves, ?Are we going to forget everything that we've done before and go in a different direction? Do we really believe in where we're going? Or do we just like the idea of it??
Scott: First off, "Are you happy with what you're doing now?" That?s my first question. And if they?re perfectly happy, great. But if they want change, if they want growth, this is an important thing to consider. You may think people know what your practice is about but from the outside, the reality may be that people don?t know what you do, what your specialty is, and what sets you apart. It's all about communication. Do they currently have really clear communication of what they are and what they offer? If they don't or if they want to change it, then the branding and the identity is the first step. There are other parts too but that?s first. Then there's the
And that's sort of the difference between branding and just identity design, is that you can design what you want it to look like and you can decide who you want to speak to, and you can develop that. That's the easy part. But, can you live it? Do you believe in it? At a certain level, it doesn't always matter. Practically speaking, many practices already have an established clientele. Say we?ve got an established pediatrics practice, they know who they are and who their audience is but they just need to look more professional or tighten up their marketing. They?re not the pediatrician to the stars. They?re the suburban soccer mom practice and maybe they should accept that ? own that ? and be the leader within that market. And that?s part of it too, the differentiation. It 41
SHOW CASE
marketing, social media, employee buy-in. But it all comes back to what your goals are. Where do you want to get? And then work back from there.
A select ion of log os created by Verden's desig n exper t , Scott Hod g son.
It often comes down to resources, because it's something that's ongoing and requires management, and all that stuff. Take social media for example. Clients sometimes see social media as a shortcut, that it?s an easy, low cost approach and all they need is a logo to pop on the profile page. But brand identity and social media are very entwined. To do social media for business right, that requires resources, that requires personnel, expertise. It?s much more in-depth than people realize. The payback can be there but it takes work. Heidi: And even if a company thinks they can just ?hop on?social media, they've still got to have some sort of brand identity, or else there?s no focus, no authenticity as you say. Scott: Right. The brand is the personality, the voice and all the core beliefs ? it's how the customer understands you. You can?t separate that from the communications. If all that stuff is in place then you can have an authentic voice when you do any marketing, but social media in particular. It really comes down to authenticity and you can't outsource that, or it's very difficult to do. Heidi: That makes sense. Social media started as a person-to-person network but today companies and brands are seen as living, breathing entities with their own style and approach ? that?s the voice. It all has to work together, doesn?t it? All of these marketing pieces are just that, pieces to a larger plan. Scott: Yeah, 'cohesiveness' is a pretty key word for that. The branding really takes all of that and more into consideration. When you have a single, clear voice in everything that you do, it works. 42
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VIEW POINT Edit or -I n-Chief : Susanne Madden | Edit or ial, Design and Pr oduct ion Manager : Heidi Hallet t | Cover Design: Scot t Hodgson Cont r ibut or s: Susanne Madden, Julie Wood, Heidi Hallet t , Nor een Quadir , Chip Har t ViewPoint is a seasonal publicat ion, dist r ibut ed digit ally Š The Ver den Gr oup 2017 44
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