3 Secrets to Successfully Marketing Robotic Surgery

2. Take the message to the people
Southwest General also uses physician-based community presentations to provide a personal Q&A for potential patients.

Marketers have found that the community discussions are most likely to result in conversions to procedures because they give the patient a more complete understanding of the technology and the message is delivered on a more personal level.

And as part of its minimally invasive promotion, PRMC conducted three demonstrations of its daVinci robot: on site at the medical center, at a health fair, and at a nearby minor league ball park. At the events, promoters handed out literature and referred interested people to local physicians in its Peninsula Institute for Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery (PILARS) program.

Like Southwest General, Peninsula found that the community events really hit home for patients because they personalized the complicated robot-assisted procedure.

"People have been more comfortable approaching our physicians at these events after sitting down at the da Vinci and seeing just how amazing it is and how easy it is to use in the public configuration," says Chris Hall, vice president of strategy and business development. "They want to speak with the surgeon about what it's like to use it in surgery, [they see] how much fun it was to test drive it themselves, and I have seen that lead to follow up questions and the seeking of medical advice from the surgeons on site."