Each week we email a tip or news that we are covering in Strategic Health Care Marketing. You can view the archives of this weekly ezine below.
What’s the best way to nurse an ailing employee newsletter back to health? For Miami Children’s Health System (MCHS), the solution to overhaul an existing internal publication in dire need of an update was to use an updated software solution that creates an interactive digital experience for staff members. As the only designated health system Read More
Peter Hochstein, our crackerjack marketing writer, likes to interview hospital marketing departments and their advertising agencies for his column. “And I often ask them identical questions. I justify this with an analogy concerning two people viewing an elephant from opposite ends,” he notes. “One party tells you the animal’s most notable feature is a skinny tail. Read More
Piedmont Health Services really means business, especially when it comes to protecting the health of the community. Back in 2009, it started a unique partnership with Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce to provide access to more affordable health services for employees of small businesses and their families. Since the high price tag associated with most Read More
What happens to medical supplies and equipment once the items expire? How can you mix medications and supplements safely? What are some healthful and quick lunch recipes? These are just a few of the timely topics covered on Sharp Health News, a new website run by Sharp HealthCare. The news service was launched in October Read More
Savvy health care marketers recognize that people tend to trust what they know. Therefore, it’s important to remember that new isn’t always better. The reality is that even amid the shifting priorities of the health care field, staying grounded on your past accomplishments and trying to progress from there may get you further than trying Read More
Copywriter and SHCM columnist Peter Hochstein recently spotted an interesting advertising tactic for an urgent care center: A billboard displaying the word “OOPS?” in an upward-slanted, rounded rectangle, along with the word “OUCH!” in a similar but downward-slanted rectangle. Adjacent to OOPS? and OUCH! is a headline that says “Crystal Run Urgent Care!” Hochstein was curious to know Read More
Health care marketers often look to their peers for examples to help guide their efforts to bring people in to access their programs or services. But when Access Health CT (Connecticut’s state-run health exchange) came into being in 2012 to serve as a statewide exchange making affordable health care accessible for qualified individuals and businesses through Read More
How much do you really know about your patients? If you and your staff haven’t asked the people you treat to talk about their personal experiences, their families, their careers, and the things they care about, you could be missing a valuable opportunity to connect with them on a deeper level—and you may also be Read More
How much do you really know about your patients? If you and your staff haven’t asked the people you treat to talk about their personal experiences, their families, their careers, and the things they care about, you could be missing a valuable opportunity to connect with them on a deeper level—and you may also be Read More
“When is the last time your C-suite reached out to your medical staff to find out what they want and need? If the answer is ‘never’ (or at least not anytime recently that you can remember), you could be missing out on some important opportunities to help your hospital or other health care setting reach Read More
A phenomenon you might call “big synergy” is powerful stuff. If you have the resources to somehow combine several strong elements of human interest seamlessly into one emotionally touching marketing and advertising campaign, each element can support, reinforce, and energize the others. This creates efficiencies of exposure and impact that eclipse most traditional advertising. And Read More
How do you get your news today? If the answer is mainly online, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, with fewer people reading printed newspapers and magazines than in past decades, you may be considering following the trend by ditching your health care organization’s printed material to focus your efforts solely on the digital side Read More
Seattle Children’s recently scored a touchdown when it launched a new campaign called “Strong Against Cancer” to raise awareness and support for groundbreaking research that holds the potential to cure childhood cancer. Leading the play is Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who has a personal connection to Seattle Children’s and who has used his platform Read More
While Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida is a well-regarded teaching hospital with a Level 1 trauma center, there was a perception that its facilities were outdated—which was particularly problematic for the facility’s maternity services. “When you’re talking about organ transplants, the quality of the room you’re staying in is not one of the top three concerns,” Read More
“Every great brand has a story to tell,” says Mark Shipley. And “an emotional, honest brand story can change the perception of a hospital or health care organization, eliciting consumer engagement, employee alignment, and a unique competitive position,” he adds. Shipley is the CEO and Strategy Director of Smith & Jones, a health care marketing agency Read More
“When a new brand takes hold as intended, one tough job is over—but another has already begun,” note Stacy Beers and Claire Hovis. “How soon is too soon to change gears from brand establishment to a new phase of promotion? Will new messages come across as mixed messages and muddy the clear impression you’ve worked Read More
At Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, several customer-oriented programs are deeply integrated into the facility’s framework to help people feel truly comfortable with the care they receive. Such customer-focused programs include (among many others) concierge services through the Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Heart & Vascular Center. Barnes-Jewish is Read More
Want to connect with your target audience on a more powerful level and motivate behavior change? Denise Aube, Executive Vice President and Healthcare Practice Leader at Crosby Marketing Communications, suggests turning to the principles of behavioral science to make your efforts more effective. “The challenge is how do we engage patients and motivate healthy behavior. It’s Read More
“The key to successful health care marketing is being able to anticipate how patients will react to and engage with the messages you are putting out,” says Kirstan Cecil, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, which is part of the Ascension Health System. Saint Agnes Hospital is a 276-bed, Read More
We live in a DIY age, observes Michael Del Gigante, President of MDG Advertising. Which is why it’s no wonder that consumers have eagerly hopped aboard the “DIY health care” train. “People are increasingly comfortable with using everything from websites to activity sensors to monitor their own health, diagnose problems, and self-treat issues without having to Read More
Hospitals present more audio opportunities than do most brands, says Colleen Fahey, the U.S. Managing Director of audio branding agency Sixième Son. But most of the time, this opportunity is wasted: “Walk into the admissions area of a university hospital and you’ll hear the clatter of carts, the chatter of announcements, the buzz of phones Read More
// An SHCM webinar on March 30, 2016 //
Patients are transforming health care as they demand that health care organizations provide them with a consumer experience. They expect the immediacy of a Google search, the personalization of Amazon, the convenience of Uber, the value of Target, and the ubiquity of Facebook.
And the changes are happening fast. Most health care organizations understand they must embrace change or be left behind.
But what does this mean in practical terms for your organization? How can we make health care access easier, more valuable, and more efficient? What tools can we use to improve delivery of care and empower patients to manage and improve their health?
What will it take for your organization to build a consumer-centric health care system based on wellness and prevention? How will the ability to collect, measure, and analyze customer data translate to competitive advantage?
Join us on March 30 for a webinar presented by Pamela DeSalvo Landis, Vice President, Information Services, Carolinas HealthCare System and Lindsay Resnick, MHA, Chief Marketing Officer, Wunderman Health. Learn more »
The corporate and health care sectors often talk in different languages and have different ways of doing business. But there are lessons from the business world that can translate well to the health care setting, especially when it comes to building a brand. Perhaps no one knows this better than Lisa Stockmon, the Chief Marketing Read More
St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers in Poughkeepsie, New York, wasn’t the first hospital to find itself drowning in a sea of financial troubles and it probably won’t be the last, notes veteran copywriter Peter Hochstein. Having filed for bankruptcy, “It was accepting bids for full acquisition from other hospitals,” recalls Barbara Kram, Senior Director, Read More
As one of the largest Catholic health systems in the Midwest, Franciscan Alliance recently decided to reach into its religious roots in an attempt to make a deeper connection with females in the local market and build up the women’s services line. The result is a unique marketing campaign for the health system’s women’s services Read More