Author Archive for Marianne Aiello

Campaign Spotlight: Integrated Campaign ’Connects’ With Patients

For years, MultiCare Health System was neck-and-neck with another healthcare provider, jockeying for first place in the Seattle market. But a few years ago the 500-bed system began losing ground and needed a way to secure the No. 1 spot for good. So MultiCare launched an integrated campaign build brand awareness and increase preference in the Puget Sound market.

MultiCare marketers wanted to leverage the brand as a leader in connected care. “With 8,300 employees, 93 sites of care, and four hospitals, MultiCare is able to deliver a higher standard of care for the people of the South Puget Sound,” they wrote in their HealthLeaders Media Marketer Awards submission form. The “Better Connected” campaign won a platinum award in the integrated category.

The campaign consisted of print, outdoor, TV, radio, and online elements. The creative uses intriguing photography and checklists to emphasize MultiCare’s emphasis on connectivity.

Learn more about MultiCare’s “Better Connected” campaign here.

Cervical Cancer PSA Takes A Deceptive Approach

Want to buy perfume? Just kidding. We really want to alert you to the dangers of cervical cancer.

It sounds silly, but that’s the gist of a new ad created by pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline. This bait-and-switch tactic isn’t exactly new, but it seems to be getting attention—the video has about 13,000 views on YouTube. What do you think of this approach? Let us know in the comments.

Campaign Spotlight: Cheery Campaign Makes Consumers Take Notice

“Just in case you actually do shop ’til you drop,” read a Southwest General banner hanging above a mall food court last Christmas. The ad was part of a jovial campaign the Middleburg Heights, OH, hospital created to grab consumers’ attention and gain market share from strong competitors, such as Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. The effort won the hospital a silver award in the integrated category at the 2009 HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards.

“The campaign for Southwest General is designed to break through the ’sea of sameness’ by utilizing a contemporary and somewhat irreverent voice,” marketers wrote in the award entry form. “Not only do we want potential patients to say, ‘Why would I go anywhere else, when I can get the same or better medical care at Southwest General,’ but also, ‘This hospital sounds like maybe it is different instead of just saying it is.’”

Southwest General marketers worked with Stern Advertising, a Pepper Pike, OH firm, to create the campaign. Elements include print, outdoor, radio, and mall signage.

Read more about Southwest General’s integrated campaign here.

Patient Experience Lessons from ‘The Office’ Baby Episode

My column this week, Lessons in Patient Experience from ‘The Office,’ takes a look at how the general public views the hospital experience and what we can do about it. Before writing the article, I asked my advisors to share their thoughts  on what healthcare marketers could learn from the episode. Nineteen exchanges later, I found myself with some great material. Unfortunately I couldn’t fit it all in the column, so I’m sharing it with you here. Enjoy!

Angie Prather, Marketing Manager, Wichita Clinic

Some hospitals might consider using it for a TRAINING film. It could be a very useful tool since it’s a lighthearted approach to staff behavior that should be avoided.

The nurse depicted in the program didn’t show a lot of empathy and was clearly annoyed with the young parents. Most parents are very anxious to “do the right thing” and would welcome some warm and friendly advice from staff who deal with babies daily. Some of the things that went wrong during the episode may seem very small to an experienced and busy hospital staff, but are HUGE to first-time parents who are very nervous about taking home their precious bundle of joy.

Brooke Tyson Hynes, Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications, Tufts Medical Center

Having just had a baby, it is a good “hospitalization” to talk about – one because it isn’t life or death (in most situations thank goodness) so you don’t have to tread as carefully as if you were dealing with a very sick person/reason for hospitalization, but two because we new mom’s really want everything to be “perfect”/to have the birth of a child happen like a dream. After two days of labor and a c-section, I realize dream births are highly unusual but the customer service during that time was key to my sanity, safety and feelings about hospitals.

Elizabeth Scott, President and Principal Consultant, Raven New Media and Marketing

It all comes down to customer service. How the patient is treated, how the patients friends and family are treated. The patient expects to get good medical treatment while in a hospital setting, that includes a good experience in non-clinical aspects of care. We have to be committed to developing relationships with our patients and our families—and that doesn’t require expensive services or amenities.

Relationship building is critical from the top down. Those CEOs and hospital presidents who spend time on hospital floors talking to staff and patients informally can set the example of great customer service.

Kathy Lewton, Principal, Lewton, Seekins & Trester

I am afraid that what they experienced can’t be described as fantasy. I visited a friend at a reputable hospital in greater NY area a week ago—not only was there no valet, the tiny garage was dark, scary and full. I parked on the street and walked three blocks. Shared rooms do still exist in some hospitals (and it is the stock of comedy—remember Rachel on “Friends?”) Surly attendants—maybe I’ve been around too many sub-par hospitals in metro areas, but “customer service” still isn’t a norm. And while my recent experience with routine treatment for routine breast cancer was superlative (lucky to be at the fabulous Greenwich Hospital where they are the poster child for perfection), four friends (Chi, Dallas, SF) in last year have shared not so wonderful experiences and all four were at “leading major AMCs.”

Campaign Spotlight: Web Site Redesign Increases Appointments, Leadership Interest

A successful Web site redesign is not an easy feat to pull off—something Temple University Hospital knows all too well. The process involves extensive (and often frustrating) researching, strategizing, and testing. These tribulations paid off for Temple, which won a platinum award in the direct-to-consumer category at the 2009 HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards.

Temple felt its previous Web site was outdated in design, content, and functionality. At the start of the redesign process, marketers researched user behavior, analyzed competing sites, and developed best practices.

“In terms of strategic approach, the Internet was viewed as a provider selection channel, not just a communications channel,” Temple wrote on their entry submission form. “Both in terms of content and design, the new Web site was developed to emphasize program and physician capabilities, and facilitate online appointment requests.”

Learn more about Temple University Hospital’s redesign here.

Campaign Spotlight: Play-Pause Campaign Fast-forwards Results

At first, the universal symbols for play, pause, and fast-forward on TV remotes don’t seem to have much to do with cancer. But MCGHealth’s “Play-Pause” campaign used the images as a metaphor for how a person’s life is put on hold when they are diagnosed with cancer. The effort won the Augusta, GA, hospital a silver award in the service line category at the HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards.

MCG launched the print advertising campaign to educate consumers about their cancer care, specialists, and technology as well as lay the groundwork to publicize its Cancer Center, which was then under construction.

“From conversations with cancer patients, we learned that they feel their life has been put on hold when they hear the words ‘You have cancer,’” MCG wrote in their submission form. “This campaign touches on the emotions they feel and shows in an arresting way, that while your life may be on pause, there is hope and life beyond the diagnosis.”

Learn more about MCGHealth’s “Play-Pause campaign” here.

Physician Strategies Summit: Medical Staff Development Can’t Wait

What's a trip to Phoenix without seeing a cow skull in a driveway?

On Tuesday, the last day of the summit, I attended “Medical Staff Development: Planning for Hospital and Community Needs.” Michael Arvin, senior vice president and chief development office for Methodist Health System, gave an interesting presentation on how Dallas economic conditions prompted the health system to draft a three-year strategic plan and focus on medical staff development to meet those goals.

Because Texas is among the most uninsured states and has a very small Medicaid program, hospitals take on the brunt of the cost—Methodist alone paid $82 million in uncompensated care in 2008. It realized the patient revenue to uncompensated care ratio was unsustainable, so it created a three-year plan to grow marketshare, expand its service area, and develop partnering models. It worked, and Methodist opened five new facilities since 2006 and expanded into several underserved communities.

And that wraps up my coverage of the 2010 Physician Strategies Summit. For more information about “Physician Onboarding: Recruiting for Retention” check out my column “Successful Physician Retention Must Start During Recruitment.”

Physician Strategies Summit: It’s All About Measurement and Tracking

A cacti-covered hillside and some Arizona sunshine.

Speakers at both sessions I attended this morning attribute much of their successes to instating sophisticated physician referral measurement and tracking strategies. “If data isn’t actionable, it’s just philosophy,” said Jeff Cowart, CMO for Inova Health System in Springfield, VA, rousing a chuckle from the crowd.

Cowart and his colleague Jeffrey Carr, senior director of sales and growth for the health system, spoke during a session called “Sales Enhancing Volumes and ROI.” They explained how they used market intelligence and internal databases to increase referrals and improve ROI. They also jumped from the 60th percentile to 90th percentile in physician satisfaction scores.

Later I sat in on a session called “Maximizing Physician Recruitment and Retention Strategies” and learned how HealthPartners in St. Paul, MN and Hudson Hospitals and Clinics in Hudson, WI instituted an intricate referral tracking system to better understand and increase physician referrals.

Based on the good amount of audience questions during these sessions, it seems like many hospitals are going beyond gathering information and are tracking, analyzing, comparing, and dissecting. And if you’re not you should put in a plan in place soon—your competition probably already has one.

Live From The Physician Strategies Summit

The Camelback Inn: "Where Time Stands Still" (among other things)

This week I’ll be blogging and tweeting (follow me!) from the Healthcare Strategy Institute’s Physician Strategies Summit in drizzly Scottsdale, AZ. I swear the rain follows me.

The conference kicked off at this afternoon and I attended an information-filled session called “Physician Onboarding: Recruiting for Retention.” Speakers Carrie Bennet from LifePoint Hospitals, Vicky Hill from Wythe County Community Hospital, and Cherie Sibley from Vaughan Regional Medical Center shared a lot of great facts and tips. I’ll discuss key points from the session in my weekly column on Wednesday, so more on that later.

In the mean time, check out my posts from last year’s Customer-Based Marketing Strategies Conference in (again, drizzly) Vegas.

Campaign Spotlight: Twisted Heart Image Draws Patients

You can construct a breathtaking new building, stock it with the most advanced technology, and hire renowned physicians. But that doesn’t mean patients will show up on opening day. Butler (PA) Health System (BHS) found itself in such a position when it opened a new Heart & Vascular Center last year. But the ensuing integrated advertising campaign, which won the hospital a platinum award in the service line category at the 2009 HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards, quickly turned things around.

“BHS faced a major challenge in building its patient list outside of Butler County; The public was not sure they could trust a local community hospital with their most delicate and critical cardiology problems,” marketers wrote in the campaign entry form. “BHS needed to convince the general public, as well as physicians in the region, that patients can get the same advanced care found at major urban hospitals at this practice close to home.”

Marketers reached out to area referring physicians and patients by creating a campaign featuring a red stethoscope twisted into the shape of a heart, which became a secondary identity mark for the center. The campaign included TV, outdoor, online, pamphlets, and mall board elements.

Read more about Butler Health System’s Heart & Vascular Center campaign here.