the Healthcare MarCom Letter

Oh, My Aching Back Surgery Marketing!

healthcaremarcom — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:32:30 +0000

How do these people look themselves in the mirror? Is it wrong of me to hope they suffer with back pain for the rest of their living days? John Carreyrou in the WSJ:

“Mr. Randall’s distributorships imposed some steep markups, invoices reveal. Invoices for 16 spine surgeries at Tri-City between July 2010 and March 2011 show items for which suppliers charged Mr. Randall’s distributors $326,000, while his distributors charged the hospital $1.1 million.”

Curious? http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204319004577088712149447348.html

Bone Marrow Registry Fined For Using Models to Recruit Donors

healthcaremarcom — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:06:56 +0000

So, only unattractive people can be used to recruit marrow donors? Denise Lavoie, Associated Press:

“Attorney General Martha Coakley said Caitlin Raymond International Registry and UMass Memorial Health Ventures Inc. engaged in improper marketing by paying models to attract potential donors at malls, festivals and sporting venues.

A judgment filed in court by Coakley on Thursday alleges that they also improperly waived copayments and deductible amounts for the testing of potential donors.”

Curious? http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/mass-bone-marrow-donor-1328293.html

healthcaremarcom — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:38:57 +0000

Is your marketing language inclusive enough to address your secondary audience?

The Marketer Speaks Many Languages- Including Hospital Administrator

healthcaremarcom — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:30:38 +0000

A growing focus on cost leads to a new audience targeted (and language used ) by marketers in hospitals. This article by Arundhati Parmar in MedCity News underscores why you need to be mindful of audience and needs when messaging.

“Now, more than ever, it’s important for companies — be it medical device manufacturers or others — to learn the language of hospital administrators who worry about cost in a way that doctors, who prize safety and efficacy, don’t.”

Curious? http://www.medcitynews.com/2012/01/healthcare-marketers-need-to-learn-the-language-of-hospital-administrators/?edition=medical-devices

Pass This Along to Your CEO: Hospital Marketing Must-Do’s

healthcaremarcom — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:30:43 +0000

Yes, you’re well aware of what your CEO should be doing to build/strengthen your brand…so, how have you communicated this to her? Perhaps you could just pass along this article. Alicia Caramencio in Fierce HealthCare:

” Furthermore, the CEO should include the hospital brand story in daily conversations with board members and managers, as well as at public functions.”

Curious? http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/4-healthcare-marketing-must-dos-hospital-ceos/2012-01-18#ixzz1kQLquEoP

Three Ways Your Hospital Should be Marketing with Social Media

healthcaremarcom — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:39:55 +0000

Are you using social media to market patient care via these three avenues? If not, why not? So simple and so cost effective. Karen Cheung in Fierce HealthCare:

“For instance, Dr. Edmund Fisher, a Bakersfield facial plastic surgeon, posts Facebook photos to highlight before-and-after shots of face lifts, with the patients’ permission.“

Curious? http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/3-ways-hospitals-use-social-media-market-patient-care/2011-07-27#ixzz1kQMHO53o

healthcaremarcom — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:15:29 +0000

Nothing sells like visuals. Is it any wonder online video is selected as the most effective platform for hospital marketing?Source: Chanu

Online Video Named Most Effective Hospital Marketing Tool

healthcaremarcom — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:30:23 +0000

An August survey of hospital marketers tapped online video as the most effective social media platform. Karen M. Cheung in Fierce HealthCare:

“Hospitals ranked the following social medium platforms as very effective: online videos (33.7 percent), Facebook (22.8 percent), Twitter (14.9 percent), podcasts (12.9 percent), Facebook ads (9.9 percent), and blogs (5.9 percent).“

Curious? http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/online-video-most-effective-hospital-marketing-tool-requires-commitment/2011-08-04#ixzz1kQMlYJQx

How Will Your Organization’s Reputation be Rated?

healthcaremarcom — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:37:18 +0000

Fascinating but frightening–how will the negative comments (valid or not) floating about on the Internet (and perhaps posted by competitors) influence your organization’s performance? Holly Fin in the WSJ:

“”There will be a reputation score, and it will be used to make decisions about you,” Owen Tripp, co-founder and chief operating officer of Reputation.com, told me. The digital privacy and online reputation company helps individuals, and some businesses, look good online. And it has just been granted a U.S. patent for its scoring methodology.”

Curious? http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203513604577142861752228088.html?KEYWORDS=holly+finn

Healthcare Social Media Marketing – FDA Guidelines Fuzzy

healthcaremarcom — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:09:54 +0000

So, the Fed didn’t deliver what was wanted or needed. Seems the new social media guideline draft still needs some work. No rush – this social media stuff is just a fad. Arundhati Parmar in MedCity:

“A pharma-marketing expert said:”What everybody was expecting was actual guidelines around social media. I still think it’s monumental. The FDA finally addressed the digital channel in a specific way by mentioning Twitter and YouTube in the document, and those have never been mentioned before. But this is an industry that wants specific instructions and rules, and that didn’t happen here.”

Curious? http://www.medcitynews.com/2012/01/fdas-social-media-marketing-draft-guidance-a-round-up/?edition=pharmaceuticals