As more and more people turn to the Internet to get their health information, the digital world becomes an increasingly important space for hospitals to market their services and engage with their communities and consumers. We all know this. What’s critical—with so much opportunity for online promotion—is to make strategic decisions with your digital efforts Read More
UC Irvine Health is a California hospital system with 411 licensed beds that handles 19,243 patient admissions and 561,000 medical center visits a year—while defending against plenty of competition. There are more than 20 other hospitals in Orange and neighboring Los Angeles County, including Cedars Sinai, UCLA, USC, and City of Hope. The goal? To Read More
More people today are turning to the Internet to get their health information, making the digital world an increasingly important space for hospitals to market their services and engage with consumers. With so much opportunity for online promotion, the key to successfully navigating the array of choices is to make strategic decisions with your digital Read More
By Peter Hochstein I once knew an advertising creative director who said his constant prayer was, “Grant me the luxury of a tightly written creative strategy.” The following strategy would most certainly have answered his prayer: Position UC Irvine Health as Orange County’s top destination for cancer care. Leverage our status as Orange County’s only Read More
While many hospitals grapple with how best to use their social media efforts, Advocate Health Care in Illinois leads by example. This faith-based health delivery system has developed a comprehensive social media strategy that supports its broader communications goals on multiple levels. As the largest health system in Illinois, and one of the top five Read More
by Lisa D. Ellis While many hospitals are grappling with how best to use their social media efforts, Advocate Health Care in Illinois seems to be leading by example. This faith-based health delivery system has developed a comprehensive social media strategy that supports its broader communications goals on multiple levels. Better yet, it includes an Read More
While it may seem like any time of year is a good time to spread the word about your health care system, the open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act presents a particularly prime opportunity. This is a time of year when even people in good health have reason to pay extra attention to Read More
by Peter Hochstein Is there a best time of year for health care marketers to advertise? In light of current events, the answer may be yes. That special time is the open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act. During open enrollment season, even people in good health have reason to pay extra attention to Read More
by Lisa D. Ellis Many hospitals are acquiring physician groups at a rapid pace. But in the process of incorporating new practices into the larger organization, it’s crucial that hospitals don’t lose sight of their end goal: getting a good return on their investment. Thinking strategically Daniel Weinbach of the Weinbach Group, Inc., in Miami, Read More
by Peter Hochstein It all starts with mysterious-sounding music, images of equipment and people you can find at any hospital, and a young child’s voice. All together, they make magic. There’s a picture of a hospital bed with a teddy bear lying on it. “Secret lair,” confides a little girl’s voice, barely above a whisper. Read More
by Peter Hochstein Imagine you live in Aurora, CO. One attraction in this third-most-populous city in the state is the rich availability of recreational sports activities, including soccer fields, ice hockey mountain biking, and—well, you get the idea. While taking the kids to soccer practice, you suddenly see an alarming sight. A soccer player behind Read More
by Ansuya Bijur In a memorable scene in the best-selling novel Cutting for Stone, a doctor asks his medical students, “What treatment is offered by ear in an emergency?” One of the students replies, “Words of comfort, sir.” Most often, patients meet clinicians under extremely difficult circumstances. Typically clinicians treat a disease—what ails the body. Read More
// By Cheryl L. Serra // If you market health care, you know a cookie-cutter approach just doesn’t cut it. You need to determine a number of factors: Who makes health care decisions in the family? What does your audience believe about health care and health care providers? Increasingly, you also need to consider how Read More
// By Peter Hochstein // Despite specializing in kids exclusively, Boston Children’s Hospital confronts a wall of competition that hospitals elsewhere might find daunting. Liz Vanzura, chief marketing officer for Boston Children’s advertising agency, MMB, can list 10 other local hospitals that treat children—among them such formidable names as Mass General, Tufts Medical Center, and Read More
by Peter Hochstein A few years ago, it became clear to the marketing people at St. Vincent’s HealthCare, a 903-bed, three-campus hospital system in Jacksonville, FL, that their institution’s brand image could do with some strengthening. Little wonder. The organization’s awareness and reputation was in fourth place compared with the competition. That competition, in a Read More
by Sheryl S. Jackson The United States will be home to 27 proton therapy centers by 2017, almost double the number in operation at the end of 2013, according to U.S. Proton Therapy Outlook 2017, a report produced by RNCOS, a business research and consultancy firm. The growth of the specialized cancer treatment is attributed Read More
by Peter Hochstein Next time some doubting Thomas clears his throat and asks how you can be sure hospital advertising pays, cite this case concerning Nash Health Care in Rocky Mount, NC. Nash Health Care, anchored by a 403-bed general hospital, is located in a mostly rural area, flanked roughly 80 miles in one direction Read More
by Mark S. Gothberg Why would the City of Hope, a Los Angeles area research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases, participate in the 125th Rose Parade on New Year’s Day? For pretty much the same reasons it has been involved in this world-famous parade, held in Pasadena, CA, for the Read More
by Peter Hochstein You know the drill: Effective hospital advertising campaigns should consist of a single idea and a single graphic treatment to produce results with the sheer power of a concept, preferably emotional. Licensed for 760 beds, Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, KS, has taken a decidedly contrary route. Faced with an unusual marketing Read More
by Michele von Dambrowski Not only are Quick Response codes dead, they “should have never lived,” claims Dean Browell, PhD, executive vice president for the social media strategy firm Feedback in Richmond, VA. Browell likens QR codes to the ill-fated CueCat, a cat-shaped code reader that plugged into a computer like a mouse. Wired and Read More
by Cheryl L. Serra Members of the Spirit of Women in Springfield, MA, recently had the opportunity to see and hear humorist and work-life balance expert Juliet Funt, daughter of Allen Funt, host of the 1970s TV show “Candid Camera.” They may also take advantage of a discount on the cost of mini-med school, an Read More
by Peter Hochstein So there it was, a sprawling health care behemoth, at first glance scarcely recognizable as a single entity. It was named Novant Health, created in 1997 by the merger of two North Carolina organizations, Carolina Medicorp and Presbyterian Healthcare, into a single system. Over time, other organizations joined Novant Health until the Read More
by Michele von Dambrowski Everyone knows that mobile is hot, observes Christian Twiste, vice president of interactive services at BlueSpire Strategic Marketing. But what everyone struggles with, including large Internet companies, is how best to address the different ways that people interact with their mobile devices. “A lot of mobile users are either bored, busy, Read More
by Jane Weber Brubaker A helicopter hovers over a concrete embankment, floodwaters rising rapidly around the target of the rescue operation, a black lab, alone and struggling to keep his head above water. “Does everyone matter?” asks the TV commercial. The chopper drops a line and a rescue worker lifts the dog to safety. “Yes” Read More
by Peter Hochstein As hospitals continue to merge or in some cases drop their partners, marketers for those institutions find themselves challenged to explain what’s new and what’s the same about their organizations – even to their own constituencies. It was just such a need that led The Christ Hospital Health Network in Cincinnati to Read More