HCPro.com: Healthcare Marketing Advisor

August 2008 (Volume 9, Issue 8)	view entire issue

Online wait times give patients a say in their care
Patients don't like to wait for care, but a study released in June by survey experts Press Ganey says hospitals that keep their patients informed and updated about wait times in the emergency department (ED) have better patient satisfaction scores. This was hardly news for those at Mountain States Health Alliance (MSHA), a 14-hospital system based in Johnson City, TN. MSHA has posted its ED wait times online for more than four years, and patients have enjoyed the option of selecting the MSHA ED with the shortest wait time to meet their healthcare needs.

The battle for healthcare marketing's holy grail
Editor's note: This is the second of two articles on Internet marketing. The first article, "Striving to turn searchers into patients," covered search engine optimization and can be found in the July Healthcare Marketing Advisor. Every day, in the quest for what some call the holy grail, hospital marketers around the country hunch at their computers and engage in a blind bidding war against one another. They enter their bids on Google, Yahoo!, and other search engines as they try to edge out their competitors and achieve that coveted spot at the top of the sponsored advertisements list.

Hospital's grassroots campaign sways state legislature
There were no full-page newspaper ads or catchy radio jingles, and it cost virtually nothing to implement, yet a Massachusetts hospital's recent PR and marketing campaign was so powerful that it influenced legislators to change state law. The campaign to get Kayla's Law-legislation that requires fitness centers to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) on-site-passed in Massachusetts began in 2006 when Kayla Richards, a 22-year-old diagnostic imaging tech at Plymouth's Jordan Hospital, died suddenly while exercising at a local fitness center.

Know your market, collect the right data to grow your event
Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from the white paper "Using Relationship Management to Optimize Attendee Marketing and Grow Event Revenue," by meeting and event solution provider Experient. Donnelly is a vice president at Experient, which has major operations centers near Cleveland, Washington, DC, and Chicago.

Other recently-published articles from Healthcare Marketing Advisor:

Rewarding more than just a pretty advertisement

How can marketers create genuine patient experiences?

Gain intelligence before, during joint ventures

Social media: New avenue to two-way relationships

Translate your way to more comprehensive marketing

Grassroots internal initiative goes green

Off-limits advertising

Strong support, financials can help a hospital stay independent

Marketing to boomer women

Announcing the winners of the 2008 HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards

Off-limits advertising

Strong support, financials can help a hospital stay independent

Marketing to boomer women

Announcing the winners of the 2008 HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards

TV spots document the hospital experience

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