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Mary Reed, owner of Reed & Associates Marketing, reviews a quarterly newsletter that she produces for West Tennessee Bone & Joint Clinic with the clinic's Marketing Director, Adam Kelley

Making it Personal

As we all know, folks in the South love to talk, and for years, good hospitals, clinics, doctors and other health care providers have used this personality trait to their benefit. "Word of mouth" is an excellent and effective marketing tool. Provide quality patient care, and that patient will tell family, friends and anyone else who cares to listen.

"Word of mouth is still a very strong marketing tool," said Lisa Ragsdale, director of Physician and Community Relations/Marketing Director for Regional Hospital of Jackson. "Having a good reputation in a community is important. But we have had to change how we do business, and go beyond marketing that is geared toward only reminding the community that we are here when they need us. We still employ traditional methods of marketing, but oftentimes we build on that word of mouth philosophy through the use of testimonials as a part of the campaign."

Marketing can refer to all aspects of promoting your clinic, hospital or health-care related business. It can range from traditional forms of advertising, such as television, radio and newspapers, to the recent emergence of online advertising and clinic Web sites. It includes a doctor-to-doctor chat in the hospital doctors' lounge to patient brochures sitting out in the clinic.

"For a long time doctors and clinics shied away from advertising themselves in the media, and many clinics still do not embrace the concept," said Mary Reed, owner of Reed & Associates, Inc., a marketing firm in Jackson that has extensive experience in medical marketing. "Some clinics may be reluctant, but oftentimes realize that if their competition is doing it, they need to do it as well."

Like other businesses, she said, hospitals, doctors and clinics are realizing that it is important to get their name and information about their services in front of the public. "My clients do a variety of marketing, including newsletters for patients, ads in the media, informative and user-friendly Web sites, brochures and referral information for other physicians," Reed explained.

Healthcare marketing is evolving to encompass a wide range of activities designed to not only build awareness of services and expertise, but to also build a relationship between the target market and the provider. One unique aspect of healthcare marketing for hospitals as well as many clinics is that they can have multiple target markets. From patients, referring physicians, managed care agencies and even to employers, all of which can factor into the type of marketing methods employed and the results desired.

"Before any marketing starts, you should determine your market and how best to reach it," said Reed. "If most of your clinic's patients come from physician referrals, for example, then you should look at marketing vehicles that target physicians, such as the West Tennessee Medical Newsthat goes out to physicians. Some primary care clinics, such as family practitioners and pediatricians, find that the patient or the patient's family makes the decision to call the clinic for an appointment, so they should be marketing through avenues that reach potential patients. And, some practices, like dermatology, find they need to market to both physicians for referrals and patients themselves."

Some clinics have followed hospitals' practice of having an employee that markets their clinic and its services to other physicians.

"In the case of a hospital, it is not always a planned purchase decision, often made when you need it, with short notice and stress involved," said Ragsdale. "You have to identify your primary markets, for a hospital that is both provider and patient. For planned procedures, the physician can drive the decision of which facility a patient goes to while in an emergency situation, the patient decides which emergency room to go to. Women make a lot of healthcare decisions for a family, so a lot of marketing is geared toward them."

Since consumers are frequently turning to the Internet for just about everything these days, it has become a powerful marketing tool that holds tremendous potential for building practice awareness, consumer preference and influencing consumer behavior, as well as a recruitment tool for employees or even physicians. A usable, effective Web site can go a long way in helping a hospital or clinic distinguish itself in its market. It can include such features as online health coaching for chronic conditions, patient information, pre-registration for services from scheduling tests to appointments, and online bill pay, all of which can make it easier for the patient.

"We still use direct mail but are going in the direction of relying more on email and our Web site," said Ragsdale. "We use our Web site for a variety of things from information to a jobsite, even a web nursery. With email we can announce new programs or educational opportunities, send out health and wellness tips targeted to specific groups, as well as have a more personal vehicle in which to keep our name in front of them."

Marketing today goes far beyond just advertising to relationship building. Relationship management borrows heavily from the retail industry and is based on the realization that it is five times easier to obtain repeat business from an existing customer than it is to get new business from a new customer. It acknowledges the increasing role consumers play in the selection of a healthcare provider as well as the importance of good customer service.

"One important aspect of marketing is customer service," said Ragsdale. "The best ad campaign in the world can fall flat if you cannot back it up with good customer service. One aspect of marketing includes our employees. Through our Community Cares Program, we focus on taking care of our employees and trying to foster a family atmosphere within the hospital. We hope this translates into good care to our patients at every point of their experience with us."

Marketing can play a much larger role in a clinic or hospital, beyond just getting the word out. It can help manage relationships with existing customers on a long-term basis.

"One newer method of our marketing is the utilization of allegiance groups," said Ragsdale. "Through the development of these groups, such as our Healthy Women and Lose to Win, and activities geared toward them, we form a relationship with them so when they need our services, they are already comfortable with us."

Tags:

Healthcare Marketing, Lisa Ragsdale, Mary Reed, Reed & Associates Inc, Regional Hospital of Jackson

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