Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, NY, has re-focused on promoting women's health by partnering with an outreach program that provides tools to raise visibility and engage with women patients.
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>>>Slideshow: Hospital Revs Service Lines by Targeting Women |
It's no secret that the majority of hospital advertising and communications is geared toward women. After all, women make about 80% of healthcare decisions for their families, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. It only makes sense for hospital marketers to target that receptive audience.
But some organizations do a better job of reaching women than others. Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, NY, recently re-focused on women by partnering with Spirit of Women, an outreach program that works with 120 hospitals nationwide and provides its clients with tools to resonate with women patients.
The partnership was forged in late 2013 and launched to the hospital's community in June 2014. Crouse, a 506-bed hospital, is the exclusive Spirit partner in Central New York.
"As a national organization, Spirit's focus on improvement of women's health and focus on women as the primary caregiver fit with our goals to be more visible and engaged in the community through educational programming promoting health and wellness to improve our community health," says Kathleen Miller Murphy, RN, Crouse's Spirit of Women manager.
Creating a Multi-pronged Approach
Crouse's Spirit of Women program offers women tailored health information through a variety of media for every decade of their life, from their teens through their 80s. The microsite offers information for pertinent service lines, including OB/GYN, cancer, cardiovascular, digestive health, and wellness.
The program also features a magazine with women-specific health articles as well as a number of live events. The March Passport to Health event, for example, offers women a festive night to learn about cardiovascular health wrapped in a Spanish theme.
"For Crouse, this is a multifaceted program. We are building relationships with our members at each of our events—many come to multiple events throughout the year," Murphy says. "Getting to know the providers and staff up close and personal is important to many of our members."
The wellness events also serve as the primary method of marketing the Spirit program to the community. The Crouse marketing team advertises the events through its website and social media, as well as through print and radio ads.
"We also promote Spirit events and activities through physician offices and in hospital off-site locations," says Bob Allen, Crouse's vice president of communications. "In addition, we actively solicit free PR and media opportunities, such as placing key physician leaders on local news and entertainment programs, and partnering with local vendors to further build awareness and extend the reach of the program."
"We also make sure to have a Spirit presence at high-visibility events in our local market," he adds, "such as Syracuse University basketball and football games. At each and every opportunity, we are signing up new members."
Six months after launching to the community, the Crouse Spirit of Women membership topped 4,000 women ages 18–89 in central New York. The program also has 108 physician partners and 30 business partners.
Fostering an Open Dialogue
Murphy credits this early success to consistent and targeted communications.
"We reach out to our Spirit members at least monthly, reminding them that to be great caregivers they need to take care of themselves as well—they are the chief medical officer for their families," she says.
"We want Crouse to be the go-to provider for our members and encourage them to keep our programs and services top of mind. The program has also opened up stronger dialogue and partnerships with many of our physicians as they work with us on Spirit events throughout the year."
An unexpected benefit of the Spirit events was the insight Crouse gained to its physician offices and their needs. For example, Murphy and her team are planning on hosting a "Social Media 101" class for some of the smaller physician offices that don't have IT departments, but want to do a better job of reaching women on social networks. Often in small practices social media is managed by a nurse or administrative assistant.
While Crouse hasn't yet tabulated how many new patients the Spirit program has generated, it is certain that its members are using a number of its service lines. Murphy knows of members who have switched to the hospital's Breast Health Center after talking to the Spirit team about its 3D technology, and nurses have referred members to the ED and its medical practice.
"Our nurses are a great resource for these women," she says. "They know our services well and are building relationships with these women we see throughout the year."
Enhancing the Patient Experience
In addition to attracting new patients, the Spirit program enhances the patient experience by emphasizing Crouse's dedication to the community and its focus on having a dialogue with patients.
"I think any time you can get your staff and providers out into the community to share their expertise and build relationships with current and future patients, it is a win for everyone," Murphy says.
"To know you are part of something bigger—part of the Crouse family—translates from Crouse in the community to Crouse the hospital. Crouse believes in relationship-based care, and this is just another avenue for us to start that with our patients before they need us and in some cases help them prevent needing some of our services, which we know will be important in healthcare in the coming years."
Ultimately, implementing the integrated women's program has helped the hospital better understand women's healthcare needs.
"As an organization, this program has helped us to take a look at women and how we care for them and what they need. Not only in our traditional women's-focused services, but also in all our service lines from ortho, cardiac, neuro, and behavioral health," Murphy says.
"It has also allowed us to work more cohesively, combining our community education and outreach and our service lines to break down the compartments we often see in organizations. Spirit of Women is part of everything we do here at Crouse for inpatient, outpatient, and community services."