For complex health systems with numerous specialties and subspecialties, referrals are their lifeblood — particularly referrals from external providers. Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH), a specialty pediatric hospital, was having difficulty keeping track of referrals. There wasn’t a standard process for sending and receiving referrals or tracking them once they were received, usually by fax, and Read More
Marketing is all about understanding the needs of your market and finding ways to show how your product or service is the best solution for meeting those needs. As marketers, you know that part of your challenge is keeping your solution top of mind when people are in the consideration phase. If your service is Read More
Texas Children’s Hospital overhauled its referral management process and saw a 23 percent increase in referrals from external providers within two years. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // For complex health systems with numerous specialties and subspecialties, referrals are their lifeblood — particularly referrals from external providers. Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH), a specialty pediatric hospital, Read More
Email has become a powerful tool in UAMS’ physician outreach toolkit. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // Marketing is all about understanding the needs of your market and finding ways to show how your product or service is the best solution for meeting those needs. As marketers, you know that part of your challenge is Read More
Connections between hospitals and doctors working outside the hospital aren’t as strong as they used to be. “So many organizations have realized we have completely lost touch with our primary care physicians,” says Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA, principal at Barlow McCarthy. “They don’t come to the hospital, they use hospitalists.” The pandemic has added to Read More
While health system marketing departments largely focus on consumers, physician relations professionals, aligned with business development, focus on building relationships with referring physicians, overcoming barriers, and growing referrals. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // Connections between hospitals and doctors working outside the hospital aren’t as strong as they used to be. “So many organizations have Read More
Does your organization invest heavily in generating leads through your marketing channels — social media, website optimization, paid search — only to have little new-patient growth? If so, you may have a prospective patient ghosting issue in your patient pipeline. Ghosting is when a valid lead who has taken some kind of action — a Read More
If you spend scarce marketing dollars to attract new patients to your high-margin service lines only to have them ghost you, a solution may be within your REACH. // By Jessica Walker // Does your practice invest heavily in generating leads through your marketing channels — social media, website optimization, paid search — only to Read More
In spite of the population of Austin, Texas growing by a net of 150 people a day — and with it, an increase in demand for services — surgical volume at Ascension Texas dropped during the pandemic’s early days, when Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order mandating a pause in elective surgeries. “Our leadership Read More
The story of health care over the past two years is the story of provider organizations adapting to extreme circumstances and constant change, which continues to this day; as of this writing in late December 2021, the U.S. reported 488,000 new COVID-19 infections, breaking its single-day record. But back in August 2019, no one knew Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // The urgent need of health care organizations to make up for lost business during the pandemic creates an opportunity for physician relations teams to become the critical communications link between service-line leaders and high-priority referring physicians. In spite of the population of Austin, Texas growing by a net of Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // The story of health care over the past two years is the story of provider organizations adapting to extreme circumstances and constant change, which continues to this day; as of this writing in late December 2021, the U.S. reported 488,000 new COVID-19 infections, breaking its single-day record. But back Read More
“For the first time, many patients are experiencing what it’s like to be a rural patient where care feels out of reach,” says Blake Marggraff, CEO of CareSignal. “Patients who were once accustomed to frequent health touchpoints now feel the pressure to make do on their own — as providers experience staffing reductions and patients Read More
// By Blake Marggraff // If there’s one thing the pandemic has shown us, it’s that not everyone has access to the internet or Wi-Fi. But most people these days do have cell phones, and remote patient monitoring via text messaging and IVR phone calls is one way to keep the lines of communication open Read More
“The situation seemed dire at Vassar Brothers Medical Center,” writes Peter Hochstein, copywriter and SHCM contributor. “Doctors at a large medical group were under orders to refer patients to a different hospital. Then Vassar launched an ad campaign that empowered patients to defy their doctors. And everything changed.” Here’s an excerpt from Hochstein’s new article: Read More
// By Peter Hochstein // The situation seemed dire at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. Doctors at a large medical group were under orders to refer patients to a different hospital. Then Vassar launched an ad campaign that empowered patients to defy their doctors. And everything changed. The news arrived more than a little jarringly at Read More
Investing in a physician engagement program may achieve better ROI than traditional consumer-facing mass media marketing efforts. In our new article, John Gonda, senior healthcare account manager at ddm communications & marketing, explains why. Here’s an excerpt: Physician burnout is on the rise. Across the country, the ability of doctors to practice medicine and care Read More
// By John Gonda // Investing in a physician engagement program may achieve better ROI than traditional consumer-facing mass media marketing efforts. Physician burnout is on the rise. Across the country, the ability of doctors to practice medicine and care for patients is increasingly affected by ongoing regulations and administrative requirements. As physician burnout increases, Read More
“Marketers charged with leading their health systems into the new era of consumerism understand the hard truth about regional markets: They are a zero-sum game,” says Tom White, CEO of Phynd Technologies. Here’s an excerpt from White’s new article for Strategic Health Care Marketing: Marketers and business teams must create and market new networks to Read More
// By Tom White // Marketers charged with leading their health systems into the new era of consumerism understand the hard truth about regional markets: They are a zero-sum game. Every covered life gained is a win over the competition, and the stakes are high: CMS pegs healthcare spending per person at nearly $10,800 annually, Read More
In the testimonial-heavy world of hospital advertising, is there a fresh way of doing a testimonial campaign? How well can it perform for you? And what can you do to increase the impact of the advertising? In our new article, SHCM contributor and veteran copywriter Peter Hochstein looks at a new type of testimonial that Read More
Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // In the testimonial-heavy world of hospital advertising, is there a fresh way of doing a testimonial campaign? How well can it perform for you? And what can you do to increase the impact of the advertising? Is there room in this world for yet another hospital Read More
// By Craig Allan Ahrens and Sarah Hull // Hospital systems will be required to publish their chargemaster “list pricing” online by January 1, 2019, with the finalization of the Fiscal Year 2019 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System Final Rule (CMS-1694-F). Many states have Read More
// By Althea Fung // Picture this: A patient goes to her primary care physician with complaints of dark, dry skin patches on her arms. The doctor, who is a staff physician at a large health system in New York City, quickly determines that she has acanthosis nigricans and prescribes a topical ointment. The doctor Read More
Close examination of your referral patterns may bring to light some surprising gaps in your current practices that could be impacting your revenues. That was recently the case at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), says Katie Alexander, director of physician relations at TGH. But once her organization identified the problem using a Physician Relationship Management (PRM) Read More