It may not be as difficult as you suspect to recruit doctors to your blog. Here’s a doctor’s perspective on how to sell the idea to busy doctors.
It may not be as difficult as you suspect to recruit doctors to your blog. Here’s a doctor’s perspective on how to sell the idea to busy doctors.
It’s outrageous to think that someone would purchase a new luxury automobile—a Mercedes or BMW, let’s say—that has no engine. All leather interior, headlamp washers, satellite stereo radio, LCD multimedia package…but without an engine, it doesn’t go anywhere. Yet we often hear from physicians who have—metaphorically speaking—done exactly that. A new doctor’s office with no […]
In the kindest of terms, the US Census bureau website was, for many marketing planners, a bitter and frustrating joke. I’m relieved to report that American FactFinder now has a new look, new tools and (grand sigh) easier access. Ask any experienced healthcare marketing professional. Extracting useful statistics from the US Census Bureau has been […]
Surprising insights gleaned from our discussions with many of the nation's leading medical group administrators - and what you should do next as a result We gained a number of surprising insights from talking with hundreds of medical group practice administrators and CEOs at the MGMA* annual conference in Las Vegas this year. Based upon […]
Intellectually, a myth is understood to be a fable or false notion. But emotionally, a myth has great appeal. It is something that people collectively want to believe. Human nature tends to dismiss reality in favor of an alluring idea. What’s more, a myth gains traction and believability when it is often told or heard […]
We have two winners in the Healthcare Success medical office sign contest. Our thanks goes out to all the subscribers who submitted photo entries. Picking a single winner was tough. In fact, we had to name two practices with marketing-effective outdoor signage as our winners. Here they are, in random order. Our congratulations to:
Marketing Trainer Lori Waltz is something of a healthcare Road Warrior with a string of success stories and travel anecdotes. Here’s the scoreboard: She has helped over 1,000 practices and hospitals in her career, including 48 states, plus a few nearby countries and territories. Oops…only 48 states? It’s true. Lori has provided marketing training—about telephone/front desk […]
How to find the greater value and medical marketing opportunity in negative comments The marketing vernacular is "voice of the customer." Either praise or complaint, it's the most direct feedback for medical professionals, group practices or hospitals about service delivery and satisfaction. Here's how to deal with negative comments, increase patient satisfaction, enhance your reputation […]
You’re going to want to block out a few hours for quiet reading and concentration. Healthcare marketing and communications professionals will want to (carefully) read all 563 pages of the Final HIPAA Omnibus Rule. It becomes effective next month, with a compliance date of September 23rd of this year--with increased fines for non-compliance. How will […]
In our travels, we see a lot of “not-so-good” office signage, and we decided it was time to spotlight (and reward) the really good, hard-working external signs. Send a picture or two of your medical office or healthcare practice sign. We’ll evaluate the top contenders, and the best sign will win a free seat at […]
Although some risk is inherent in healthcare marketing and advertising, smart planning and creative execution can minimize problems and maximize return. But while risks are manageable, money-wasting mistakes are a different animal. Over the years, we’ve encountered all kinds of mistakes; more than we have space to list here. But, if there’s a silver lining […]
The month of December often triggers a bit of personal and professional reflection and self-evaluation for most of us. And generally, that's a good thing. Perhaps we appreciate the achievements and milestones of the year ending. And we look ahead at the New Year with visions of opportunity and progress. From a medical marketing perspective, […]
About a month from today everyone will be hanging a fresh calendar on the wall for 2013. And even from this relatively close perspective, the issues and challenges of what’s ahead for hospitals, physicians and healthcare providers are beginning to focus. As we see things, one dynamic in the New Year will be that change […]
By Neil Baum, MD Most of us like to think of ourselves as good to excellent communicators. However, if we were to survey our patients about our communication skills, we would find, to our dismay, that we are deficient in our ability to receive and transmit information to our patients. A study that monitored provider-patient […]
Perhaps the single biggest barrier to the adoption and proliferation of telemedicine has been a financial one. Physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers have avoided or resisted the various forms and formats of "telehealth" because there's no obvious path to monetize the time and effort. Frankly, that's still an issue, but it's changing. Some practitioners […]
There’s a tendency to oversimplify what we think of as hospital and medical practice branding. Perhaps we think of the carefully crafted logo and tagline as the brand. For others, the physical structure—a commanding facility with amenities emblematic of the brand. Or perhaps “our brand” is the prestige name and reputation of a long-established practice.
Internet advertising terms can be a bewildering forest of initials, tech-talk and shorthand. For some healthcare providers it’s a strange vocabulary that’s essential to successful online advertising that brings new patients to your doorstep. Fortunately, it's easy to master. Why Internet advertising? Patients and prospective patients—the target audience—are online. The search for health and healthcare […]
Our (occasional) Friday Video post today is truly awesome. And it’s clearly our new favorite in the hospital/healthcare category from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. If you haven’t seen the Hey, Jude! Make it Better online campaign, take three minutes to watch patients, staff, researchers and a string of celebrities present an unforgettable […]
Somewhere in everyone’s job description—expressed or implied—is the need to be creative. And we know from experience in that it’s doubly challenging to be creative on demand. Surprisingly, a little coaching can help the process of generating good ideas for better healthcare marketing and advertising. Here are some secrets about being creative from, of all […]
Hospital and healthcare marketing professionals have only begun to experience the rise of the new consumer. There’s even more consumerism likely in the future, according to the 2012 Altarum Survey of Consumer Health Care Opinions. This and other findings are influencing the shape of healthcare marketing and advertising. Of significance for marketing and communications planners, […]
This is a curious business concept: One of New York’s largest hospital networks wants to keep their hospital beds empty. That notion, says Kaiser Health News, would be the case for some hospitals that want to provide health insurance. Disruptive business ideas are innovations intended to improve a product or service in ways the market […]
Often, It’s important to know what not to do in healthcare marketing…and especially when it comes to website design. Creating and maintaining an excellent online presence can be a challenging task. But it’s well worth the investment when your web presence creates brand (and reputation) awareness, generates inquiries and produces a stream of new patients. […]
Understandably, interpersonal and communications skill is one of the vital core competencies for physicians. But communications is also one of the biggest gaps in physician competency, according to the American Hospital Association’s Physician Leadership Forum. Some of the obvious applications for good communications include working effectively with provider team members, professional colleagues and doctor-patient interaction. […]
Maybe you first met AIDA in a creative writing class. And that could have been long before there was an Internet, Internet marketing, social media…or the constant challenge to engage your audience. Digital media is contemporary, but customer (patient) engagement is a marketing fundamental that’s been around for years. So, although AIDA is decades old, […]
We’re always watching for new healthcare and doctor marketing tools. But only a few “new, online startup” companies get the necessary business traction to be successful. That said, we spotted something unique from Clear Health in Minneapolis called Clear.MD. [That’s clear-dot-md, not dot-com.] It’s a startup—presently in online Beta testing—but Clear.MD shows some genuine promise […]
Our first post about Happtique—the Greater New York Hospital Association’s (GNYHA) mobile application store—was just prior to its launch in 2010. Much has transpired in the subsequent couple of years. There are some important trends here for forward-looking healthcare and hospital marketing professionals. Including—just this month—a pilot program for an app for issuing prescriptions.
We'd like to hear about your experience with Facebook ads. The popular social media giant is experiencing considerable challenges in rolling out its advertising revenue model. By many accounts its present form seems to be a Facebook Fail. Has that been your experience? Holy Timeline, Zuckerberg Fans! Healthcare and hospital marketing and advertising will want […]
Does anyone still need to be convinced that Pinterest should be part of your hospital marketing plan? The typical objections might be that this social media platform is still too new…it may not deliver any value…or they’re still in a beta test phase. A conservative approach to online fads and fancies is reasonable. (This morning’s […]
We’re not sure that we can say this any stronger. Up and down the nation’s healthcare delivery system, professional referrals are the essential lifeblood of business for many practices. In the world of hospitals and specialty practices, doctor referrals are an indispensable factor in the function of the practice. When a professional referral system is an […]
The core concepts of Likeonomics are so essential to successful healthcare branding and marketing that every doctor, dentist, physician, surgeon, provider (and their staff) will find value in this powerful little business book. Healthcare delivery is a highly personal transaction that primarily occurs while a provider and patient are face-to-face. And if this intersection does […]
Number-crunching executives, administrators and business-minded IT folks will love the remarkable detail in Hospitals & Health Networks magazine’s 2012 Most Wired survey of the nation’s hospitals and health systems. The social media and hospital marketing slice of data is important and informative. But this is a big report, so let me guide you a little.
Two snippets of recent healthcare news look like they are likely to collide with the next patient-physician encounter in your office. What’s more, they are loaded with potential physician marketing and communications challenges. We’d like to hear about your experience and what you think about these two conflicting issues: Google’s Symptom Search: aka “Doctor Google.” […]
Like the sound of fingernails scraping a chalkboard, bad hospital advertising drives us a little crazy. In our line of work, we see a lot of external hospital ads—in magazines, billboards and TV/video work. And frankly, much of it probably does a decent job—in fact, some of it is inspired. But then there are the clunkers and […]
There aren’t many healthcare providers who are unaffected or unaware of challenges all around them. The parade includes reform requirements, the “soft economy” with rising costs and shrinking margins, shifting medical marketing goals and demographics…and the overarching stretch of resources to maintain and improve quality of patient care. “Innovation is the ability to see change […]
File this one under “doctor/physician competition.” It’s no surprise that, for most providers, the competitive landscape has shifted. But what’s unusual here is the emerging trend of online medical advice—live, immediate and direct from doctor—for a fee. This relatively new healthcare delivery channel has not only taken root, but it’s likely to continue to grow […]
You might have the impression that "content marketing" buzzed its way into popular use a digital minute ago. In the "buzz-vocabulary" of healthcare marketing it's a timely (but not-so-new) topic. Content marketing is a natural fit for many hospitals and healthcare providers. It's a means to speak to people and provide them with useful and […]
Frequently we discover a medical practice that is attempting to run a marketing program without tracking the source of new patients. They might as well be burning their hard-earned currency in a wastebasket. Without a tracking system in play there’s no definitive measure of results or any clear understanding for a medical or dental practice […]
Consider this a brief continuing education exercise. Take a three-minute break from your work today and step into the not-too-distant future. Healthcare and medical marketing professionals…ask yourself, “How would I devise a marketing plan for any of theses five innovations in health?” You may not have heard about these ideas, but The New York Times […]
This is an installment in the Healthcare Success series about how the significant changes in Google Search impact healthcare marketing and advertising, and what medical practices and hospitals need to know as the online search giant changes the rules. Think of it as "Facebook Friends" for Google...only much bigger and more important. Google, the undisputed […]
The new numbers make it official: “As of April 2012, 53 percent of American adults age 65 and older use the internet or email,” according to Pew Internet & American Life Project. “Overall, 82 percent of all American adults ages 18 and older say they use the internet or email, at least occasionally, and 67 […]
The general public, the news media and hundreds of primary care and pediatric medical practices are sifting through the Consumer Reports ratings that were widely circulated this month in Massachusetts. From a healthcare marketing perspective, the Boston Business Journal was quick to point out that some of the numbers aren’t flattering. Reading between the lines, we […]
Here's how to produce amazing results from tiny territory and precision creative. By Lonnie Hirsch Postcards–the unpretentious little urchins of the direct mail game–can be a heavy hitter in your marketing mix. But for as unassuming as a postcard may appear, there are a lot of significant rules to this game that can make the […]
Arrrgggh! There’s a staff position in your medical practice that needs to be filled pronto. It doesn’t matter if the vacant chair is for a medical assistant, practice representative, healthcare marketing assistant, Physician Assistant or for clerical/reception duties...there’s a big difference between “hiring” and “talent acquisition.” In our experience, the former is usually a bit […]
In this guest post, Phil Sharp fondly remembers his math teacher and finds an insightful and practical lesson for medical practice marketing. It’s all about smashing boring routine with a highly memorable patient experience. I know you’re a busy doctor, but if you let me tell you a quick story about my former trigonometry teacher, […]
Picture the concentric rings on a paper target. The “bull’s-eye” center is primary, but "hits" within the other circles contribute to the total score. In medical practice marketing, it’s easy to overlook the fact that for each “ideal new patient,” there are several others around him or her. For accuracy (and marketing effectiveness) the complete […]
Massachusetts primary care physician groups—some 500 of them—are the focus of a first-in-the-nation comparison from Consumer Reports. As we see it, medical providers, practices, and healthcare and medical practice marketing professionals in the other 49 states will want to take note for several key reasons: 1. Ratings primarily reflect the “patient experience”—and are marketing significant. […]
It’s amazingly easy to overlook the usefulness and convenience of a single-source and up-to-date CONTACT page. No doubt you have a “contact” page on your website, but putting it all together as a page or post on your blog also does double-duty. First, it lets the world know who you are, where you are, and—conveniently—it […]
If the word “gamification” is new to your medical marketing vocabulary, you might want to take note. Admittedly it’s an invented word, and an umbrella term for many aspects of games and game playing. But many authoritative thought leaders see the use of educational and online games as a significant influence in society that’s fast […]
Most medical device sales and marketing people tell us the #1 objection they fear most is... "But how do I make money with this?" When you look at things from the doctor's point of view, that's a very good question.
Most of Seth Godin’s business books are little. He’s written more than a dozen best sellers that are tight and tiny, easy-to-read packages of advice for entrepreneurs and business. Although his observations are not particularly about medical practice marketing, sometimes he hits a homerun in our ballpark. Incidentally, we have no business connection with Seth […]
