Rush North Shore Medical Center in Skokie, IL, is in talks about a possible merger with Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. Both parties declined to provide further details, but Rush North Shore representatives said the medical center is still in discussions with other potential suitors and does not have an exclusive agreement or a letter of intent to merge with Evanston Northwestern.
As large Boston medical centers move into competition with smaller, community hospitals, Massachusetts health authorities are proposing to make the incursions more difficult. Paul Dreyer, director of healthcare safety and quality at the state Department of Public Health, told the Boston Globe that the Boston hospitals' expansion into the suburbs "potentially duplicates services," and also "potentially puts the community hospital in a situation where it cannot win competitively."
The American Hospital Association ranks 41st among the biggest organizational political donors, according to Center for Responsive Politics. The AHA is now trying to use that influence on lawmakers, and its most immediate priority is an effort to block the implementation of certain Medicaid regulations. The new policies would tighten funding in several areas, and will take effect in May if there is no legislative action.
Six kidney patients at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimre received new organs from six unrelated living donors in what the chief surgeon called the nation's first six-way "domino" kidney swap.
Nearly 100 medical professionals took part in the transplants. Each transplant began simultaneously in different operating rooms, and surgery stretched over 13 hours. All 12 donors and recipients were listed in good condition, according to a John Hopkins spokesman.
A funny thing happened this week at a conference session on balancing your marketing mix with traditional and new media: The emphasis was not on new media. To be fair, it wasn’t on television, radio, outdoor, direct mail, or print, either. Nor did the speakers focus on events, community relations, physician relations, or internal communication. And that’s the point: There’s no single magical tactic that will make customers flock to your hospital.
I heard that message more than once at the Healthcare Strategy Institute’s consumer-based marketing conference in Phoenix this week. Customers need to experience your brand and hear your message in a variety of ways. People are, after all, multi-modal learners with a very short attention span and a lot of distractions.
The thrust of this session: Traditional media’s not dead yet. You can and should use it as an entry into your online efforts.
Take, for example, a technique as traditional as a new-movers program. Yes, you hope the welcome packet will give them a warm and fuzzy feeling about your brand. Yes, you hope they’ll call the number for your refer-a-doc program, allowing you to capture more information about them and their healthcare needs. Yes, you want them to stick the magnet with your hospital’s phone number on their fridge and look at it every day.
But the new twist on the new movers effort is that hospitals are starting to add a call-to-action that drives customers to a Web site, says Kim Panebianco, senior account manager at NewClients Direct, in Richmond, VA, which helps hospitals create new mover marketing.
Mixed Messages on New Media There’s a lot of talk about new media, not only at this conference, but everywhere. It’s a hot topic. But here’s the thing. For all I’m hearing about new media, I still don’t quite have a handle on whether hospitals are doing this, want to do this, or if they even understand it.
Every time I ask someone where hospitals and health systems stand in terms of marketing with new media I get a different answer. Do hospitals understand how to effectively add new media to their marketing mix? Do they even want to? Do they want to but don’t know where to start? How much to spend? Where it fits into the mix?
I’d love to hear your answers, even if I get a bunch of different answers. E-mail me or click on the “comment” button, below.
Patients must sometimes use their imagination when a cardiologist describes the heart procedure they are about to undergo. But St. Mary Medical Center's "Imagine (Heart)" campaign's 30-second TV spot actually shows potential patients three of the complex procedures the hospital's doctors perform.
St. Mary's, in Langhorne, PA, commissioned FlickerLab, a design and animation studio based in New York City, to create the commercial. The campaign, which was crafted to elevate St. Mary's brand in 2008 and beyond, is also comprised of print and radio ads.
"Imagine stopping deadly heart attacks and strokes with a tiny patch the size of a coin," says the commercial's voiceover, while the video shows a simulation of the procedure on a cartoon heart. "Imagine repairing or replacing faulty heart valves through just a 2-inch incision. Imagine correcting irregular heartbeats with precise radiofrequency energy." As each procedure is performed, the cartoon heart keeps pumping away.
The "Imagine (Heart)" campaign launched last February in lower and central Bucks County, PA. The cardiology promotion is set to be followed by the "Imagine (Neurosciences)" and "Imagine (Cancer)" campaigns in May and September, respectively.
"We chose to focus on three of our top centers of excellence--cardiology, cancer, and neurosciences--and inform our audience about the advanced procedures available in these areas at St. Mary's," says Patrick Donohue, St. Mary's director of marketing and communications.
The 366-bed hospital says they are in league with the country's top medical centers for complex heart, cancer, and neurological care. The hospital has its own heart center and cancer center.
The "Imagine (Heart)" commercial ends with the brand's tagline, "It's your health. Expect more."
"We want to let folks know that we value them and their health," Donohue says of the choice in tagline. "That's our mission and our service to the community. We recognize everyday that people are entrusting their lives to us."
Marianne Aiello is an editorial assistant with HealthLeaders Media. She can be reached at maiello@healthleadersmedia.com.