| |
|
|
Improving healthcare through entrepreneurship |
Follow | Share | Learn
|
|
    |
||
|
|
||
| |
Category : Marketing
Vantage Forums: Email Marketing Frequency for Healthcare Providers
Email marketing by healthcare providers is a great way to stay “on the radar screen” with patients/clients that don’t visit the office on a regular basis. And while visits to the office may be irregular, this segment of your practice can be quite sizable, warranting special marketing attention to prevent patient switching to other providers who may have aggressive marketing fronts.
Email marketing is a fantastic way to stay in front of your clients, and in a way that is helpful, inexpensive,…and not annoying. To find the fine line between helpful and annoying however, requires relevant content in bite-sized chunks, and at a frequency that is palatable.
So how often should you be sending email to your patients/clients? As with most things, there is no single answer, but the article below from Small Business Branding does a nice job of outlining the process for determining a frequency that works for you…and most importantly, your patients and clients.
via Vantage Forums: Email Marketing Frequency.
Vantage Forums: iPhone App Improves Patient Satsfaction
A new iPhone application improves patient satisfaction and reduces wait times at a Central Connecticut hospital system. Now how’s that for innovative marketing…
http://bit.ly/dwZqg1
via Vantage Forums: iPhone App Improves Patient Satsfaction.
Vantage Forums: Health Insurance Coverage by State
The US Census Bureau has tons of great information that can be used to perform effective market analysis. One area that we didn’t cover in detail during the Market Analysis 101 presentation was the ability to obtain information on the health insured in the US.
This page (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins/ … index.html) of the US Census website provides links to historical health insurance tables which break down the insured and uninsured by state, age, historical year, type of insurance, and more. It’s a great resource.
via Vantage Forums: Health Insurance Coverage by State.
Vantage Forums: County Health Rankings Website
During a recent Market Analysis presentation at CSM 2010, I mentioned a website link that was referenced in a recent email by the APTA. The website is called “County Health Rankings” and the url is www.countyhealthrankings.org. This is an excellent resource for market health data at the county level and provides a number of data categories as well as an explanation of the data collection methodology and relevance for each. Really a great resource and I recommend you bookmark it…remember, data is EVERYWHERE!
via Vantage Forums: County Health Rankings Website.
Social media in healthcare – it has to be used correctly
Social media is great for healthcare practices – it’s free (at least it can be), it’s easy (once you know what you’re doing), and it’s fun. The thing is…social media also has to be effective in order for it to make sense for a healthcare practice, and this isn’t always the case.
Check out an article from HealthLeadersMedia.com (below) which discusses how – at least in the hospital environment – social media lacks the traction that many healthcare marketers hope for.
Nine in 10 hospitals use social media to some degree, but most of them say they’re having little luck attracting new patients with it, and only one in three has a formal social media plan in place, a new study by Greystone.Net shows.
via Few Hospitals Use Social Media Effectively, Says Study.
Vantage Forums: 10 Tips for Developing a Meaningful Market Analysis
I came across a succinct market analysis resource today and thought it was worthy of posting. It’s a list of 10 tips that can be used to develop a solid market analysis. Many of these tips were discussed during my market analysis presentation in Colorado Springs, but there are a few new ones in there as well.
10 Tips
1. Segment your market
2. Prioritize market segments
3. Collect and organize internal data
4. Collect and organize external data
5. Shop the competition
6. Conduct your own research
7. Explain market needs, growth, and trends
8. Develop metrics to compare your company with the competition
9. Understand your strengths and weaknesses
10. Apply the information
Here’s a link to the resource: http://www.stengelsolutions.com/tips_11.htm
Regards,
Tannus Quatre PT, MBA
Principal | Consultant
Vantage Clinical Solutions, Inc.
www.vantageclinicalsolutions.com
(888) 827-5613
via Vantage Forums: 10 Tips for Developing a Meaningful Market Analysis.
Remind patients: The end of the year is near (and deductibles will be renewing)
Believe it or not, it’s that time of year again.
As we quickly approach the end of October, today marks just 70 days until calendar year medical benefits will reset for many of your patients. Renewed deductibles, expiration of existing insurance plans, and the zeroing of health savings accounts will — in very short order — mean more money out-of-pocket for your patients. As you’re aware, this has a tendency to accompany the delay of non-urgent care, resulting in decreased volumes and revenues for healthcare practices shortly after the first of the year.
This cyclical nature of medical benefits should come as no surprise, as it is something we see year in and year out. The fact that there is something that can be done about it now is something that many practices neglect to realize however, leaving opportunity out on the doorstep even in light of this predictable, annual occurrence.
So, what do you do about it? The answer is simple – remind your patients. This is a busy time of year, and while patients also realize that their medical benefits will be resetting in just a few short months, day-to-day life often trumps important details like this that can result in the savings of hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket healthcare expenses.
A simple form letter sent out by mail merge, a mass email distribution, individual phone calls, or in-office reminders can all be acceptable ways to remind your patients that if they anticipate the need for medical, physical therapy, or dental services in the next few months – now is the time to act.
A gentle reminder to your patients may go a long way toward saving them money, ensuring their health, and making them appreciate that you’re looking out for them in more ways than one. If you’d like some ideas on how to communicate this important message to your patients, along with examples of sample letters, don’t hesitate to contact us for more information.
Protect your patients, protect your practice
Just a very short piece here to remind all practice owners that a very simple and thoughtful step toward protecting your patients and protecting yourself against germs is to have hand sanitizer readily accessible to patients (and staff) throughout your practice.
H1N1, or “Swine Flu” is on just about every television channel and every news broadcast, so your patients are really thinking about germs right now. Anytime you have everyone focused in the same direction on a topic like this, it becomes much easier to be relevant and current with your clientele by responding responsibly. Your patients will likely appreciate your thoughtfulness in offering the simple option of keeping their hands clean as they are in your presence, and you might just kill a germ or two.
Oh, and racking your brain over your next promotional giveaway at an upcoming event? You guessed it – give people something they will actually use – small, travel hand sanitizers with your logo proudly displayed on the bottle.
Gen X and Y providers continue to push the edge on Facebook
I’m not sure why, but I’m never too surprised when I hear about healthcare professionals who get themselves into hot water using social media platforms such as Facebook. We’ve blogged about it before, and here is yet another article which speaks to the potential pitfalls of casting your personal thoughts, pictures, and stories online for the whole world (including your patients) to see.
To be clear, I’m not phobic when it comes to social media – I have an online profile myself with Facebook and Twitter. I just think online socialites need to think things through and have a bit of a filter – especially if you’re a healthcare professional.
Imagine that there was a technology that would allow the entire world access to what you think, see, and feel, but only when you let the world in. Wouldn’t you want to maybe clean up your act a bit – at least when the door to the world was open? I would.
Amazingly, the technology exists, yet many refuse to acknowledge its power to crush even the most sturdy of reputations when used carelessly. The technology is called Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and every other social media platform out there, and its right there for the taking – to either make or break you regardless of your economic status or social circle.
By all means, connect with friends online – connect with strangers. Just know that anyone may be watching, including your employers, patients and community.
Here’s a good article from HealthLeadersMedia.com on some of the issues that can accompany social media use by hospital employees.
Social networking Web sites and modern communication media, such as text messaging, e-mail, and smartphones, are a part of our daily lives. Although such technologies have a place in society, they are taking a toll on the professional image of tomorrow’s physicians.
In fact, 60% of medical schools that responded to a recent survey reported incidents of students posting unprofessional content online, according to a study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Medical schools also reported finding frequent references to intoxication (39%) and sexually suggestive material (38%).
Medical students are not the only Gen Xers or Yers divulging too much information online. A 2008 study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that residents are also posting information that they may not have otherwise shared with patients.
Physical therapy marketing course coming to Portland, OR
Vantage Education is proud to announce that a new physical therapy marketing course will be making it’s way to Portland, OR on Saturday Nov 7th, 2009 titled, Six Step Marketing for PT’s: A sustainable approach to physical therapy marketing. The one-day workshop will be lead by Vantage Clinical Solutions principal and marketing consultant, Tannus Quatre PT, MBA, and will take place at the Courtyard Marriott City Center in downtown Portland from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.
The one-day physical therapy marketing workshop will introduce a simple and effective physical therapy marketing framework through which any physical therapy practice can achieve successful marketing results. The physical therapy marketing approach presented in the workshop has been developed by Vantage Clinical Solutions and is the same approach used in the development of physical therapy marketing strategies for physical therapy practices throughout the United States.
The physical therapy marketing course will present practical concepts, marketing techniques, and marketing tools that can be used quickly and effectively in the marketing of physical therapy services, regardless of practice setting or location. During the physical therapy marketing course, attendees will also be provided with the Six-Step Marketing Tool which can be implemented immediately upon course completion.
The Six-Step Marketing for PT’s workshop is intended for physical therapy practice owners, administrators, marketing coordinators and staff, and is guaranteed to change the approach used for physical therapy marketing practices. For more information on the course, or to register by phone or fax, please download the Six-Step Marketing for PT’s flyer or call Vantage Clinical Solutions at (888) 827-5613.
Seats are still available, but registration for this event ends on October 30th, 2009 at 5:00 pm PST, so hurry to guarantee your spot today!
Recent Comments