What’s All The Buzz About Blogging?

January 24, 2012 2 Comments

By: Mike Milligan, President Legato Marketing & Communications

To blog or not to blog, that is the question.

Whether ’tis nobler in the minds of marketers to suffer from the absence of a blog or to take arms against the competition and join in the posting revolution … Now, that’s another question in itself.

I can tell you from personal experience that blogging has it pros and its challenges. For one, it’s time-consuming. It also takes discipline to keep posts current and to provide content that people care about. So what’s the up side?

A blog provides an effective, low-cost alternative to conventional marketing. It can help rural hospitals level the playing field when competing with big-city hospitals with big-city budgets.

Blogs can also help community hospitals strengthen their connection with the community, enhance recruitment efforts, and position their medical professionals as experts in the field. For example:

Want to highlight a patient success story?

Put it on your blog. Localize it. And watch the news spread throughout your community—and beyond.

Looking for a specialist to fill an open position?

Ask one of your on-staff physicians or surgeons to be a guest blogger. He or she can highlight features and benefits of your hospital, and give a personal perspective of why it’s the right career move to join your organization and live in a rural community.

Want to leverage a health topic that’s getting national attention?

Start blogging about it. Have designated physicians, nurses, OTs and other professionals share their expertise. They’ll become recognized as local experts. It’s also a great way for community members to get to know the doctors and nurses on your staff.

So back to the question, “To blog or not to blog?”

While you don’t have to be Shakespeare to write a post, the content must be relevant and current. If you don’t have the time or talent internally to create and maintain a blog, consider outsourcing these services. If that’s not an option, err on the side of caution.

Remember, using a blog as a promotional tool is a great way to keep your website content fresh, and keep people coming back. But your site will only be as current as your last update, which ties back to the amount of time and effort that you invest in it.

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WHO BUYS HEALTHCARE?

November 11, 2011 Leave a Comment

John Corpus, Vice President, Client Services at Legato Marketing & Communications

IT IS NOT JUST THE END CONSUMER

CONSUMERS PAY for healthcare, BUT THEY DO NOT BUY IT.  Employers are the major buyers of health insurance, the decision makers. Employees only choose whether to participate in whatever plan the employers have chosen.

Consumers over the last five years are however, buying lower-cost healthcare services, due to employer cost shifting of healthcare expenses via higher deductibles (first dollars out-of-pocket) and HAS/HRA plans.  Employers have also transitioned to benefit plans based on healthy behaviors: healthier employees (and spouses) may purchase richer benefit plans.  As more consumers enter the “buying” phase of healthcare transactions, they are beginning to recognize the real cost of healthcare.

Smart employers recognize that the inherent cost shifting of higher deductible HSA or HRA plans is not the same as cost-savings: it is simply a change in the payer mix, more by the employee and less by the employer.

Smarter employers educate their employees regarding cost-saving behaviors, e.g., exercising, diet, annual age/sex related check-ups, smoking cessation, etc.

The smartest employers however, educate employees, in conjunction with the aforementioned smart tactics,  about appropriate access of care, e.g., going
to a retail clinic for a sinus infection instead of the emergency room; utilizing an urgent care clinic for stitches or x-rays; heading to the emergency room for serious/traumatic injuries or conditions.  For those who are unsure as to when an emergency room visit is necessary, think of it this way: you will decide when
to visit a retail clinic, a primary care clinic, or urgent care; others usually decide upon the emergency room because you are in no condition to do so.

Employers are the buyers, yet health systems focus the bulk of their marketing on the patient only and rightly so.  Health systems however, need to leverage
their relationships with employers.  A complete health system’s marketing plan requires a focus on developing strategies to demonstrate their commitment to 1) reducing employer healthcare costs, and 2) partnering with employers to develop their workforce health strategies.

Constructing strong healthcare savings partnerships with employers creates another vehicle for marketing to the consumer.

  • Imagine having an employer choose you as its healthcare partner because it believes in your mission, your vision, your philosophy, your integrity, and not because you are the lowest-cost option on its broker’s menu.
  • Imagine an employer serving as your advocate when holding its open enrollment sessions, instead of handing out a packet of information without regard for what is inside.
  • Imagine an employer working with your health system to define and design the future of healthcare in your community, from the perspective of all stakeholders versus the perspective of the health system itself.
  • Imagine the employees of business & industry voicing their preference for your health system to be the provider of choice or at least one of the providers in their employer’s health plan design.

Healthcare is not a game anymore.  In fact, it never was.  So let us stop playing the cost shifting games and the “cliché” games of quality and care, to focus on what really counts: healthcare versus sick care and meeting the needs of the buyers and the payers of healthcare through partnership, respect, and a sincere desire to provide the best experience possible for all concerned.

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What Gives?

October 19, 2011 Leave a Comment

By: Kris Whitton, Account Executive, Legato Marketing & Communications

There’s no question the economy is suffering. Charitable organizations are especially feeling the pinch. So is a downturned economy the time to cut back on community giving? Absolutely not. It’s more important than ever to give support.

This is your time to shine. Separate yourself from the pack with noticeable support to your community. As a healthcare organization, you have ample opportunities to show your long-term investment in your community’s health and wellbeing—without putting great strain on your budget.

How? There are numerous charitable ways you can show dedication to the welfare of your community. You can’t be involved in every charitable activity; be selective. Look at your mission and vision statements. What actions can you take in the community to help achieve them?

Choose a cause. If your organization is committed to providing the best possible orthopedic care, sponsor a run/walk event, offer a free one-day sports assessment clinic, discuss preventive measures to avoid injuries (it can get them in to see your hospital at the same time), encourage employees to join charity boards and/or associations, where they can help through their healthcare knowledge. And don’t just sponsor an event, get employees out there to help. Think about activities that not only help your community, but will draw media attention as well. If a local food shelter holds an annual fundraiser, your organization should not only be a main sponsor of the event, it should also encourage employees to get involved.

Cross-sell. Take these opportunities to also talk our about other service lines you offer. If supporting orthopedics, talk about your rehab department, urgent care, and surgery offerings—service lines that complement orthopedic care.

Educate. Offer a series of free health-specific educational programs.  Focus on preventive measures and have service line promotions versus only selling your treatment capabilities. You’re not only providing a free service to your community, you are getting them in the door to see your organization. Plus, when people need the care you’ve addressed, your healthcare organization will not only be top-of-mind, but also
will be seen as a healthcare authority.

Take advantage of the fact that other companies and organizations are cutting back. Show you won’t turn your back on your community even during tough times. Remember, giving doesn’t always mean funding. Giving your time also is a gift that can bring great rewards to the community and to yourself.

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Employee Alignment with Leadership Philosophy = Great Customer Service

September 29, 2011 1 Comment

 By: John A. Corpus, Vice President Client Services, Legato Marketing & Communications.

New to the Legato team, I thought that I would write my first blog about connectivity in a healthcare organization: leadership being connected to the employees; employees connecting their responsibilities back to the organization’s overall mission/objectives; messages/campaigns/marketing being connected across departments and the system.

Having worked for a few Wisconsin healthcare entities over the last thirty-two years, I feel safe in stating that the healthcare environment is always evolving, each time in a more complicated manner.  Every few years, it seems that healthcare organizations are updating their missions/visions to ensure that they balance this change and properly reflect the nature of the organizations’ objectives and philosophy.

Unfortunately, there is a natural lag between “talking the talk” and “walking the talk” in every organization I have served in.  Now, the organizations that I am talking about are 1,000+ employees each in size, to which one might deem a lag as acceptable, but it is never a good thing to say one thing (as an organization) and do another.   And, those doing the saying are “leadership”, whereas the employees execute the “doing.”

Healthcare is a service industry: customer service is our main measure (patient satisfaction surveys). Sure, we look at outcomes and measures around varying procedures and for quality purposes, but success really comes down to how the patient FEELS about the healthcare organization.

My wife and I recently took our daughter into a retail clinic (nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant providing acute/episodic assessment and treatment in a retail setting) at noon on a Sunday.  The promise is “no wait, no appointment,” but what I found was one location with a one-hour wait, and a second location that refused to see my daughter, even though my wife called the triage line to verify the appropriateness of the visit.  The provider went so far as to grab a menu of services and point-out the line that indicates she would not see my daughter!

My wife called the triage line to voice our dissatisfaction.  The nurse on the triage line did not apologize, but did say that we could schedule an appointment with our doctor for the next day OR VISIT its competitor’s retail clinic.  And, we had to call back to a different number to schedule.

In calling to schedule the appointment, we were transferred twice to “scheduling for surgery.”  On the third transfer back, my wife finally reached a nurse who informed us that the ER has an urgent care service for kids each day starting in the late afternoon into the late evening.  The nurse listened to my wife’s reiteration of all that happened, apologized, and made an appointment for my daughter later that afternoon.  Everything was smooth sailing and excellent service from this point on.

In telling you this story, what is my message regarding this healthcare organization’s customer service?  Is the organization connected in its customer service message?  Imagine that I am a close friend, neighbor, or relative telling you this story: how will my telling of the story influence
your healthcare buying decisions?

The best ambassadors and representatives of your healthcare organization are your employees, especially those with patient/customer contact on a daily basis.  These employees will demonstrate the organization’s message in their service, but only to the extent and direct correlation of time and effort  – or lack thereof – spent on communicating, training, and aligning/connecting responsibilities and tasks with the organization’s objectives.

Some final thoughts:

  • As a C-level executive in your healthcare organization, are you confident that your employees are demonstrating your philosophy in their daily activities, especially when engaging patients/customers?
  • Is middle-management aligning its areas of responsibility with the organization’s philosophy?
  • Does middle-management translate the formal language of leadership’s philosophy into terms that the employees can understand?  The better the translation, the clearer the message, the more likely that patients/customers will walk away with a smile on their face.

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Does anyone know what you do for a living?

September 21, 2011 2 Comments

By: Mike Milligan, President, Legato Marketing & Communications

I give up.

My Dad still doesn’t know how I earn a paycheck. But he is getting a little
closer.  I’ve recently heard him explain, “Michael does those ads for hospitals.”

Then last night, when editing my 15-year-old daughter’s Language Arts paper, I discovered that she, too, doesn’t understand “what Dad does.” Within parenthesis she had written, “Dad, write here what you do.”

It made me start thinking about what many of our healthcare marketing clients face. There seems to be a trend in which senior management isn’t necessarily knowledgeable about what marketing pros do. In their minds (not all), the marketing department develops clever advertising, period. It’s not the fault of upper management that they don’t always understand marketing’s role. While It might be hard to swallow, quite frankly, it’s the fault of marketing to not make its role clear—its ability to increase patient volumes and profit.

Your leadership team might know your job description: produce the external and internal communications. But, don’t let yourself be limited by that vague description. Your role is much broader than that. Marketing pros are the drivers behind understanding the marketplace, the organization’s culture, available opportunities, and what targeted audiences expect with the goal of increasing awareness, patient volumes, and profits.

That means looking at all of the elements of what brand is. It’s everything from how employees answer the phones, what the signage looks like, how patients are treated at the front desk, how long it takes to get an appointment—every action, every experience a patient has is your brand.

And here’s the kicker. Don’t just talk about it, show the connection between all of these factors and the results they can have—or have had—on the organization. And don’t just identify problems, bring solutions. Show you are a problem solver—and a strategist—by thinking about what questions your senior leaders will have, and have answers ready. Show your leadership skills. By doing so, you educate others on the value of marketing—not by preaching—by doing.

My years of healthcare management experience have shown that as time goes on, your CEO and other leaders will have a completely new perspective on marketing.  Sure, advertising still will play a clear role.  But more important, marketing is so much broader.  It’s strategic.  It examines all the components of the sales process.  It identifies barriers and overcomes them. It produces results. And that’s something your leadership team will understand clearly.

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Goodbye summer, hello open enrollment

August 24, 2011 1 Comment

By: Mike Milligan, President, Legato Marketing & Communications

As summer starts to wind down,  the cool winds blow in and the leaves change color, thousands of insured employees will face their annual Open Enrollment period.

Many healthcare marketers choose to ignore this opportunity to communicate with existing and potential new patients, relying on the human resources personnel at each company to accurately explain the benefit changes. The truth is, only something positive can come out of being proactive with both employers and employees. Here are a few things you can do to prepare for the upcoming Open Enrollment period:

1) Know the insurance plans. In some organizations, this might be the marketing department’s responsibility; in others, there is a separate development department that does so. Regardless, someone in your organization needs to know exactly which plans are in your marketplace and whether your physicians and services are included. Make sure the data is updated annually – it’ll serve as your roadmap.

2) Evaluate the changes. Remember that data from the previous item? Use it to uncover opportunities. The most obvious will be any that move from an exclusive panel to an open one.

3) Work cooperatively. If a major employer suddenly includes your providers after years of being out-of-network, start by connecting with the benefits specialist and see if you can provide any brochures or attend their benefits fair. Ask to provide health columns for the company newsletter. See if you can hold a lunch ‘n’ learn health education program on site.

4) Get creative. Did you find out there are political reasons your providers were out-of-network for all those years? Remember that some of those employees are probably waiting for this news so make sure they get it. Consider newspaper or radio advertising. Maybe it’s time to rent the billboard that every employee drives past to get to work. See if you can sponsor the placemats at nearby restaurants or the gas station toppers at the gas station across the street. Major changes will impact your company’s bottom line regardless of what you do – but consider the return on investment from acquiring new patients who will stay with you as long as their insurance allows them to. You might not see immediate results, but remember this is about building long-term relationships.

Open Enrollment can open the door to new opportunities for your organization. Opportunities to strengthen existing relationships. Create new ones. And build brand awareness. It happens every fall, so be prepared to make the most of it—every year.

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Don’t out-spend the competition; out-creative them

July 13, 2011 1 Comment

Creative DirectorBy: Lisa Schneider, Creative Director, Legato Marketing & Communications

It makes me crazy when I hear a creative team say, “It would be a great ad if we had a bigger budget.” This is an excuse to be lazy. Budget does not determine creativity. In fact, the smaller the budget, the more creative you have to be.

As a college student (a long time ago), I saw a television ad that I still hold today as one of the most clever I’ve seen. The ad was for BOLLA wine. It opened with just the name “BOLLA” on a white background. Then, as voice-over began, one grape rolled to center screen and stopped. The Ls in BOLLA came down and stomped the grape. It was amusing, simply done, and memorable.

It’s this ad that compelled me to buy BOLLA wine. I did, and still do. And I see those stomping Ls every time I pour a glass. It still makes me smile.

That’s powerful creative. It’s what you should expect from your agency and what your agency should expect from itself.

Can’t hire a big star to endorse your product or service? Find someone who is trusted, believable, and influential for your target audience. Often people are likely to try a product or service if it’s recommended by someone they know and whose opinion is believable and honest. Who would you believe—the star of the week or your doctor?

Don’t have the budget to incorporate big special effects? Do the opposite. Use inability to your advantage. For instance, you are creating a TV spot for a hospital and you want to use cool animation that will take the viewer on a journey through the heart, but it isn’t feasible. Instead, use voice-over to do something like this: “We could distract you with a sci-fi journey through your heart or animated talking germs, but we want you to hear the facts. Simply. Honestly.”

As creatives, we aren’t going to say “no thank you” to a big budget. But that isn’t what should drive the idea. It’s not about the money; it’s about the idea. So find it. Then figure out how to successfully execute it within the budget you have. Be creative.

 

 

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How to Make Sure Consumers Ignore Your Advertising

June 14, 2011 Leave a Comment

Creative DirectorBy: Lisa Schneider, Creative Director Legato Marketing & Communications

Make it look and sound like everyone else. Show a line-up of doctors, close-ups of sweet little babies and proud parents, and a visual tour of technology. Always include these words—compassionate, caring, focused on your needs, experienced doctors, close to home, state-of-the-art technology, and advanced care.

Consumers already expect your healthcare organization to have these qualities. Tell them something more. Show them something unexpected. Take cues from advertising outside of the healthcare industry.

  • Pay attention to the TV and radio spots you like and the outdoor and print advertising that grabs you. Then consider how you could use the creative techniques in your own advertising.
  • Don’t look only to advertising for inspiration. Art museums, architecture, nature—nearly everything around you is a source of inspiration. Look at colors, textures, shapes. What brings out emotion, is pleasing to look at, makes you feel calm and relaxed? You may find a new logo color, a new icon shape, or even a different tone for your copy to evoke the feelings you want.
  • People watch. Observe what they are reading, buying, looking at, and doing. You may find an activity that works well in a TV spot. Or how to advertise to specific age groups, depending on the activities they are doing.
  • Place advertising in unexpected places. Have removable stickers printed that can be placed on employee cars. Be creative, and brief with message.  Example: CARe to know. XYZ Hospital.

Following the pack just makes you one more healthcare organization. To stand out, put aside your fear to do something different.

Embrace it. A campaign that is fresh, and outside of the usual healthcare advertising is hard to ignore.

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As the Mercury Rises

June 7, 2011 Leave a Comment

Legato Marketing Urgent CareSummer tourist season is prime time to market your urgent care and ER services. Think about all of the accidents, illnesses, and other mishaps summer can deliver. Bug bites, sun burns, rashes, swimmer’s ear, tumbles off of bikes and playgrounds, burns from campfires and fireworks—the list goes on and on.

Be strategic. Think about the areas most frequented by these potential patients and get your name out there. Consider the following:

• Campgrounds. Most have “tourist centers,” where campers register for campsites and ask about area events and places of interest. Get simple brochures or two-side cards right in front of them. Include only the necessary information for a quick read—hours open, phone numbers, addresses, etc.

• Parks and beaches. Go guerrilla. Get college or high school kids to walk around and hand out “quick info” cards. Snag some inexpensive water bottles—or Frisbees—printed with your logo and ER and Urgent Care hours/phone numbers. Look at all possible areas your information can be placed.

• Parades and summer festivals. Make a parade float and have someone toss out small first aid kits with your ER/urgent care info included. Have the kits available at First Aid stations and at festival tables.

Take a different approach to reach your seasonal residents—your “summer patients.”

• Put door knob hangers on their front doors offering a free first aid kit they can pick up from your urgent care center—or put the kit right inside a bag to hang on the door handle.

• Send a “welcome back” postcard with a refrigerator magnet that has urgent care hours, address, phone number.

Summer visitors could be family and friends of your year-round residents. If you’ve taken good care of them, those year-rounders will look at
your hospital with a renewed sense of pride to have such a great health care resource right at home.

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I’m Fired!

June 1, 2011 3 Comments

LegatoBlog Fire AlarmFire yourself. Then rehire yourself on the same day. Approach your job as if it were your first day, and ask a lot of questions.

What would you do differently? Are there processes that could be improved? How could you make your job more enjoyable? Are there hurdles that
are keeping you from being productive or efficient?

Whether you’ve been in a position for 20 years or two, it’s easy to become comfortable in your role. But with that comfort comes blinders that
keep you looking only in one direction. Stepping outside of your comfort zone allows you to see your job from all sides.

You’ll also get a fresh view of those around you. Would you keep the same employees? Is there someone you haven’t noticed who is quietly and
diligently doing her job well? Is there another person who’s really vocal, but not producing as well as you thought?

You may be surprised at what you’ve been missing and how easy it could be to make a change—or changes—that will have a major impact for you and your employer.

The “fire yourself” technique also can work for your personal life. Are there things you can change to be a better parent or friend? Are you a clear communicator? How can you make life more enjoyable for yourself and others?

But don’t just be a casual observer. Take what you’ve learned and act on it. Whether it’s in your career or your personal life, you’ll be amazed at how even the smallest change can make a big difference.

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