Veteran copywriter and SHCM contributor Peter Hochstein boils down one hospital’s advertising campaign down to one word: wisecracks. The little girl getting wheeled into surgery is about 11 years old—and not at all like any other little girl you’ve seen in TV spots about surgery. She’s a quick-thinking, fast-talking, smart mouth. But then, so is Read More
“Here’s important context for health care marketing in 2017: Attention and trust continue to decline across the country,” says Ryan Hanser, APR, who leads Hanser & Associates, a full-service PR firm based in Des Moines, Iowa. “Sure, we still have knowledgeable specialists—doctors, for starters. The trouble is that people increasingly reject the authority of expertise. Read More
A new educational campaign led by Lenox Hill Hospital has rallied together an impressive array of big and small public and private groups in New York City to fight against a common problem: the incidence of diabetes in the Latino community. “Hispanics are almost twice as likely as non-Hispanics to be diagnosed with diabetes and Read More
Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // The little girl getting wheeled into surgery is about 11 years old—and not at all like any other little girl you’ve seen in TV spots about surgery. She’s a quick-thinking, fast-talking, smart mouth. But then, so is the pediatric surgeon who accompanies her. The girl asks, Read More
Augusta University Health System is no stranger to change. Over the past five years, it has undergone several rebranding campaigns and two consolidations. Yet through all of these fluctuations, one thing has remained the same: the need to find new and more efficient ways to improve its reputation and continue to grow market share. The Read More
// By Lisa D. Ellis // Augusta University Health System is no stranger to change. Over the past five years, it has undergone several rebranding campaigns and two consolidations. Yet through all of these fluctuations, one thing has remained the same: the need to find new and more efficient ways to improve its reputation and Read More
// By Lisa D. Ellis // A new educational campaign led by Lenox Hill Hospital has rallied together an impressive array of big and small public and private groups in New York City to fight against a common problem: the incidence of diabetes in the Latino community. Rallying Around a Common Problem “Hispanics are almost Read More
// By Terrence Tucker // When parents have children with fevers or a bout of stomach flu, whether they need a general practitioner or a specialist, they’ll generally look for doctors who are close to them. Even if the need isn’t immediate and patients are just looking for a physical exam, six out of 10 Read More
// By Ryan Hanser // Here’s important context for health care marketing in 2017: Attention and trust continue to decline across the country. Year over year, America appears to be witnessing the collapse of expertise and institutional trust. Sure, we still have knowledgeable specialists—doctors, for starters. The trouble is that people increasingly reject the authority Read More
If you or a family member broke an ankle or dislocated a shoulder, what if you could just use an app on your smartphone to schedule a visit at a nearby orthopedic urgent care center and, at the same time, also arrange for an Uber driver to transport you? That’s the premise of a new Read More
When its market share began dwindling recently, Tanner Health System turned to micro-targeted data to step up its marketing efforts. Until recently, the system’s main sources of information were limited to the basics such as electronic medical records, census bureau results, and general facts about the service area. “We also had data from the Georgia Read More
“Call centers in health care used to be treated like the ugly stepchild of the health system, banished to the basement of some administrative building and populated with low-performing employees,” says Robin Snow, founder and principal of Aefinity Interactive, LLC. “Because it was seen as a necessary evil, most executives treated the call center as Read More
// By Lisa D. Ellis // If you or a family member broke an ankle or dislocated a shoulder, what if you could just use an app on your smartphone to schedule a visit at a nearby orthopedic urgent care center and, at the same time, also arrange for an Uber driver to transport you? Read More
Part 2: Interpreting (Spoken Word) Requirements for Health Care Organizations // By Jill Mead // Are you wondering about President Donald Trump’s current plans to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act? Most people working in the field want to know the timeframe and what this will mean when it comes to interpreting (spoken word) Read More
Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // In 2013, three hospitals, along with various satellite practices and facilities in the western suburbs of Chicago, merged. Edward Hospital in Naperville, Illinois, with 309 beds, all in private rooms; Elmhurst Memorial Hospital in Elmhurst, Illinois, with 259 beds, also all in private rooms; and Linden Read More
Are your marketing messages living up to their full potential? If not, you may need to think more about the concept of health literacy and how to reach your target audience on a deeper and more personal level, by talking about things they care about in a simple, direct language that they can understand. Health Read More
// By Lisa D. Ellis // When its market share began dwindling recently, Tanner Health System turned to micro-targeted data to step up its marketing efforts and make them more efficient. Using Data to Hone Marketing Efforts As a nonprofit health system serving nine counties in rural west Georgia and east Alabama, Tanner has more Read More
// By Robin Snow // Call centers in health care used to be treated like the ugly stepchild of the health system, banished to the basement of some administrative building and populated with low-performing employees. Because it was seen as a necessary evil, most executives treated the call center as a cost center. Under this Read More
Who says print is dead? That’s far from the case in the health care field, where “publishing magazines is starting to seem as commonplace in many hospitals as taking patients’ temperatures. Well, almost,” says veteran copywriter and SHCM contributor Peter Hochstein. “The data collected over the last ten years shows that approximately 60 to 70 Read More
They say breaking up is hard to do—but merging isn’t always so easy, either. When two health care organizations in New Jersey joined to create one larger, more comprehensive system called Hackensack Meridian Health last summer, there were numerous challenges in addition to opportunities. For instance, the CEOs of both legacy organizations decided to share Read More
What if you were in a foreign country and needed emergency medical care but couldn’t communicate effectively with the health care providers there? This could put your life at risk, if you and your provider couldn’t understand each other fully. While this might sound like a nightmare, it’s a scenario that’s also all too common Read More
“On July 18, 2016, the long-awaited final rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities went into effect. The new rule provides a comprehensive framework of what it means to provide effective communication and meaningful access to health care for Limited English Proficient (“LEP”) and disabled patients, Read More
How to Overcome 5 Common Challenges to Health Care Organizations’ Cultural Outreach Efforts // By Lisa D. Ellis // What if you were in a foreign country and needed emergency medical care but couldn’t communicate effectively with the health care providers there? This could put your life at risk, if you and your provider couldn’t Read More
// By Jill Mead // Many organizations have been struggling to understand and meet the language access requirements imposed by the Affordable Care Act. But will the requirements change once the new President takes office? This two-part series explores what organizations can expect moving forward. In this first column, we’ll look at the requirements for Read More
You go to great lengths to develop strong messages that will resonate with your target audience and reinforce your brand. But what your spokespeople don’t say may come across louder than their actual words. This is because body language is essential when it comes to establishing trust and connecting with viewers on television and video. Read More